It seems funny to be writing an Article/Hint, Tips about a game that has been out nearly a year, but in saying that I have so many friends on the XL community that have not played or even to that matter seen anybody else play this Game, I feel it is my duty as a Gamer to you let you all know what you are missing out on from the Totally next Gen title that is Bioshock, In this Insight I will be giving an insight into the world of Bioshock, and giving you some helpful hints and tips.
Imagine you have crashed landed in the ocean, you are surrounded by the flaming carcass of your plane and are being intoxicated by the fumes of burning oil, smoke and bad in flight meals that are enough to turn the strongest stomachs, you are the only survivor, and in the distance you see a Lighthouse, without any hesitation you make way to this lighthouse mainly to see if there is a dusky maid in stockings and stilettos who’s husband has gone away on business and needs entertaining, A lighthouse that holds the key the Underwater city that is Rapture.
Single Player
Difficulty Settings
Bioshock is a medium paced game where the quick swipe of your wrench or the Impact of an Electric Buck from your shotgun can mean success or defeat especially on the harder difficulty. The easier difficulty is pretty much a Turn and Burn – Lock and Load setting which doesn’t really offer much in the sense of a challenge which is good for the younger generation of gamers who lack skill, initiative and have a low attention span mainly because they are pumped up to the eyeballs on Ritalin, as they can run through the game with an upgraded Shotgun or Crossbow and blast those Splicers to hell but as with me and any experienced gamer, we long for a challenge in today’s gaming industry which putting this game on the hardest difficulty setting, which will deliver, unlike on the easier setting, it will take a mere 2 - 3 hits to taste the rotting floor of Rapture as you fall to defeat, this means you must employ a strategy and keep your wits about you, because as you turn a corner it doesn’t take long for an ill mannered splicer to run up behind and poke his finger up your bum.
Review
Unlike any other next gen title, Bioshock is set entirely Underwater, giving it this dark and eerie feeling which is good as you don’t know what is coming next. When you arrive in rapture it has been run into the ground by Genetically-Mutated people trying to kill you at every turn. Did you know that these creatures where modelled on the Microsoft team, Hmmmm I thought I saw Bill Gates mopping about singing YMCA.
Rapture was built by Andrew Ryan; his vision was to build a city where Government, Religion and Morality would not interfere with the advancement of science and art. Rapture was his dream, he choose the location carefully and by tremendous will and hard work, he made it reality, but unfortunately he tried maybe too hard and now Rapture has fallen to his creations where the once known people of rapture gave there body, mind and sanity to Adam; they will kill there own and even sacrifice there own well being if it means getting there hands on some. Adam is very vital in this game as it will give you access to buy plasmids upgrades and Tonic upgrades which I will cover later, Which is harvested by Little Sister’s, these are female children which harvest the Adam like little scroungers from a council estate from dead enemies with a Big arse needle like the one you use on a Cow or Horse and use it to start digging into any rotting corpse they can they can find. They were created by Dr. Tenenbaum who is one clued up Mo-Fo, who, get this, discovered that a certain type of sea slug was the source of all Adam and turned it into something useful and developed the many plasmids you find in Rapture.
As you arrive into Rapture you are greeted by a friendly but annoying voice in the bathysphere who is Atlas: he has a strong accent but is polite and his hatred and disgust for Andrew Ryan is evident, Atlas is your guide over the radio pretty much the entire game so get used to him as he will just rabbit on about his poor family trapped in a submarine, Jesus dude they are in a Submarine FFS, mainly he barks out orders and you comply firstly asking you to help his family but his main intentions for you are to take down Andrew Ryan but all is not what it seems down in Rapture, you will help out many NPC’s through out the game which include using a camera to take pictures of Splicers - to slaying creatures to gain the Mighty Crossbow and of course to progress further into the game, because that is what we all bought the game Amiright????
The audio direction is flawless. Starting with the music which changes to fit Rapture and adds significantly to the atmosphere that is established by every other aspect of the game. Little things in the sound design like the scrape of the hooks of the spider Splicers, and the singing of a Splicer will send a chill down your spine, although I am sure I heard a Splicer fart and scratch his arse while the hulking sound of the Big Arse Daddies remind you just how puny you are compared to them, despite your fire power.
To say Bioshock is Beautiful would be an understatement from its fabulous art style to looking out of a window into Sea is far more advanced than any other to date the visuals are stunning and make very good use of the PC’s and the 360’s Graphical powers, Yer Ps3 - Graphical Powers you don’t know about those do you? bow down to our greatness , although some of the NPC’s could do with a little work, each has there own Unique ability. But the best effect for me is the water, from the opening scene to the flow of the water gushing in though holes and puddles on the ground it doesn’t look realistic is looks REAL.
The unique factor that sets this game apart is the ability to splice your gene system with Plasmids/Tonics which basically means you turn yourself into a full blown Heroin addict injecting yourself when ever you need a pick me up but these offer a big advantage when playing the game, there is nothing better than zapping an enemy stood in water and frying them to a crisp with the Electro Bolt plasmid for your evening meal of Splicer ribs and chips or Freezing them and smashing them into Ice cubes for your Vodka and coke with the Wrench, Each plasmid offers a different approach to the game, whether it be to Hypnotise a Big daddy to help to take out those pesky critters or Target Dummy which projects a likeness of you into the playing field which can help you slip past unwanted fights, But beware; no Eve, no Plasmid, as Eve is the fuel that makes the plasmids work.
Tonics also offer some more in depth game play to Bioshock which require no Eve for them work they just course through your veins, being active all the time, They come in 3 different categories:
Physical, Engineering and Combat, Be sure to splice some of these into your Gene arsenal.
There is another unique addition to Bioshock that is Vending machines no you cant grab a coke for those lengthy trips or a Snicker’s to beef up because lets face it, there’s only one Mr. T, these range from buying ammunition at El Ammo Bandito to First aid Kits and Vodka at the Circus of Values, Also you can invent ammo and hacking tools at the U-Invent, Buy Plasmids and Tonics from the Gatherers Garden and upgrade your personal arsenal at the Power To The People upgrade station, Knowing your environment can be vital if you come across a Gene Bank as these give you the ability to swap your Tonics and Plasmids for others you have purchased giving you a slight advantage in the battle field.
Hints and Tips
In this section I will list a few basic hints and tips that will help with the harder difficulty setting in Bioshock that I have used throughout playing this game,
The 1 – 2 Combo: Use your weapons and plasmids together! Don’t rely just one weapon or plasmid, even stunning an enemy with the Electro bolt then striking him with a Wrench can be devastating through most of the game with the right Tonics.
Search the Body’s: I must stress that getting into the habit of searching the body’s of defeated enemies is vital, as picking their pockets is a good way to find valuable Items. I know it’s kind of trampy but hey if there’s a half Chocolate bar to be had I call dibs on the first bite .
Ammo Switching: Switch your ammo depending on your situation if you come up against a Big Daddie and you have a shotgun switch to the Electric buck instead of the standard buck.
Big daddies, Big prizes: Keep your eyes open for corpses of big daddies, because stumbling across one of these can be like finding a rich man’s wallet, it wont happen often but when it does it’s a nice surprise.
Hack before You buy: Before you buy anything from a vending machine be sure to hack it first as this will greatly reduce the price and will also unlock items to buy.
Health stations: This is one of my well guarded secrets that not many people may know about, but if you come across a Health station do not use it, Why you ask? This is because if you get out your wrench and keep beating it, it will blow up and First aid kits will fall out the bottom ;)
Safes: These can offer some good rewards if you are successful in hacking them, but as you get further into the game these will get increasingly harder to hack so always keep a few Auto hack tools on standby.
Unreachable Corpses: Telekinesis is a plasmid I always kept spliced to my arsenal as corpses strung up on rafters and roofs can offer some really good finds if you grab them down,
Be a lover not a Fighter: Let it be known that a Big daddie will not attack you first – so if you don’t really need the Adam don’t start the fight, this can vital if your are playing on Hard where big daddies will annihilate you without thinking twice.
Be a Retriever: The crossbow is an overlooked weapon in this game but is actually pretty darn good taking down most enemy’s with 1 Bolt but the best thing of all is that you can pick your ammo back up when you're finished.
Hard Daddie’s: The Big Daddies are really Hard to beat on the more advanced difficulty settings and can offer a huge annoyance to the game, my suggestion to you is that you leave them well alone until you acquire the Grenade Launcher and Chemical Thrower, A good way to kill Big daddies in one go is to attach Proximity Mines to an propane canister or bin – then use telekinesis to launch them at the Daddies or lock and load some Electric Gel and go to town, as this stuns the Daddie and prevents them from moving. Its cheap, but effective.
Move like a Ninja: On the Harder settings I suggest you opt for a stealthy approach to the game and not going in all guns blazing as this is sure to get you killed, Check your corners, always re-load after a fight (This should come naturally to a FPS gamer) and Splice Natural Camouflage to your Tonics,
Bioshock is a Next Gen FPS that shouldn’t be passed up by anyone, although it has no online multiplayer this doesn’t mean it doesn’t offer the same experience, it offers so much more.
Hope you liked my very 1st Article
Danny Wells – GT: UK DeathDealer