Bioshock

Well I just finished this spiritual successor to System Shock 2 and damn, this game was amazing. The game oozes atmosphere. From the gibberish chattering of the splicers as they wander around and chase after you, to the eerie and ominous thuds of a Big Daddy approaching, to the various mental breakdowns you hear/witness through the diaries that litter the game. From the get-go Bioshock absorbs you into Rapture and makes it a point not to let go until you're dreaming about freezing some crazy drug addict and then bashing him with a wrench until he explodes into tiny ice cubes. And those ice cubes are pretty, the game just looks gorgeous and works its particular art style to perfection.

This isn't just a polished turd though, the gameplay itself is varied and fun, every new enemy represents a new challenge and has more then a few ways to be taken down. The splicers (think PCP on crack) come in a variety of flavors that all want you dead and behave differently. Honestly when I first saw one of them running towards me with his lead pipe creating sparks that illuminated the room it was pretty amazing. Then there are the Big Daddys, underwater behemoths that when you first see them all you can do is think, "I have to kill THAT?" Amid all of this are the powers you acquire throughout the game. Wanna burn stuff? They got that. Freeze it? Done. Electrocute it? You bet. Cover your enemies in bees? Oh hell yeah. You can actually have bees slowly weather your foes down. BEES! Half the fun of the game I thought was just figuring out combinations of those powers and the weapons you are given.

The story itself is also intriguing. You pretty much crash landed right next to this underwater paradise turned hellish failure and the game masterfully pulls you along from there. The 50's/60's setting is used to perfection with the story, which plays like a run through a tunnel with no light, you really have no idea what turn or drop or horrible atrocity is going to occur before you next. And I do mean atrocity cause the characters in the game are just straight unnerving. All of them are well fleshed out and all creep you out on a different level. They are so bone chilling thanks in large part to some good voice acting. There aren't many moments where you have to stop playing because what you just heard was the worst acting you've ever heard. Which in turn keeps you entrenched in the rich environment the game has to offer.

Overall this game is basically everything you want in a shooter: enough room to be creative, but penned in enough so that you're not lost while maintaining plenty of fun throughout. Also the "good" ending is pretty uplifting after all the shit you went through.

9.5/10