BioShock Review
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As a classic example of gaming choice and consequence, BioShock really falls short. The whole point of a moral dilemma should logically be that your choice offers some kind of real consequence. BioShock is one of those games that supposedly (features) such difficult, visceral, and tear-jerking moral decisions to call out the player's humanity. However, the actual meat and bones of the choice is pretty dry, and the consequences are virtually non-existent for the actual duration of the game, right up until the end when it smacks you in the face a bit. But never while playing the game are you subjected to such a thing as, say, all Big Daddies turning hostile to you because of your hostility toward Little Sisters, or significantly different paths that open up simply because you saved a lot of the Adam-hungry orphans. Another promised intellectual approach of this game involves its philosophical underpinnings, based primarily on the works of Ayn Rand. And there are indeed a lot of stabs at the philosophy of individual strength and übermensch-like tendencies throughout the game. I'll put my personal dislike of Rand aside for a second and note that having philosophical underpinnings to a game is always a breath of relief for gaming in general, and helps it take steps towards being taken more seriously as an art form.
With that said, if I criticise BioShock's approach not from a gamer's viewpoint (since the average gamer might justly be impressed) but from a literary intellectual viewpoint, it falls 20 yards short of the 10-yard marker. Not only are Rand's ideas not the most fascinating to use as the epic focus of a game, the biggest problem here is not so much the way the world is structured around the idea of the power of individuals, it's the way this idea is delivered to you. And when I say delivered, I mean screamed. BioShock doesn't beat about the bush, practically pushing your face into their philosophical pie while shouting (get it, get it!) The approach is ham-fisted, to say the least, which turns the personifications of freedom, willpower, and slavery dotted in the game into exclamation points, or even rather disappointing unsubtle parodies of a point that might well have been stated more clearly via a more subtle manner.
Conclusion
Don't be too put off at my caveats above - BioShock is clearly a 2007 Game of the Year contender and an FPS hybrid that is well above normal standards in production values, design, and originality. The fact that BioShock is such an easy favourite says more on the state of gaming today than it does of the game itself, but don't let that distract you from a solid gaming experience.
While BioShock ends up being more of a shooter than an RPG, it is a cut above the rest in atmosphere and gameplay. Don't buy it expecting everything you've heard about it to be true (an advice that holds true for most games these days), but don't fret about buying it if you're looking for a cleverly crafted shooter and a visually stunning experience.
