Okay, so I know I’m gonna catch flack for this one, but I must declare Bioshock a suspense thriller instead of a shooter. Yeah, so you’re in first person, and yeah, you shoot things, but this is so much more than a shooter. So much more indeed. Here’s the rundown of the demo.
SPOILER ALERT: Contrary to my normal position on not posting spoilers, in order to make my point with this game I must post some degree of a spoiler. If you don’t want to read the spoiler, PLEASE STOP NOW.
Right in the beginning of this game, you’re a victim in a plane crash–though I suspect your character may have had something to do with the crash–and you’re in a large body of water, presumably the ocean, near a lighthouse. Once you enter the lighthouse you enter a strange sort of elevator that takes you under water quite a ways. Then you get shown a video telling you about this underwater city of “Rapture”. The moment the elevator stops, you see a man being killed by a very strange looking creature, and it’s kinda scary. Then the creature comes after you, clawing at your elevator roof. You’re told to get out of the elevator and then you go and find a weapon yadda yadda yadda. Then you find a syringe, and like any good game player assume that it is a good idea to inject the contents of the syringe into your character. Your character’s body kinda freaks out you you get the creepiest cut-scene ever.
A very pale-looking little girl–you don’t get to see all of her–talks to a gigantic monster in a dive suit with a drill on its arm like its her little pet. She says that she thinks you’re an angel, but then reconsiders when she sees you breathing. But she assures her “pet” that you will be an angel soon.
Conclusion: This game is not a shooter. As I said, this game does have shooting, and that’s all find and dandy, but this is so much more than a shooter. In shooters you don’t have story lines this disturbingly creepy or suspenseful. I actually got a kick of adrenaline playing the demo, similar to when you watch films like Silence of the Lambs or Halloween. This game is really pioneering a new type of game, which actually seems to be just as much about the story–which seems incredible–as well as the graphics and gameplay–which also seem quite nice.
I seriously recommend that folks try the demo for themselves and see what they think. It just blew me away.
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Carados responded on 30 Aug 2007 at 00:06 #
What, a game requires a simply story-line to be considered a shooter?
manchicken responded on 31 Aug 2007 at 22:50 #
I think you misunderstood my point. I’m saying it’s not a shooter because it’s so much more than a shooter. This game is a rather intense psych thriller, and yes, a bit of a shooter. But to classify Bioshock as a “shooter” is to cheapen the experience.