Your plane crashes in the middle of the Pacific, you do not know where you are, and you barely get to swim to a lighthouse lost in nothingness. The gates of Rapture, the Utopian underwater city, open at your feet so that you know the horror that lies behind its walls. The nightmare begins. Bioshock finally arrives after a long development, become the most desired game of the last years. And you know what? The wait has been worth it.
It is difficult to describe what has made Bioshock the phenomenon of unusual expectation in which it has become, especially considering that we are not precisely a game that can be characterized as "mainstream." The indisputable quality of its graphics and the passion of its artistic design is what always caught the attention of the amateur in the first screens published; Which, coupled with the promise of a gameplay far removed from the latest developments in recent first-person action titles, has been an exciting incentive to look forward to the end of summer 2007.
Bioshock fulfills all the promises, desires and attractions that promised from the beginning, and that in these times of excessive hype, is one of the biggest compliments that can be written on a release. All these reasons make Ken Levine's latest play in the game best rated in 3DJuegos history along with three indelible classics such as Oblivion, The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Gears of War. Bioshock can tell you about you, and this is a title that is worth a console.
Charging with the Ocean on the Shoulders
The best thing you can do to tackle a game of these characteristics is to talk about your argument as little as possible. Just point out that the plane of our protagonist crashes in the Atlantic Ocean in the 60s, and is forced to take refuge in a lighthouse that hides the entrance to the mysterious underwater city of Rapture. This submerged city is the dream come true of Andrew Ryan, a visionary obsessed with building a community with the fundamental pillars of artistic and social elitism; And with science over any kind of religious, ethical, or political coercion.
What our (anti) hero finds in his journey are the remains of this already unsuccessful utopia. A city devastated by a bloody war between its inhabitants, and a nightmare that defies the limits of reason. Ken Levine's script moves skillfully throughout the approximately 10 hours of the game, featuring numerous intrigues and parallel stories about power struggles, abuse of the valuable Adam substance, and bad practices Within the city of Rapture. So we are faced with an exciting story that can only be attributed a somewhat abrupt ending as a slightly disappointing brogue, which would not fade if the rest of the script was not so sensational.
Numerous conceptual and plot elements of Bioshock and System Shock 2 are virtually identical, so that we can see at first glance that we are dealing with those responsible for both projects. The parallels go beyond the common word Shock and the mere coincidences playable or plot, and is that in both titles there are too many factors that are repeated to be considered independent works.
Once this consideration has been made, and without going into the details of the two games, (those who already played System Shock 2 at the time know them well, and those who were not fortunate to prove it will not find it too useful to quote them ) It should be noted that Bioshock is clearly superior to his spiritual ascendancy, and that this was already an essential jewel.
Why do you wear that stupid Man Costume?
Bioshock is essentially a first-person action game, and we say in essence because it subverts enough features of these so that framing it in this category is not quite accurate. For starters we have conventional weapons such as pistols, rifles, machine guns or grenade launchers, resulting in an arsenal that is inspired by their designs in the era to which it belongs. The PC control adapts perfectly to the mouse and keyboard, which makes us see the benefits of working in independent developments with the platforms to avoid problems of this type.
On the other hand we have the plasmids, which are a kind of genetic alterations that modify our physical capacities granting us powers such as telekinesis, throwing rays, set fire to our enemies or other tremendously varied abilities, which will be pleasant to discover for ourselves . Its control is identical to that of the common arsenal, and using the left trigger we will use them, leaving the top button to rotate between them.
On the other hand there are other types of skill enhancers such as tonics and substances that will help us improve different facets of our character, such as strength, speed or our ability with mechanisms. Up to four lines of abilities (including plasmids) are extensively customizable in our (anti) hero, so the progression of this does not follow the classic role-based experience but leans to a more palpable and practical.
The variety of plasmids is incredible, and their presence in the adventure is well justified in history. The combination of these powers with firearms, and the obligation to manage them, because we can not carry all at once, makes no bioshock match the same, which will help us to create our own strategies when dealing with the enemies.
In case of these two branches of combat (weapons and plasmids) there is also the possibility of pirating different systems of defense of Rapture, so that they change from being threatening to allies. The list is long and all objects can be used in our favor. These devices include machine gun turrets, automatic fire flies, electric traps or even conveniently priced vending machines that will save money and damage splicers using them. The operation of the hacking is simple: through a simple but fun mini-game of the classic Pipe Mania style, we must take the water from one point to another of a small puzzle exchanging pieces in the form of pipes.
As far as the development of Bioshock, in general, follows a structure of missions, which linked with skill will take us from one side to another of Rapture to help some characters and get favors from them. We have a certain sense of free will on the streets of the city, and it is that on many occasions we will decide the order when it comes to tackling them or even whether or not to do so. The labyrinthine condition of the city will often be a problem, and fortunately we can activate in the options an arrow that will guide us to accomplish certain missions of search of objects exceedingly complicated without its aid. Anyway to boost the scanning factor of the title should not activate this help unless it is essential.
All this conglomerate of enemies, missions, multiple paths, mechanisms, weapons and powers make up a spectacular all that makes moving through Rapture an outstanding experience, that perfectly accompanies that intrigue of mystery and terror that hides behind the walls of this city.
The Doubtful Humanity of the Golem
What makes Bioshock this portent of playability and immersion is probably the sense of suffocation and belonging of the trip to the depths of the sea that we made with the protagonist. Rarely has a sense of empathy been achieved with a hero as in Bioshock. Despite being a silent character, despite the fact that at the beginning we hardly know anything about him and although we do not tune in to some of his decisions (injecting products systematically does not seem the smartest decision in an unknown place); The protagonist of Bioshock shares something with us and is that the player experiences the feelings for him and tells him how to act based on them.
Piety, cruelty, exploration or surprises are just four examples of the emotions of all the sensory cocktail that we will experience in Bioshock, and in that they are a lot of fault the boys of Irrational Games, since they have gotten a general attunement with this world And with its inhabitants that is truly worthy of commendation.
Moral decisions are constantly present throughout the entire adventure. The message that is conveyed in Bioshock is that all creatures that are our enemies have their stories and their demons behind their inhuman appearance. It is essential to listen to the tapes that are scattered by the maps, because they contain their cries and longings and help a lot to understand the stories of the different characters. In case it was not enough many inhabitants depend on others, and sometimes end up with one unbalances the system and carries fatal consequences.
Brilliant examples of this result, for example, the husband who argues with his wife and pokes the door of the kitchen behind which it covers. If we do not pay attention to them and continue on our way they will continue to shout at each other; But if we do away with the man, the woman will worry not to hear her husband's retort to her insults, he will open the door and discover the death of the man will attack with fury at us. This case is given at the beginning of the game, based on a programming script (which on the other hand has no merit), is worth much more than any story that can be told in a notebook or a recording. Here we live it in the third person, as the divine eye that observes the stories of these beings and judges them letting live or killing, that is, granting the hell of life in Rapture or unlocking the blessing of death in the lost city.
Another example of the morale and ecosystem of Bioshock equilibria is the meager yet equally valid Big Daddy-Little Sister ecosystem. As we have already mentioned the first is the sinister father figure of the second that Adam obtains for him. If we dare to approach a small one the reaction of the golem will be fatal, and the combat will be triggered by the precious treasure in the form of a girl. Once the giant died, we received the moral punishment in the form of tears and cries of the girl "Why do not you get up Lord Pompas?", Aware that their existence has no value as such without the help of a Big Daddy, And that he is totally at our mercy. New ethical decision: do we save the girl from the dependency that afflicts her at the cost of sacrificing half the amount of the valuable Adam she processes, or on the contrary "we harvest"? If we leave it alive we will be rewarded with the march of the nice creature and with some extra gifts that we will not reveal; If instead we decide to "harvest" it we will extract from it all the Adam but the small one will die in the process.
The people of Irrational Games, well aware of the constant controversies that hit the video game world, try to cover their backs constantly reminding us and through a character or other that we are not ordinary girls, but a kind of monsters that simply employ The body of the little ones as a host. It is a correct decision of the study to dodge controversy, but coupled with the fact that we do not actually kill the girls directly but that the "harvested" reduces some ethical weight, and therefore maturity, to the decision of End them or let them live.
The Tyranny of Science
Bioshock is not set in the sixties by mere chance, and is that theories like those of Ryan would only be credible in a time when the human being was especially disgusted with himself. The hangover of the two World Wars left a feeling of uneasiness in man, and made it easier for the theories of dehumanization to roam the earth. Little helped a cold war at its peak and the persecution in certain countries of theories such as communism in the United States or capitalism in the USSR.
Bioshock does not take hostages at the time of criticizing, and without any concession dissects a society gripped by the fear of change and the unknown, drawing an elite that remains as a disfigured parody of Macarthism (systematic persecution of communism and its collaborators in states United States during the 1950s), and an obsession for publicity and mental manipulation reminiscent of Goebbels techniques during Nazi Germany.
The inhabitants, turned into splicers, weep in the streets to their loved ones who have lost in Raptureconvertidos in authentic yonkis of the Adam; Surgeons like Steinman are prey to their quasi-divine delusions, and make and undo with the faces and bodies of their patients to their liking, creating authentic subhuman fantasies; And artists like Cohen care little to kill and mummify creatures so as to create a work that in their eyes is unique and imperishable.
What Ken Levine, director and screenwriter, and company have done in Bioshock is a fierce criticism of the current values of our society, presenting us to Rapture as a place where science is above any consideration where aesthetics is a moral imperative And where the humanity of its inhabitants shines by its absence. Perhaps the haggard vision of the morale of the underwater city is not so far removed from the actuality of our world, where the gift of the young by its majority is a breast implant, and where the last narcotic drunkenness of Lindsay Lohan, thinking that it humanizes the celebrities by bringing them closer to the "ordinary" citizen, when in reality what they achieve is to dehumanize ourselves.
The Show Must Go On
Before a game with the richness of nuances and subplots of Bioshock it is hard to stop talking about something as superfluous as the graphics, but if we do we must do it for good.
The buildings, halls, theaters, cinemas and streets of Rapture are of an amazing realism. His hypnotic artistic direction is one of the great tricks of Bioshock. Everything is done with utmost care and pampering, and an exquisite attention to detail is observed in every element. Rapture is therefore one of the most vivid and captivating cities we have seen in a video game despite its status as "ghost town"; For its part, the modeling of the characters presents an astonishing aspect between the comic and the horror film series B.
But the real protagonist of Bioshock is water. It is the first time that we are facing a water that can really be classified as "alive". It flows, it moves with realism, floods stays before our eyes and above all is that same: water. Despite all the compliments that can be said of the liquid element that progressively floods Rapture, the truth is that it has some small defects as a treatment of the foam or some unreal behaviors that although they are somewhat unpleasant, the truth is that they do not tarnish anything The graphic section.
At the technological level the game is where it only stays at the notable high. There is a very good implementation of physics, in the scenarios there are an acceptable number of objects with which to interact, the dust and the fire are very careful, and the enemies react very correctly to the impacts of the weapons. Only a few details are slightly off-key, such as an occasional late load of textures, perhaps due to a poor use of texture streaming technique, poor treatment of antidentation, certain clipping problems, and some minute details concerning the physics of corpses More desirable occasions have strange behaviors.
Otherwise a game that in visual is simply superb, and its operation in PC is very scalable and is reasonably well optimized, especially considering the painful of the performance of the games in our computers to which we have been accustomed lately.
Claustrophobia Sonora
Undoubtedly, this is one of the most majestic and inspirational video game soundtracks we remember. Furious violins, vertiginous races on the keyboard of the piano and some very experimental subjects reminiscent of the more anarchic works that Mike Patton realized alone in the late nineties, make up the great work of Garry Schyman; Who for his part with Bioshock presents his candidacy as one of the most important artists to take into account in the world of video games, after a discrete songwriting career in the past that included the themes of Destroy All Humans or Full Spectrum Warrior.
The work of Schyman emphasizes in the creation of an atmosphere, in the variety and quality of its nuances and in the richness of textures of the different scores. A breathtaking musical work of this Bioshock that seems to drink from John Ottman's soundtracks for Habitual Suspects, and in a very special way from that of Béla Bartók to The Glow of Kubrick. They also perform exquisitely the selection of licensed subjects, both classical and contemporary.
The sound effects is another factor that makes the experience of visiting Rapture a real trip. All weapons sound furious and powerful, and shootings are a real delight to the ears because of their sharpness and their rumble. But the real protagonist of the sound is not the shots unlike the shooters to use, the star here are Rapture and its inhabitants.
The constant crunches of water pressure on Rapture's gigantic vaults, the sounds of psychopaths prowling and chanting through the streets, the clumsy but thundering walk of the Big Daddies and the endearing yet frightening barefoot walking of the Little Sisters over the cold ones Surfaces are as authentic, dreadful and priceless as any bizarre image that we can show. The atmosphere of a video game consists of both what we see and what we hear, and Bioshock is an example of it.
The section of the voices presents, however, important clear-dark. The original version is one of the most carefully dubbed that we have had the opportunity to listen. The richness of the vocal nuances, the anachronistic Scottish accent of Atlas and the exquisite drama and madness of all voices make listening to Bioshock in your native language the most recommended option if we master English at an optimum level.
If listening to the game in its original version is not viable, we always have the Spanish, which although it correctly fulfills its function, is still light years from listening to Rapture as it was conceived in the heads of Ken Levine and company . The truth is that Bioshock in Spanish accuses seriously the recycling of voices, and also that some of them do not reach the necessary level leaving an irregular set. Of a very high level is the work of actresses of Bioshock in Spain, who fulfill their roles with sobriety but with efficiency; Unfortunately the male voices are a step below, especially emphasized by their low level those of Atlas, Andrew Ryan and the protagonist. It seems untrue that three of the most important voices in the game are those that enjoy a worse finish. Atlas, companion of fatigues through the radio, is during the program the personage that enjoys a greater number of lines of dialog; And unfortunately his doubler, whom we will remember of his worthy work with Marcus Fénix in Gears of War, does not give the size presenting an excessively monocorde voice and completely devoid of nuances.
Closing the Doors
If something can be said of Bioshock is that is exactly what we expected. This would be bad in any other video game, in the masterpiece of Irrational Games (2K Boston) is simply the consummation of the job well done, and the long and sometimes desperate path that has led the creators of System Shock 2 to To create a work that, starting as spiritual heir of this one, in the majority of aspects exceeds notably the original one.
Bioshock is not a fast game, it is not a game for amateurs of little patience and certainly is not what is said a direct and uncomplicated game. Bioshock, on the contrary, bases his charm on exploring, immersing himself in the fascinating history of Rapture and on the veracity and cruelty of a wild and violent world that makes no difference between its victims, whether men, women or even girls.