I really loved Bioshock. It’s been awhile since I got caught up in a game like that and it was sweet. I didn’t even mind much when I had to replay two of the sections because the game crashed twice and I lost my progress.

I’d actually tried to play Bioshock maybe 4 years ago, but my first couple hours of play left me just wondering who I was and why I should care about this character. I intended to keep playing, but the game never pulled me back. I guess not quite never.

I decided to give it another shot, and, while I still felt that way, I got more into the setting and the mechanics and so was more compelled to keep playing. I was glad I did, because of course the game answered my questions with aplomb in the end.

The cinematography of everything, the atmosphere, the attention to detail were all top notch. I’m excited to play Bioshock 2 so that I can learn more about Rapture. I do have to critique some of the mechanics though, because gameplay isn’t exactly where Bioshock shines brightest.

Plasmids are cool, but I mostly ended up using electric, fire, big daddy help me, and maybe target dummy sometimes. There were a bunch of others like enrage and security target and even freeze that seemed mostly pointless. Why would I freeze an enemy and kill them, making them drop no loot, when I could also zap stun them and do the same? Eventually I learned freezing bots makes hacking them easier, but I got by fine just zapping them first for most of the game. Having so many useless plasmids diluted their coolness for me and was extra annoying in the short part of the game where you have to use random plasmids. I’d prefer fewer plasmids with clearer purposes and maybe some more depth to each. As an aside, the way the plasmid hotkeys worked was abysmal, where they seemed to reorder themselves anytime I changed one of them. I died stupidly many times where my plasmids had rearranged themselves and I couldn’t find the hotkey for the one I wanted (or wasted had wasted all my eve using the wrong ones).

Speaking of depth, Bioshock has what I would normally deem an overly complicated ammo system. There are ~8 guns, each having ~3 types of ammo, and you have to reload your gun to switch types. The thing is, this system actually spawns some awesome gameplay moments. I loved that feeling of being about to step into a dangerous area and going through each gun, picking the ammo you want in it, and loading it in. It works really well with the desperate atmosphere that Bioshock establishes. Big daddy fights feed into this because they are tough enemies, but you decide when to attack them, so you always have the preparation advantage. The game provides you with both the incentive and the time to make use of the ammo system well, and it feels good to. I’m not sure I’d like it in most games, but here it worked. More ammo varieties also means ammo scarcity can be a thing without being completely debilitating: while you might not always have the best ammo, you usually have something.

In general, I would say Bioshock felt a little overloaded with mechanics. Crafting could have been interesting, but was too limited to feel especially useful to me. In a game like Bioshock, crafting needs to be weak to keep up the atmosphere, but the ability to craft can also add to the feeling of surviving, so it’s a tricky solve either way.

I liked the camera research mechanic and thought it was clever, but it wasn’t really something I wanted to keep up with all game. The different tonics and their various also slots weren’t really something I enjoyed managing. Few of the bonuses changed how I played the game in ways that felt meaningful enough to justify the time I put into the system. It wasn’t bad really, I think there was room for more a more engaging advancement system, or even that they could have left it out and the game wouldn’t have suffered much.

I did want to touch on hacking as well, because it threw me at first. Here’s an atmospheric, high tension FPS/RPG where everything gets paused while you guide liquid through a series of tubes? But you know what? Even though some of the hacking puzzles were actually impossible and the minigame weirdly broke up the game flow, I found myself improving at them over time and often enjoying the gameplay variance they brought. That’s just me though; I’d wager it’s a pretty divisive mechanic.

Those are all nitpicks though and I had a blast with Bioshock. It’s truly a triumph of storytelling and worldbuilding and an excellent game all around. Highly recommended and it’s definitely going on my favorite games list.