John Banayan

Bioshock uses the unique strengths of the first-person shooter to create the most immersive experience I’ve ever played. Using an exceptionally detailed atmosphere, the game revolves around choice and making you feel like there are consequences to decisions you’ve made, namely choosing to ignore, harvest or save “Little Sisters”. These characters embody an item that could be used to greatly improve/expand your skills but to get all of it you must kill the innocent carriers who are protected by Big Daddy’s, the games roaming boss battles. Using guns and plasmids (genetic modifiers that give the player the ability to start fires, send a swarm of bees, freeze an enemy etc.) you fight your way through an underwater society that has turned on itself and uncover your connection to it. Unlike other FPS’s Bioshock doesn’t rely solely on your ability to shoot at a target, it requires you to plant traps, plan escapes and create strategies. You play the way you want to play and not taking your surroundings or abilities into account will end in an explosive death. This in turn makes my avatar unique to anyone else’s. My character saved all of the little sisters and loved lighting people on fire and then electrocuting them when they jumped into the water. Yours may specialize in setting traps and luring people into them. The player also chooses how invested they can be in the story as most of the story is delivered through audio tapes you find and can listen to as you play. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to play a game that will give me the freedom to play the way I want to play.

The GUI is minimal and only display’s the information you need to know, when you need it. Thus things like health and ammunition are only on screen when you’re fighting and an arrow helps navigate you through the level when there is a specific objective that needs to be done. Other elements that show up are a radio icon when you’re receiving instructions or a small picture when you’re listening to a tape you just picked up. Cycling though weapons or plasmids is done by either a quick press of the bumpers or holding them until a circle of all available weapons/plasmids pops up. This of course freezes the action on screen and gives you a little time to plan while you’re in battle.

This game helps legitimize gaming as an actual art form because it can’t be done in any other media format without losing what made it special. Of course that doesn’t scare some from trying as there is a Bioshock movie in the works.

Wireframe
1 – First Aid Kits left – These refill the health bar
2 – Health Bar
3 – Eve left – These are the “ammo” for plasmids
4 – Amount of Eve left
5 – Navigation Arrow
6 – Ammo Type 1
7 – Ammo Type 2
8 – Ammo Type 3
9 – Ammo left and what kind of ammo