Sunday 19 August 2007

BioShock Boot Camp

BioShock (Xbox 360) is the "genetically enhanced" first person shooter that lets you do things never before possible in the genre: turn everything into a weapon, biologically mod your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade your weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques in an incredible and unique underwater city.

You are a cast-away in Rapture, an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces, and hunted down by genetically modified splicers and deadly security systems, you have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same, and no two gamers will play the game the same way.

BioShock is loaded with some of the greatest, most modifiable weapons to ever blast their way into a shooter. But guns alone won't be enough to defeat the devious AIs of Rapture. There are literally hundreds of other strategies players can use to take out their enemies.

Here are just a handful of reviews for this landmark video game:

Official Xbox Magazine (UK) 100/100
"Amazingly written and beautifully constructed, it's a complete emotional rollercoaster which we can't draw any parallels with. . . You'll be playing this game for months to come, exchanging story elements to build up the bigger picture, and arguing about what it all means."

Eurogamer Review 10/10
"It takes the tired, worn-out FPS genre by the scruff of the neck, reinvents and bends it out of shape in such a breathtaking fashion that it's going to take something very special to top this in the months and years ahead."

Gameinformer 10/10
"It’s ingenious, enthralling, and a masterpiece of the most epic proportions. In terms of delivering chilling atmosphere, dynamic combat, and startling revelations, games just don’t come any better than BioShock."

Gametap 10/10
"BioShock is one of the few games that I’ve reviewed in my entire career that I feverishly want to go back through and play again."

1up 10/10
". . . . . an experience that's richly and utterly complete, and one that engages the player in a constant dialogue, BioShock is virtually unassailable."

Games Radar 10/10
"A mesmerising masterpiece of horror, the only glaring weakness we can find in BioShock is that it may be too unusual, too original, too artistic and too genius to be embraced by the general public."

GamePro 5/5
"It leaves its mark on a genre that has its fair share of memorable titles and it does it with style and panache. It is easily one of the best games of the year."

Gamespy 5/5
"An unparalleled achievement. No other game comes even remotely close to it in terms of raw emotional connection."

UGO.com A
"There's nothing which will make you ever want to stop playing; you'll simply curse under your breath and get on with killing Splicers and hunting Little Sisters."

IGN 9.7/10
"BioShock stands as a monolithic example of the convergence of entertaining gameplay and an irresistibly sinister, engrossing storyline that encompasses a host of multifaceted characters. This is an essential gaming experience."

Teamxbox 9.5/10
"It's inventive and entertaining, with a number of twists and unexpected situations that'll have you on the edge of your seat. . . It's rare to find a game that has both quality in its engineering and quality in its gameplay."

PC Gamer (UK) 9.5/10
"Succeeds so stunningly on three fronts: narrative, emergence, and a sense of place. If another game did just one of these as well as BioShock, it would immediately qualify as a classic. When a game comes along that does all three, we can only be baffled and thankful."

Xbox World 360 9.4/10
"It's a gruelling game of resource management, and as the ammunition dries up, you end up having to improvise. And more often than not, Bioshock will reward you heavily for thinking outside the box."

Such unanimous praise, from the upper echelons of the gaming press, has convinced me to pre-order BioShock (PC), thus proving the maximum that 'Boot Camp is for Games' too! The more adventurous, amongst you, may even go as far as buying an Xbox 360 Elite to play this on!

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