Bioshock PS3 Review

I chose to wait for Bioshock to come to the PS3 so that I could check out the hyped visuals on the TV screen instead of my laptop. It wasn’t easy avoiding the spoilers, controversy and enthusiasm for a year. Now that we have been playing it, the game delves deeply not only into new waters in the game industry and history but is opens flood gates into the one’s consciousness. Perhaps unlike most recent games the story telling goes beyond a fantasy into philosophy and ethics. No doubt the developers, taking into account the roaring arguments of pundits about the dangers of video games, and the lack of art in them, produced something that is both visually amazing and intellectually challenging. Any serious gamer should check out Bioshock. It is not for the faint of heart or those who can’t handle moderate to intense graphic horror and gore which is a downside to reaching more gamers who could have enjoyed this game.

Now more than ever when the needs for financial and social consciousness have been vindicated in reality, the themes of Bioshock are even more compelling. Ayn Rand’s objectivism philosophy impresses me as Jean Paul Sartre’s existentialism taken up a notch. While existentialism is a philosophy of “no gods or kings”, objectivism appears to be the practice of it. Over the past few months we have experienced an objectivist scenario in real life. In the eight years of the Bush administration, the objectivist styled neo conservatives wet dream has funded a massive military industrial complex, set to run on with out the constraints of any regulation. The barriers that were in place to protect the economy and the workers who generate it were taken away through the gradual and insidious work of the Reagan and Bush administrations. What began in the 1940’s only took seven years to tumble Wall Street down. An objectivist type philosophy that pooled power and wealth for a thin strata of one percent of the population has caused the whole ship of industry to capsize.

Over at Kotaku they quote Yaron Brook the president of the Ayn Rand Institute.

BioShock may have been conceived as a study in nuance, a place for gamers to discover and explore at their own pace, but its dip into the ethical morass of Ayn Rand’s objectivist philosophies has brought her beliefs back into the mainstream spotlight and even piqued the interest of the Ayn Rand Institute’s president, Yaron Brook.

Brook, a former member of the Israeli Army military intelligence and award-winning finance professor at Santa Clara University, first took notice of the game when he discovered his 18-year-old son playing it. It’s a fact that didn’t bother Brook despite his son’s objectivist beliefs and the game’s not so positive take on the philosophy.

“My son has to find his own way in life,” he said. “There are certain games I wouldn’t want him to play, like Grand Theft Auto, games that celebrate criminality. But a game that might lead him to think and have him challenge his ideas, I’m fine with.”

I don’t know if I would agree that objectivism isn’t a seed thought in the practice of criminal behaviors that you also find in Grand Theft Auto as well as Bioshock. The live for the moment jack and shoot game play in GTA seems like it is rational self-interest at work as well. Though Mr. Brook may be too elitist to see it. Who indeed is more criminal, long time scheming despots like Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine or a car jacking felon whose intentions are more clear?

The graphics in this game are exceptional. The over the top art deco design, of the undersea city with neon signs, brass fittings and expansive underwater architecture are peerless. It has some of the best lighting and water effects that I have seen. The use of colors is diverse and eye popping. With millions of colors available its fabulous to see a few more of them used instead of the monotonous browns and ‘graeige’ of most FPS games. But what makes the visuals so good is what makes the gore in this game even more bad. I rate horror by how nauseated I get. If I can’t watch it without feeling sick then it isn’t much good to me. If a game that I want to explore only gives me a few hours before my stomach turns, then I am on to the next game. Something of less deep such as blowing up flying cars can be enjoyed after a meal in the way that Bioshock can’t.

Another problem is the first person perspective. I think that it sacrifices too much by limiting itself to having only one perspective. A toggle for third person would be a big improvement to the camera. Puzzle solving and searching would be easier and less cumbersome. However a twist of the story line does give some credence for why you are limited to that view.

There are plenty of pick ups. Interesting and odd genetic material transforms both you and your weapons potential. Everything you find can be used in some way. Plasmids and tonics add a new variety to weapons. There is also the feasibility for hacking and making enemies fight each other. The antique weapons and everything in the game is richly detailed. The decor of the post world war two era is expanded upon and elevated. It is truly a beautiful game, at times, that transports you inside itself. Underwater beauty has a haunted quality that one may remember from playing the first edition of Myst on Mac or PC. It does draw you inside its world and immerse you unwillingly. you feel inexorably taken in by this game.

The enemies are unique such as the splicers, Big Daddys and Little Sisters. The young girls in the game harvest corpses who are protected by beings in metal diving suits. Why not scary little brother instead or in addition to? Despite one of the endings which could be interpreted as redemptive, I still found the characterization of the Little Sisters to be a disturbing and disappointing portrayal of female characters. It is in good company with many games such as America McGee’s Alice and many others. It is far too typical for females to be villains inflicted with madness in video games. There is no choice for male or female playable character. However there is ample explanation for this in the elaborate novella that surrounds the game. As a horror theme game it rises to the top ten easily. It shows up the graphics in Silent Hill Homecoming in a stunning fashion. But Silent Hill I could play for hours and I’m not seasick. Sixty bucks for nausea I can live without, and you may feel the same way.

PS3 version is said to be free of an annoying cache bug. There were stutters in the X360 version in some of the later levels. A patch was eventually released for that problem.

Bioshock is a unique and thought provoking game. It deserves the awards and attention, but also some critique. It is far from perfect. Many awkward interface and camera problems could use improvement. With such deep subject matter it is a shame that they had to make it such a gross out. If it was a little less disgusting it would be less of a niche game. It isn’t perfectly a FPS and it frequently is a puzzler/adventure game. Even thought it is thought of as a hybrid there is a bridge it doesn’t quite cross over. Bioshock gives all the appearance of being a “guy game” with little or no thought to the female survival horror game enthusiast as a possible market. It is an experience that you usually only see once per console and that everyone talks about timelessly. That however does not justify giving it a perfect score as many reviewers have. One of the endings can be interpreted as cliff hanger for a sequel, that I would enjoy checking out. The actual bio-shock hinted at as a future on dry land. I always deduct one full point for no playable female character, or how the female characters are handled, and Bioshock did not get that point. I also deduct a full point or more for camera problems, clunky interface and functionality issues. The gross out factor is too much for me and detracted from my enjoyment and length of game play time. Because the graphics are so fantastic it ameliorates the deduction for that to .5 instead of a full point. I give Bioshock 7.5 foot long syringes out of 10.

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