Gamers Platform

Just a little while ago, I finished the demo for the upcoming PS3 release BioShock, and was just as impressed as I was the first time. Most gamers are already familiar with this game, having already been released on the Xbox 360 (not to mention the hype train its riding for its upcoming PS3 release). But for those of you who don’t own a 360 and are anticipating this one, I think you’ll definitely be pleased.

You begin play aboard an airplane, flying to who-knows-where. As you look through your belongings and a voice over plays, the plane suddenly goes in to a nosedive and crashes in the middle of nowhere. Or does it? After struggling to the surface, the game play officially beings as you work your way in to what will soon be known to you as the underwater city of Rapture.

Upon entering the city via underwater transport, you become witness to the cities destruction. Debris and trash litter the area, along with water leaks and some corpses. I’m not going to go any further in to the actual game itself, as not to spoil it for you people holding out until release.

The game itself is just as amazing if not more so than on its 360 counterpart. The water animation and the way people move, as well as your special abilities all look wonderful. The environment and lighting were done amazingly well, and really sets the mood for your adventure in the underwater wasteland. The sounds and music are still incredible to boot, doing an awesome job of also setting the tone of the game (Big Daddy footsteps still haunt me). BioShock is still one of the best looking games I’ve played to date, and PS3 owners won’t be disappointed with this version.

The controls are tight and laid out very well. Switching weapons or powers, as well as actually firing or using them are all extremely easy to use and should take no time to get used to. Movement is smooth and precise also.

Enemies in the game can sometimes be very tricky and the A.I. is definitely up to par in the game. For example, if you use your Incinerate ability to set someone on fire and there is water nearby, they will jump in to the water to save themselves from burning. Of course at that point you can use the water to electrocute them with your ElectroBolt power, but still, pretty smart of them to try any way. If you are trigger happy, you can sometimes find yourself scrambling for ammo, although not really a problem if you are familiar with your handy monkey wrench.

The powers (or Plasmids) are very well done I loved the way your hand looks when you have a power active, especially the fact that as you get higher levels of the power, your hands can become more deformed or more, uh, electric looking (for lack of a better word).

Quick final note, some people who have played the demo have experienced problems with the resolution having white bars appear on their screen and some of the character models being distorted or pixelated (as reported here earlier).  While I personally did not have any problems during my two trips through Rapture, it should be noted that 2K is aware of this now and hopefully a fix will be released for those who have the problem.

Overall, I think this game is going to be a great seller on the PS3, and anybody that loves a good shooter or horror style game are going to love this game.  I would say hold off on it if you’ve already played it for the 360 (or if you at least have a 360 as you can score it cheaper on that system), but this is a solid game and is truly a great gaming experience. The story is very well done and unfolds nicely as you play along, and who doesn’t love a good shoot-em-up and fire blast ‘em game anyway? Look for BioShock on the PS3, coming October 21^st.