For years I had been looking for a game that story grabbed me in the same way Legacy of Kain: Defiance did, and I think I finally found it in Bioshock. I was introduced to the series backwards: I played Bioshock 2, then the first one and finished with the prequel book, but I got an amazing experience out of it nonetheless, and perhaps a better one by experiencing it backwards.
Our silent hero of the story, Jack is flying over the Atlantic in 1960 when suddenly the plane goes crashing down by a bizarre looking lighthouse structure and Jack is forced to seek refuge underneath in the underwater utopia Rapture. As he explores the abandoned ruins, we learn about this world as Jack does, including the deadly addictive liquid ADAM that grant its user magical power but requires EVE, a blue liquid, to charge it. Jack becomes a user of ADAM, who are known as splicers, and finds all sorts of artifacts left behind by a city gone mad. The icon of the series, the Big Daddy - a heavily spliced man grafted to an old diving suit -, makes his appearance with his Little Sister, who is the only being that can easily gather ADAM, making them a prime target for rogue splicers and also for Jack himself.
Bioshock being a first person shooter, I was initially wary as I tend to not like this particular genre, however, I was blown away. It's not a game that's just about shooting; it actually builds around it, making interesting use of the weapons instead of your standard inventory, the abilities courtesy of the ADAM being of particular note.
It also features some very frightening moments, and I was very tense at times on my playthrough. The lighting and sound design are excellent, and all add to the oppressive atmosphere that one would undoubtedly feel in this kind of environment. The colours used really immerse you within the clammy, dark ambience, and for a video game world, it is a very believable world to become buried in.
This is one of the very few games I have played where it feels like time doesn't stop when Jack is not around, it feels like a living, breathing, organic place thanks to the A.I. of the Splicers and makes it all the more easier to be pulled into Rapture.
I would play again.
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