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BioShock

Published: Tue 7 Oct, 2008 | On:

You have quite a powerful arsenal at your disposal, a wrench, revolver, shotgun, crossbow, machine gun and more. These weapons are awesome as they are, but you can upgrade them as well. And unlike most games, when you upgrade your weapon it looks different, eg. when you upgrade your revolvers clip-size, it adds a huge extra revolving clip that makes it look even better.

Weapons are not your only choice of attack; you have plasmids, which are powers that range from electricity to fire. Plasmids are powered by EVE, a serum that gives you the power to use them. You must adapt and use plasmids in order to escape the decaying city. Some of the more useful plasmids are: Electro Bolt - A powerful bolt of electricity that shoots from your hand and stuns any enemy that is in your path, Incinerate - Set your enemies on fire in seconds, burning them to a crisp, Telekinesis - Allows you to catch grenades that are being thrown at you and move objects that are in your way, Hypnotize Big Daddy – A plasmid that makes a Big Daddy help you for a change, it hypnotizes them to fight alongside you for a period of time, these are just a few abilities you learn while in Rapture. Like weapons, you can upgrade your plasmids also. As you progress through the game, you will be able to find and purchase new plasmids that help you stay alive.

When you die, you do not get game-over, you are revived in a Vita-Chamber, and there are a few of these in each area.

ADAM. With the world’s best and brightest scientists together at the bottom of the sea with no constraints, it was only a matter of time until they made a number of breakthroughs. The defining breakthrough was ADAM. Generated by a deep-sea parasite when attached to a host, the parasite produced new stem cells healing the host. The new stem cells allowed the host to take on external genetic modifications that take over their normal cell structure. These genetic modifications ranged from medical cures to pure vanity changes. The genetic modifications eventually became more militant in nature. The instant genetic modifications of Rapture come in two types, Plasmids and Gene Tonics. You use ADAM to purchase things like: new Plasmids and Gene Tonics, to maximize your health and EVE, and even increase the amount of Plasmids and Gene Tonics you can carry at a time, you can do all of this at machines called Gatherer Gardens.

There are many more machines that you come across as you go deeper into Rapture. You can go to a machine called Ammo Banditos to purchase more ammunition. The Vending Machines are the most common in the game, they are full of resources for you to purchase such as ammunition, First Aid Kits and EVE hypos. U-Invent machines allow you to craft new items from the random items you find around Rapture, such as glue, rubber hoses and screws, these and many other materials can be used to create ammo, hacking tools and even Gene Tonics.

Upgrading weapons are done at Power to the people Machines. These machines are not easy to find. The upgrades are free so you don’t have to worry about not having any money to purchase upgrades. Once you have selected your upgrade, the machine closes permanently, so choose wisely.

Gene Banks are stations that allow you to reconfigure your equipped Plasmids and Gene Tonics. It shows all of your Plasmids and Gene Tonics you have collected up to that point and allows you to select which ones you want to equip. Plasmids and Gene Tonics that are not equipped are stored and you are able to equip them whenever you want.

There are a few security devices that give your position away to nearby enemies and Spybots are released and will shoot on sight. Cameras are placed everywhere, constantly looking for intruders. Luckily enough, it will sound a warning tone and if you stay out of sight for long enough, it will not release Spybots. If it does detect you and you do not hide, an alarm will sound, summoning Spybots, as long as the alarm is going, more and more Spybots will be sent to exterminate intruders, in other words, you. There is a counter shown on screen so you know how long you have to keep hiding and/or fighting for.

The recent military activity has left automated turrets throughout Rapture that are still active when confronted by an intruder. These machines are often deadly but surprisingly can be used to your advantage if you can get close enough to them to hack. Be careful though, turrets should be disabled before attempting the hack, I recommend using Electro Bolt, which temporarily disables turrets (and cameras) and gives you enough time to reach the machine and hack it. Turrets come in two types: RPG turrets that shoot rockets and inflict massive amounts of damage, and machine gun turrets that continuously shoot bullets at you. Turrets can be looted for ammunition that comes in handy during your time in Rapture.

Hacking. It consists of redirecting the circuit flow. You uncover tiles that reveal pipes that you use to direct the flow from one end of the circuit board to the other. If hacking machines is too difficult you can always purchase, invent or find automated hacking tools that hack the machine instantly. When you hack turrets they shoot your enemies, when you hack cameras, they treat your enemies as intruders instead of you, resulting in Spybots being released on them, not you.

Bioshock has an arrow that points to your goal that makes your life a lot easier. The map is also something that you will probably go to a lot; it marks your goal, vending machines, gatherers gardens and every other machine, except the Power to the People machine. If you have more than one goal, you can change which one you want the goal arrow to point to. There is also useful information in the menu blade. All of this can be viewed by pushing the back button. You will also want to save a lot because when you come across Big Daddy’s you will either be killed and revived or will end up with no First Aid Kits left. When you get further in the game Big Daddy’s will just become another annoying enemy, by then you will have upgraded your weapons that deal more damage and different ammo types like exploding bucks for your shotgun (which is my favorite ammo type to use on Big Daddy’s).

Your main enemies in Rapture are called Splicers. They were human once, but are now have addicted to ADAM and will kill anyone that has it. There are many types of Splicers like the Houdini Splicer – They disappear and reappear in a position to their advantage so they can attack you, they are the hardest of all the Splicers to kill. Some Splicers just run at you with a wrench or a pipe, but some have guns, but with or without a gun they are all deadly.

I hope I haven’t gone on about it too much and hope this answers any questions and helps you decide if you want to purchase it or not.