Posts Tagged ‘bioshock’
Podcast: Top Scores, Volume 4
Wow, another year and another fantastic episode of game soundtracks. This year GH101 was delighted to get so many listener submissions that it amassed over 30 songs and nearly two and a half hours! You can find the full playlist at the bottom of this post.
Video: The Making of Bioshock Documentary
As part of our collaboration of documentaries on game design comes The Making of Bioshock. This was in a supplemental DVD that came with the Deluxe Edition of the original Bioshock and features almost 42 minutes of developmental stories and design choices as told by the staff of Irrational Games themselves. While you may immediately recognize studio head Ken Levine, there are plenty of other heavy talent you will want to pay attention to in this documentary and hear the story of how a space station in the sea became one of our favorite Xbox 360 games. If you’ve never played it before, feel free to check out our quick look or game club podcast in addition to the link above for our review.
Review: Bioshock
Bioshock was released all the way back in 2007 (which seems like quite a while in terms of game releases), near enough the same time as the launch of the Xbox 360. Before I re-played this game for the Game Club, my last save on the 360 was dated August 2009. So would you kindly take a seat and read on, as we see if Rapture is still a city worth re visiting or if it should stay at the bottom of the ocean.
In Bioshock you play as Jack, a character who doesn’t really say much. After surviving a plane crash and swimming to a lighthouse, you find underwater transportation to the city of Rapture, a so-called underwater utopia created by a man named Andrew Ryan. You quickly learn that Rapture is not the magical gum drop land it was probably intended to be because most of the residents have totally lost their minds and want to murder you. People seem to be hooked on something called ADAM which changes your genetic code, giving the recipient special powers. The game does a great job of explaining the story through use of audio diaries, which give audio-based background to the game while you are still playing. The story is filled with regular twists and turns that will keep you interested right up to the end. Since there is so much depth to the plot, I found I understood more when going through the game multiple times (not to mention these are hidden items that you can drudge for when not on an initial playthrough).
Bioshock plays as a first person shooter with role playing elements. The game gives very clear goals and even a quest marker for where to go. Don’t worry completionists, you have plenty of opportunity to explore the world and discover secrets and additional information of Rapture. You also find plasmids which unlock super powers for your character such as shooting electricity or even bees out your hands if you choose it. Alternatively you can use plasmids for more passive results such as improving your melee damage, healing abilities, and several other traits.
Podcast: Would You Kindly
This week Fred and Jam tackle the Bioshock game club. Irrational Games (as 2K Boston) follow up the System Shock series with a new underwater utopia gone wrong and plagued by warring factions. With inspirations from popular culture and depression era architecture, Bioshock proves that the devil really is in the details.
Quick Look: Bioshock
This month’s game club is none other than the 2K Boston (Irrational Games) 2007 release Bioshock. Unlike many of the games in our game club, it’s not the first time we’ve touched this game so instead of the usual banter we focus on gameplay elements, historical development context, and of course the slew of minutia that makes this nearly 7 year old game seem timeless. Due to a microphone balancing issue, my commentary is sometimes drowned out by the game’s audio
Podcast: The Final Countdown – Pt. 4 (finale)
We finally wrap up our “much-longer-than-we-ever-expected” series discussing the stories and cultural relevance of the games in G4’s Top 100 video games of all time. Fred Rojas is yet again joined by Rob “Trees” from EZ Mode Unlocked to wrap up the final games and even have a brief side discussion on games that may be missing.
Download this episode (right click and save)
Visit the podcast site
Gaming History 101 