I'm new to FPSs except TF2 so I can't confirm the prevailing opinion that this game "aged badly", but I can tell you what I know. Being quite a noob I chose the Easy mode - and while I died a few times it really is quite easy; in fact the final boss was disappointingly weak. I suggest even players new to FPSs go straight to Normal difficulty. Not that it matters; the BioShock fans aren't there for the difficulty. The strengths are in the atmosphere, combat system and story.

The dilapidated capitalist hellscape of Rapture looks and sounds gorgeous. It is very very clear from the outset where BioShock is taking influence from, and as you continue you can tell what games were influenced by it. The game may be considered old now but its architecture is really something and I sometimes ended up dropping whatever I was meant to be doing just to stare out of the barnacle-encrusted windows for a while, as old classics crooned on distant gramophones.

When I wasn't interrupting myself I often noticed what is in my opinion BioShock's main flaw; that the game seems to interrupt itself. They threw some mechanics into this game that didn't really need to be there - an encouraged strategy in high-pressure scenarios is to first snap a picture of your enemy with a camera, then wait for the photograph to develop, then go to a machine and play a hacking minigame in 2D (incidentally even on easy mode these minigames are frequently, frustratingly unfair). For me, repeatedly taking myself out of the world where all the action is happening just defused the tension the game had been building up. If they had found a way to streamline these sections without putting you in a GUI I would have found it a lot more exciting; maybe this is the "aging" aspect the other fans talk about. Another gripe is that voice lines talk all over each other and dialogue is not balanced very well with the music and SFX; if you want to hear an audio log you have to find a quiet corner away from those noisy splicers and sit still while you listen, disrupting the pace again.

The combat system gives you a great buffet of weapons, upgrades, ammunition, plasmids (superpowers) and buffs to mix and match, so there is a gigantic range of ways to build your character and kill things creatively. If you die you restart immediately so even tricky moments are never frustrating (this might have been ahead of its time; older games I've played had long, punishing game-over screens which might be my least favourite thing in video games). Sadly this isn't complemented by a wide range of enemies, but the ones you do get are engaging, and when they're not interrupting each other their voice lines are convincing.

Apart from its spine-tingling environmental storytelling a lot of the story is told through audio logs, and is riveting when you can hear it. The core of it is one great big twist around half way through which knocked my socks off - though unfortunately it starts to peter out after that, and culminates in a fairly uninspired final boss and one of two didactic cutscenes depending on the morality of your gameplay.

Either way, the reputation of the game precedes it. It's earned its legion of fans - though I think they often talk about it with rose-tinted glasses on - and though it can't sustain its brilliance the whole way through, the first half alone justifies you playing it.

I'm new to FPSs except TF2 so I can't confirm the prevailing opinion that this game "aged badly", but I can tell you what I know. Being quite a noob I chose the Easy mode - and while I died a few times it really is quite easy; in fact the final boss was disappointingly weak. I suggest even players new to FPSs go straight to Normal difficulty. Not that it matters; the BioShock fans aren't there for the difficulty. The strengths are in the atmosphere, combat system and story. The dilapidated capitalist hellscape of Rapture looks and sounds gorgeous. It is very very clear from the outset where BioShock is taking influence from, and as you continue you can tell what games were influenced by it. The game may be considered old now but its architecture is really something and I sometimes ended up dropping whatever I was meant to be doing just to stare out of the barnacle-encrusted windows for a while, as old classics crooned on distant gramophones. When I wasn't interrupting myself I often noticed what is in my opinion BioShock's main flaw; that the game seems to interrupt itself. They threw some mechanics into this game that didn't really need to be there - an encouraged strategy in high-pressure scenarios is to first snap a picture of your enemy with a camera, then wait for the photograph to develop, then go to a machine and play a hacking minigame in 2D (incidentally even on easy mode these minigames are frequently, frustratingly unfair). For me, repeatedly taking myself out of the world where all the action is happening just defused the tension the game had been building up. If they had found a way to streamline these sections without putting you in a GUI I would have found it a lot more exciting; maybe this is the "aging" aspect the other fans talk about. Another gripe is that voice lines talk all over each other and dialogue is not balanced very well with the music and SFX; if you want to hear an audio log you have to find a quiet corner away from those noisy splicers and sit still while you listen, disrupting the pace again. The combat system gives you a great buffet of weapons, upgrades, ammunition, plasmids (superpowers) and buffs to mix and match, so there is a gigantic range of ways to build your character and kill things creatively. If you die you restart immediately so even tricky moments are never frustrating (this might have been ahead of its time; older games I've played had long, punishing game-over screens which might be my least favourite thing in video games). Sadly this isn't complemented by a wide range of enemies, but the ones you do get are engaging, and when they're not interrupting each other their voice lines are convincing. Apart from its spine-tingling environmental storytelling a lot of the story is told through audio logs, and is riveting when you can hear it. The core of it is one great big twist around half way through which knocked my socks off - though unfortunately it starts to peter out after that, and culminates in a fairly uninspired final boss and one of two didactic cutscenes depending on the morality of your gameplay. Either way, the reputation of the game precedes it. It's earned its legion of fans - though I think they often talk about it with rose-tinted glasses on - and though it can't sustain its brilliance the whole way through, the first half alone justifies you playing it.