Universal acclaim - based on 44 Critics What's this?

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Generally favorable reviews- based on 2673 Ratings

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. 100
    The hours spent playing this masterpiece were the perfect encapsulation of why videogaming is such a favourite waste of time for so many of us. Thrilling, terrifying, moving, confusing, amusing, compelling, and very very dark. BioShock isn't simply the sign of gaming realising its true cinematic potential, but one where a game straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived.
  3. 100
    The truth is, I've never been so emotionally involved in an escort mission before. Games don't normally warrant the kind of discussions I've had about BioShock. This is something special.
  5. No gamer should miss out on this one.
  7. So BioShock is not a revolutionary game, or even a particularly innovative one; by the time I reached the end, I felt as though I had played a rather standard and predictable first-person shooter.

See all 44 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 90 out of 634
  1. Dec 4, 2012
    It is a beautiful but strange world. Fascinating environment that is eerie, elegant music that is mysterious, lovely children that is under external control, dramatic plot and touching ending depict a unprecedented world in the game of bioshock. Maybe, this is the most artistic violent game, almost all would be "shocked" after finishing this game. Maybe, this is the game with the deepest content. 9.7/10 from IGN really says it all.(My rating: 10/10 absolutely) Expand
  2. Apr 30, 2013
    I myself do not critic games like that. But this is an exception. Bioshock has proven itself and to everyone else why it is one of the greatest games ever created. The only problem is that you must have a plan set for when facing the Big Daddy if you do not want often visits to the Vita chamber. Expand
  3. May 9, 2014
    Excelente juego con respecto a historia, muy entretenido y muy buena jugabilidad. El diseño artístico es exelente, ademas muy acorde con la época en la cual se basa el juego. Expand
  4. Apr 20, 2011
    Very good game, a fascinating environment and many chilling moment throughout the game. There are many funny things gamer could do in the game, especially with the plasmids. combat system works well, too. Nevertheless, the sound in the game (the gunfire, the noise, the voice...) is just mediocre. But this little issue cannot reduce the value of the game. An awesome game that every gamers should play! Expand
  5. Mar 30, 2014
    BioShock spoiler-free review:
    BioShock is an outstanding first person shooter that introduces world, characters and mechanics like any other.

    Of course the most talked and revolutionary thing BioShock does, is introducing the world as it's own character. Rapture is a dark, disturbing and forgotten underwater city that sucks you in, making you truly believe you're there. It also mantains posters, audio files and images of what the great city once was, making it a lot more inmersive. The story is extremely well written with deep, three-dimensional characters. However, I found myself rushing through the last 2 hours, just so I could get to the end credits after spending more than 15 hours in the game. Both sound and music are superb, creating an incredibly inmersive and suspenseful world. The mechanics/gameplay in this game are really good, and though the game encourages you not to engage in a battle with multiple oponents (cause you'll die), the A.I never encourages stealth, considering they spot with extreme ease. The plasmids in the game are very well integrated with the shooting mechanic. They bring an estrategic side to the combat, with the player thinking how to set traps and how to use in advantage in really tough fights. The graphics are great and they trully help with the inmersion to Rapture. There's a hacking mini-game that is really simple and well thought, but it gets old pretty easily, considering how much you use it. The Big Daddies. These guys really bring a challenge and satisfaction when defeated. Though the satisfaction doesn't last long, after you see a Little Sister (the ones they protect) crying for their Big Daddy. The little sisters carry ADAM, which you'll need to upgrade your plasmids, and you can either harvest them (you get more ADAM and they die) or save them (you'll get less ADAM and they come back to being little, normal girls). That decission changes a few plot points, but not too much.
    In the end, BioShock manages to step out of the box with deep characters, strong mechanics, reallistic sounds and graphics that will make you want to replay the game quite a few times.
    Average Score: 9.2
  6. Nov 9, 2011
    Honestly didn't get the hype about this game. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the story and the setting but the gameplay and overall experience just didn't cut it for me. I didn't think it was bad, far from it, but it's nowhere near as good as the critics make it out to be.The ending is especially bad. Expand
  7. Jul 12, 2014
    Bioshock is not a good game.

    It's not at all a good game.

    Bioshock has focused nearly all of its efforts on tricking the gaming public
    into thinking it's a good game, which is why it is one of the worst games in all of history.

    I am a person who is all about immersion, but the immersion in Bioshock is intensely contrived. In other words, it knows you like immersion, and it's trying to manipulate you based on that. The people who made Bioshock don't like immersion, they just knew they would get awards and critical acclaim for it. Every 'great moment' in Bioshock is not Bioshock saying it thinks it's a great moment, it's Bioshock saying 'You'll probably think this is great.' I don't know how that passes for the public, but it doesn't pass for me. I want some honesty. If I'm not hearing what actual human beings think about something, then it's a waste of time

    The gameplay is geared to a mind of about 3 years of age. You walk around, you shoot things... the end. A few extra bits like magic, minigames and photography are in there, but they add nothing interesting and just serve as a waste of time. Normally if your game is all about walking and shooting, it is made up for with interesting level design, interesting enemy behavior, or something like that. Not so in Bioshock, that's the whole game. You walk, you shoot, you walk some more, and then you shoot. You listen to some bad voice actor reading some boring dialogue about something you don't care about, then you watch a cinematic with some of the most shallow pointless characters ever, TELLING you you're supposed to care, but really truly finding that you don't.

    This is the most shallow game I have ever played. It makes almost zero attempt to present the player with something true and good, something that someone worked their heart out on and truly believed in, Instead you can sense the developers behind the scenes thinking, "The inferior masses will eat this up." And you did. Nobody at 2K Games cares one iota about Bioshock. They care only about money and prestige. It's not a game made by people for people, it's a game made by people for mindless zombies who have no respect for their own views on important issues.

    Oh! It's a game with MORALS. Good, because I'm too much of a child to figure that stuff out on my own. Thank you 2K Games, for treating me like I'm stupid and morally bankrupt. Thank you for standing up as the standard of goodness so that we know that anyone who disagrees with you is evil

See all 634 User Reviews

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