BioShock (2007)

2K Australia, 2K Boston

Mac · PC (Microsoft Windows) · Xbox 360

4.28 from 12705 ratings · #108 top rated on Grouvee

25557 members have it in their collection · 991 playing now · 6974 backlogged · 2162 wish listed

How long? Main story 15h · with extras 17h · 100% 21h (from 121 logged playthroughs)

BioShock is a horror-themed first-person shooter set in a steampunk underwater dystopia. The player is urged to turn everything into a weapon: biologically modifying their own body with Plasmids, hacking devices and systems, upgrading their weapons, crafting new ammo variants, and experimenting with different battle techniques are all possible. The game is described by the developers as a spiritual successor … Read more
BioShock is a horror-themed first-person shooter set in a steampunk underwater dystopia. The player is urged to turn everything into a weapon: biologically modifying their own body with Plasmids, hacking devices and systems, upgrading their weapons, crafting new ammo variants, and experimenting with different battle techniques are all possible. The game is described by the developers as a spiritual successor to their previous PC title System Shock 2. BioShock received high praise in critical reviews for its atmospheric audio and visual quality, absorbing and original plot and its unique gaming experience. Read less
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Release dates

  • Aug 21, 2007 (Worldwide) PC (Microsoft Windows)
  • Aug 21, 2007 (North_America) Xbox 360
  • Aug 24, 2007 (Europe) Xbox 360
  • Feb 21, 2008 (Japan) Xbox 360
  • Oct 07, 2009 (North_America) Mac
  • Oct 23, 2009 (Europe) Mac

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5 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars
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2 stars
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1 star
108
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Community All Reviews Statuses

CrazyCandle

Review CrazyCandle 4/5 · Feb 18, 2025

20,000 Evil Corrupted Subhuman Creatures Under the Sea: Bioshock 1

While the gameplay is a relic of its time and by our standards today is only average (as many have already complained about) the actual mechanics, weapons, and structure could use some assistance to be brought up to today's standards (also escort missions should be abolished for all eternity). This part of the game did not impact me as much …

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While the gameplay is a relic of its time and by our standards today is only average (as many have already complained about) the actual mechanics, weapons, and structure could use some assistance to be brought up to today's standards (also escort missions should be abolished for all eternity). This part of the game did not impact me as much as others, but the horror aspects of Bioshock should not be taken lightly and are fantastic at what they serve to do before you grow stronger and become more accustomed and less afraid of them as the narrative continues. However, that's not why I, nor you, should play this game today.

This game should be played today for its atmosphere, story, characters, plot, and the entire "vibe" of the game itself. In that way, Bioshock was and is revolutionary at what it excels at, providing a captivating, believable world that encourages the player to not just take things at face value, but to think about the themes it is presenting you deeply to come out of the experience a more learned and free person. An absolute classic of the genre for good reason, this game should be experienced by all people with even a vague interest in what it has to offer.

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vinskithebard

Review vinskithebard 2/5 · Oct 26, 2024

Toimii kuin objektivismi.

Siinä missä ayn rand henkinen maailma art deco-taiteineen onkin mielenkiintoinen, pelin taistelu on äärimmäisen sotkuista ja rasauttavaa.

Viholliset syntyvät uudestaan ja tuntuvat löytävän aina jostain selän taakse. Ampuminen on jatkuvaa lataamista ja eri ammustyyppien pläräystä. Usein aseissa on vain muutama panos, jotka pitää ampua, sitten vaihtaa asetta tai panostyyppiä ja ladata. Koska itemeistä oli krooninen pula, tuli paljon tilanteita, joissa …

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Siinä missä ayn rand henkinen maailma art deco-taiteineen onkin mielenkiintoinen, pelin taistelu on äärimmäisen sotkuista ja rasauttavaa.

Viholliset syntyvät uudestaan ja tuntuvat löytävän aina jostain selän taakse. Ampuminen on jatkuvaa lataamista ja eri ammustyyppien pläräystä. Usein aseissa on vain muutama panos, jotka pitää ampua, sitten vaihtaa asetta tai panostyyppiä ja ladata. Koska itemeistä oli krooninen pula, tuli paljon tilanteita, joissa looppaa rinkiä - ammu vihua pari laukausta, kuole, synny uudestaan, mene ampumaan muutama lisää, repeat.  "Taikavoimaa" ei voi käyttää samalla aikaa kun ampuu, ja sekin pitää ladata pikaisesti käytön jälkeen. Mikä hemmetin latausfetissi tällä pelillä on? Lisäksi aina jossain tuntui piippaavan joku kamera tai hälytys, kun juoksi väärään huoneeseen.

Jos positiivista pitäisi hakea, "pipe dreamia" kopioiva hakkeroiminen on ihan hauskaa, ja shock-mainen monialainen pelattavuus on ajatuksen tasolla ihan jees.

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beebo

Review beebo 4/5 · Apr 17, 2024

Gooda gameu

Amazing game would be a five out of ten if the combat wasnt so repetitive. also love big schlongs daddies!

great story

cagebox

Review cagebox 4/5 · Feb 18, 2024

Fun Shooter with a Great Story

I really like BioShock but I've always felt like I didn't think it was quite as much as others did. I love the atmosphere and the story is great. For me, it falls in that 4.5/5 star category.

Luitenant_Gruber

Review Luitenant_Gruber 5/5 · Dec 9, 2022

Still the absolute best game I have played in my whole life

BioShock came as a total surprise to me when I first played in on my PlayStation 3. Its story, atmosphere and mechanics immediately got my attention.

It is a totally different game from other shooters where te goal is surviving instead of killing every living thing in sight. You need to be tactful, careful, resourceful and must use your surroundings …

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BioShock came as a total surprise to me when I first played in on my PlayStation 3. Its story, atmosphere and mechanics immediately got my attention.

It is a totally different game from other shooters where te goal is surviving instead of killing every living thing in sight. You need to be tactful, careful, resourceful and must use your surroundings to survive. Every decision you make, story wise or how you want to play the game has a huge impact on your progression.

This is a game you play for the story. It has the strongest story and plot I have ever experienced in a game. It is simply perfect. For this reason, I enjoyed every minute of the game to see what happened next. The developers put their hearts into this game and wanted to let you know what is happening in and around Rapture. I am not going to spoil it tough; this is something you need to experience for yourself.

BioShock still has impressive graphics and animations and the design of each level is a masterpiece in my opinion. Also, the ambient sound, speech and weapon sounds are really well done. It adds greatly to the experience. A shot from your revolver with surround sound on, sounds like a real bullet flying trough your window.

There are no complaints from my end for this game. Sure, on higher difficulties the game can be brutal and unforgiving but strangely this is the only game where I see this as a challenge, rather then an unfair fight or cheap death. The best example I have, is taking down a Rosie without any upgrades or Tonics on Survivor difficulty by letting him walk up and down on a platform.

The DLC challenges are lots of fun. They empower the things I said at the beginning of the review where you need to think, use your resources well and figure out the right way to progress further.

Like I said before, BioShock is and will always be the best game I ever played to this day. No other game today has given me the feeling of ultimate satisfaction, adrenaline, focus and joy like this game does.

Needless to say, I absolutely recommend this game.

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guiss1120

Review guiss1120 5/5 · Dec 14, 2020

Hey Little Girl, I'm your BigDaddy

enter image description here

Esse com toda certeza é um dos meus jogos favoritos!

Durante minha primeira gameplay, não estava botando muita fé, afinal, não sou tão chegado em jogos em primeira pessoa, além de que ao iniciar, é tragédia atrás de tragédia, e depois um lugar totalmente sombrio, com os Slicers aparecendo de forma inesperada na sua tela, depois de um tempo você …

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enter image description here

Esse com toda certeza é um dos meus jogos favoritos!

Durante minha primeira gameplay, não estava botando muita fé, afinal, não sou tão chegado em jogos em primeira pessoa, além de que ao iniciar, é tragédia atrás de tragédia, e depois um lugar totalmente sombrio, com os Slicers aparecendo de forma inesperada na sua tela, depois de um tempo você se acostuma, é claro.

A gameplay do jogo é muito fluída e a história é magnífica, onde não é só com as cutscenes que você a entende, e sim, pegando as gravações de rádios e salvando as Little Girls (eu salvei todas, o que me garantiu o final bom, que por sinal é extremamente emocionante).

Acho muito importante prestar atenção em todos os áudios, e isso prende sua atenção, até descobrir todo o Plot do jogo, onde você estava a todo o tempo sendo controlado mentalmente após falarem "would you kindly?", te tornando um "cachorrinho que recebe comandos".

Rapture, Splicers, Big Daddies e as little girls são apresentados de uma forma sensacional no jogo, mostrando como a cidade deveria ser utópica e para a elite, até sua maior queda por conta da ganancia do homem e todas as outras questões.

Retomando ao "final bom" do jogo, é sensacional, onde você está prestes a morrer e todas as Little Girls te salvam, após isso vem uma incrível cutscene de você, já velho, morrendo, enquanto todas as Little Girls conseguiam ter uma vida normal.

Eu adorei o fator de Rapture ser uma cidade "livre" de religiões e crenças, mas os poderes que você ganha são chamados de "Adam" (Adão), e sua "mana" é chamada de "E.V.E" (Eva), trazendo esse aspecto irônico e sensacional ao jogo.

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opeongo5

Review opeongo5 4/5 · Feb 5, 2019

"Would You Kindly..."

“Would you kindly?” Anyone who has played Bioshock can never forget that memorable line. The questions raised by that line will resonate far after the games closing credits. Bioshock stands out not simply as one of the defining games of a console generation for its technical achievement and innovation, but even more for a thought-provoking narrative that embodies political ideology …

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“Would you kindly?” Anyone who has played Bioshock can never forget that memorable line. The questions raised by that line will resonate far after the games closing credits. Bioshock stands out not simply as one of the defining games of a console generation for its technical achievement and innovation, but even more for a thought-provoking narrative that embodies political ideology and age-old questions of philosophy.
Bioshock opens when Jack finds himself outside a mysterious lighthouse after a plane crash. The lighthouse leads to the underwater city of Rapture, a city founded on the objectivist philosophy of Andrew Ryan. Upon entering the city, Jack is contacted by Atlas to rescue his family held by Ryan. After the bathysphere contantaining Atlas’ family is destroyed, the rescue mission is transformed into a quest for vengeance.
Exploring Rapture is exploring the effects of the objectivist philosophy. From the splicers, the personal and social ravages of drugs are incarnated. Sander Cohen represents the pursuit of beauty without truth, and Dr. Tannenbaum science without ethics. The very environment of Rapture itself embodies the ruin that is brought by a consistent embrace of Ayn Rand’s ideas. Freedom is not absence of limits, and when those limits are absent, Rapture occurs.
While examinations of Ayn Rand and objectivism are more subtle and below the surface, examining freedom is front and center on the surface. “A man chooses, a slave obeys” words spoken by Andrew Ryan at the climax of the game frames everything which occurred previously. The illusion of agency inherent in a video game is shattered at this moment. In a meta way, just as Jack’s very actions were scripted by Fontaine, just as the players actions have been scripted and constrained by the developers.
Layered on top of constraint is the choice to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters one encountered throughout Rapture. While the choice has no deep influence on the game’s progress, the choice between immediate short-term benefit versus a despicable atrocity are more about the player. Portraying the Little Sisters as little girls, rather than as hideous monsters presents this choice in the most stark manner possible. In the end, any short-term benefit from harvesting the Little Sisters is more than compensated by the gifts offered by the grateful rescued girls.
Beyond the ideas, as a game Bioshock is flawed, but its merits far outweigh its weaknesses. The core mechanics are solid, from the weapons to the plasmids. The basic weapons and plasmids are solid, but there is benefit to exploring beyond the Electrobolt and Incinerate. I found the Insect Swarm to be particularly effective. The game rewards exploration. Outside of the named characters, the city of Rapture itself a character that pays dividends for those who search out each dark corner. Audio Diaries rewards the time and effort for those who find them with a deeper understanding of the city’s history, Ryan’s philosophy and a deeper understanding of Jack’s identity and his position in Fontaine’s plot. After the scene in Ryan’s office, the rest of the game is largely anticlimactic. With the mystery revealed, the resolution does not maintain the level of the game’s buildup. The final fight with Fontaine is terrible, unnecessarily inserted as as a obligatory final boss fight. On replay, I found that my memories of the beginning of the game were far more vivid than of the end. The forgettable and frustrating nature of the second half explains this discrepancy. The Remastered Edition includes in each level a bonus video from Ken Levine discussing the game’s background and development.
Bioshock may not be a perfect game, but it is a landmark not only for its technical merits, but for its rich narrative, vivid environment and exploration of philosophical concepts not generally in video games. For that reason alone, Bioshock deserves to be honored as a foundation in modern video games.

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ChristopherDeleon

Review ChristopherDeleon 2/5 · Sep 16, 2017

Great environment, sub-par gunplay, terrible storytelling.

I love the setting and characters in Bioshock and the whole underwater steampunk theme fits really well with their story, but I'm constantly running low on ammo, constantly feeling underpowered and every enemy encounter that I go through only gets me enough resources to last the next encounter. The storytelling is told primarily through unseen characters and recordings of many …

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I love the setting and characters in Bioshock and the whole underwater steampunk theme fits really well with their story, but I'm constantly running low on ammo, constantly feeling underpowered and every enemy encounter that I go through only gets me enough resources to last the next encounter. The storytelling is told primarily through unseen characters and recordings of many people who, at the time of the player's arrival, are already deceased. At times there are so many voice recordings that there's not really any time to soak up the wonderful environment they have forged for the player. There's a lot of content I have yet to explore so I will leave my final rating for a later date.

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ahmed.abdelmalek

Review ahmed.abdelmalek 3/5 · Apr 7, 2017

BioShock *NOT SPOILER*

I gave this game 3.5/5 and this is why -->

Story: Story is very good and kinda attractive , you can be contained in the game easily through following up just the story , it was well created and they cared to the little details as well that make the story very good alone , also the political and philosophical …

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I gave this game 3.5/5 and this is why -->

Story: Story is very good and kinda attractive , you can be contained in the game easily through following up just the story , it was well created and they cared to the little details as well that make the story very good alone , also the political and philosophical conversation gave the game spices

Game battle system : they put under your service a whole arsenal from the simple wrench to grenade launcher and flamethrower , even the single weapon has three type of ammo , that's not all you can alternate your dna to have another abilities like causing electric shocks ,flames , throwing things and a LOT of other things Difficulty : I played this game twice on hard and normal mode , it's very difficult at the begining but turning out to be easy at the end specially with the bosses , actually i found it frustrating , the aiming system need some modification , but at the contrary the enemies are not so easy they dodges and tries to take advantage on you when you are trying to escape

graphics : the graphics are pleasing for the time the game was launched (2007) with a lot of details in the faces and background

Sounds : they used a thrilling sounds and a lot of sound effects that was taken from horror films that was good as for quality and to let you enter the game atmosphere but also the game don't have a distinguishable track or score

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SpoonMan

Review SpoonMan 4/5 · Mar 7, 2017

The immortality thing made the game too fucking easy.

Actual Score: 4.5/5

notbryant

Review notbryant 5/5 · Nov 21, 2015

A Rapturous experience

I actually played a bit of this game several years ago, when I got it as a gift (in disc form). I had problems getting lost and a really hard timing beating the first Big Daddy, and so when I got to the second one, I kinda sorta gave up. I have no idea what the hell my problem was. …

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I actually played a bit of this game several years ago, when I got it as a gift (in disc form). I had problems getting lost and a really hard timing beating the first Big Daddy, and so when I got to the second one, I kinda sorta gave up. I have no idea what the hell my problem was. Sure, Big Daddy's are hard, but this time around I beat the first one no problem.


Anyway, that aside, I really loved Bioshock. The world of Rapture was possibly one of my favorite in all of video games, the perfect blend of old-timey futuristic extravagant horror. The plot, though not opaque, is incredibly deep, doing an excellent job of pulling the mute protagonist into the story. Slicers kept my attention to the very end of the game, and Big Daddy's are still a "ok how much ammo I got" kinda deal. Every gun was fun to shoot, as were the multiple types of ammo. And, of course, the plasmids made this game, as did the amazing amount of other tonics/slots/whatever that you can equip. All in all, killing things was a romping good time.

I already stated this, but I really liked the horror element. Constantly scrounging for ammo, checking every corner, and just the dark dingy environment. Even small things like feeling the vibrations of a Big Daddy's footsteps helped to make me feel uneasy throughout the entire game.

There were only three complaints that really came to mind. First, the hacking really seemed out of place and quite frankly, annoying. I hacked a lot of things, but I think you almost have to, to conserve ammo and money. It completely broke the flow of the game that you can be in the middle of combat and then time stops while you try to do a puzzle, one that -I might add- sometimes literally has no solution. Secondly, I never quite got the hang of using the F# keys to access plasmids. This is probably mostly my fault though, as you can also select them via the right mouse button + mouse wheel. But I tend to use buttons for quick reliable access in combat, meaning I used the Shift menu most of the time which, again, stopped time in combat. Three, the final boss (and one could argue, ending) was kind of meh. IMO.


Small problems though, truly. The game as a whole is a wonderful experience through and through. It was well thought out, well executed, unique, fun, challenging, fascinating, and many other adjectives that describe that it's basically a video game that I really enjoyed playing.

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kefuwa

Review kefuwa 5/5 · Jul 20, 2015

Finally played this. Creepy and pretty disturbing. o_O

caitlynshepard

Review caitlynshepard 5/5 · Jun 20, 2013

I didn't find this game scary/creepy at all, which is lucky for me because I hate the horror genre and I would have missed out on an incredible game. The atmosphere is very eerie, for sure, and there are moments that are very unnerving and sometimes a bit scary, but overall I thought it was just very enjoyable.

I can't …

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I didn't find this game scary/creepy at all, which is lucky for me because I hate the horror genre and I would have missed out on an incredible game. The atmosphere is very eerie, for sure, and there are moments that are very unnerving and sometimes a bit scary, but overall I thought it was just very enjoyable.

I can't put my finger on exactly what made this game so addictive to me, but as I played through the first couple of levels I didn't feel like I was that into the story, then I looked up and realized I'd been playing non-stop for like 6 hours and didn't plan on stopping.

I loved the audio diaries, they were definitely my favorite aspect of the game. The gameplay was fun enough, but to me this game wasn't really about combat. Of course the huge variety of plasmids and weapons is fun for some, but I liked that you aren't just killing hordes upon hordes of bad guys. You're exploring the world and discovering for yourself what happened here, through the audio diaries and the ghostly flashbacks. A very nice touch.

And without spoiling anything, the final chapters of the story just AMAZED me. Absolutely elevated this game from really good, solid game to absolutely legendary for me. This was one of those games that I thought about for hours after beating it, just turning the story around and around in my head. Can't wait to play through the rest of the series!

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DionysusDreams

Review DionysusDreams 5/5 · Apr 10, 2013

Bioshock is my favourite game of all time. If you haven't played Bioshock, stop reading this review and go play it. Right now. Seriously, if you're reading a review to find out if Bioshock is worth your time, I'll tell you right now, it is. Now go play it.

If you have played Bioshock then you should (hopefully) agree with …

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Bioshock is my favourite game of all time. If you haven't played Bioshock, stop reading this review and go play it. Right now. Seriously, if you're reading a review to find out if Bioshock is worth your time, I'll tell you right now, it is. Now go play it.

If you have played Bioshock then you should (hopefully) agree with what I'm about to say: Bioshock is an amazing, mind-blowing, unique experience. The world of Rapture is just so extravagant, beautiful and tragic, you really have to experience it yourself to understand.

I'm going to be honest here, it probably took me about 3 or 4 weeks to get myself to finish Bioshock because I'm a massive wuss when it comes to games and pretty much anything scares the life out of me. The atmosphere of Bioshock, right from the get-go, is so intense and creepy, you have to have your wits about you all the time. So I kept having to take a break from the game because I was getting so creeped out, but the world kept dragging me back. I wanted to know more about what was going on. I wanted to see more of Rapture. I wanted to see more Big Daddies walking around, protecting Little Sisters. I wanted to kill more of those bloody, disturbing Splicers!

I felt so excited to load up the game and just go back into that world, immerse myself in it. There hasn't been another game that has been anything like Bioshock, or given me any of the same sense of wonder and awe as Bioshock. It's a game that will forever be in my heart, I could never forget it nor the experiences I had playing it. I urge anyone to play Bioshock, even people who don't ordinarily play games because you won't regret it.

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