BioShock™

An unforgettable world with an incredible story. BioShock is one of those games that really makes you appreciate the art of videogames.

this game is simply amazing! the story is awesome, the characters are amazing, especially the character of andrew ryan. the devs did a very good job on making the environment dreadful and scary, and the plasmids (special powers) in this game distinguishes it from any other first person shooter. however, one problem i have is that the save mechanic makes the game really easy at medium difficulty. overall 8/10 game, a must play.

Funny I assumed since I haven't played the regular Bioshock instead of the remastered I would also accumulate STEAM achievement awards. Not the case for this one.

This game absolutely shows its age, but it's one of those classic games close to my heart that really had wonderful pacing, wonderful story, and amazing atmosphere. Currently I'm having better luck playing these older versions vs the remastered ones.

One of the best and immersive games ive played.. would reccomend 100%

Redditor's first game to make him feel smart. Game play doesn't really hold up just look up the story

I have removed all 2K software from all machines I own and will not be buying their games in the future as I do not appreciate being sold malware. They have effectively ended their business, just in time for their next game... Genius move...

The following is copied from another review I agree with:

Take-Two and 2K games have updated all their games Terms of Service, this extends beyond the Borderlands franchise.

Important Info in Terms of Service:
• Mods are a bannable offense
• Display of Cheats/Exploits is bannable
• Forced arbitration clause and a waiver of class action and jury trial rights for all users residing in the United States and any other territory other than Australia, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, or The Territories of The European Economic Area
• You can be banned for using a VPN while connecting to online servers
• Cannot access game content on a Virtual PC
• Best for last, they reserve the right to modify this Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time

Collected Data Types:
• Identifiers / Contact Information: Name, user name, gamertag, postal and email address, phone number, unique IDs, mobile device ID, platform ID, gaming service ID, advertising ID (IDFA, Android ID) and IP address
• Protected Characteristics: Age and gender
• Commercial Information: Purchase and usage history and preferences, including gameplay information
• Billing Information: Payment information (credit / debit card information) and shipping address
• Internet / Electronic Activity: Web / app browsing and gameplay information related to the Services; information about your online interaction(s) with the Services or our advertising; and details about the games and platforms you use and other information related to installed applications
• Device and Usage Data: Device type, software and hardware details, language settings, browser type and version, operating system, and information about how users use and interact with the Services (e.g., content viewed, pages visited, clicks, scrolls)
• Profile Inferences: Inferences made from your information and web activity to help create a personalized profile so we can identify goods and services that may be of interest
• Audio / Visual Information: Account photos, images, and avatars, audio information via chat features and functionality, and gameplay recordings and video footage (such as when you participate in playtesting)
• Sensitive Information: Precise location information (if you allow the Services to collect your location), account credentials (user name and password), and contents of communications via chat features and functionality.

All this data being collected by a company who's CEO was accused of leaving a USB with illegal material on it as well as sensitive data of Gearbox/2K partners in a medieval themed restaurant, and were supposed to just give in to these absurd terms of service?

My take on these terms of service changes is that I now have more hard drive space and I will not be playing another 2K game until these terms are changed. This also extends to the majority of Take-Two published games. Welcome to my ♥♥♥♥ list Take-Two, you've earned it.

I have no idea what this game is about, I played in 2014 and never again. So I guess its a good game

The first time I played BioShock, I thought, “Oh cool, an underwater shooter with superpowers and art deco vibes!” By the time I finished it, I was asking everyone “Would you kindly?” and questioning the illusion of free will in my daily life. So, you know, it escalated quickly. Let’s talk about the intro. You crash into the ocean, swim to a mysterious lighthouse, take a bathysphere ride down into the sea, and BAM—Rapture. An underwater city full of philosophical graffiti, broken dreams, and vending machines that scream at you. It’s stunning. It’s terrifying. It’s also completely abandoned except for the homicidal maniacs and giant men in vintage diving suits stomping around with power drills. Vacation destination of the year. The combat? A chaotic ballet of guns, fire hands, and “oh no I accidentally electrocuted myself again.” Plasmids let you do everything from shooting bees out of your arms to mind-controlling enemies, which raises questions that science should never answer. And the Big Daddies? They’re like boss fights combined with emotional damage. You want to fight them. You also kind of want to hug them. (You shouldn't.) But let’s be honest: you're here for the story. The atmosphere. The vibes. This game doesn’t just pull the rug out from under you—it tears out the floorboards, drops you into a moral philosophy class, and then politely hands you a wrench. And just when you think you’re getting the hang of it—BOOM. Plot twist so good it made me question if I was being mind-controlled by my microwave the whole time. Also, shoutout to the audio diaries. I learned more about failed utopias, corporate betrayal, and what happens when you mix unchecked ambition with genetic tampering than I did in any history class.

BioShock is considered an FPS classic, bringing in mechanics and ideas that is today considered typical for most games in that genre. Does it hold up? Both yes and no.

The story in Bioshock is mainly told through pre-recorded tapes and radio communications with other characters. At the time it was an interesting way to convey the story in a game that was mostly action, but as more games starting taking after it got old pretty quick. But the world building is still intriguing, you have Rapture which is underground city built by a business man who essentially goes full Ayn Rand, wantingto build his own libertarian society without kings, governments and religion - only man. When you arrive to Rapture however, all of those dreams are crushed. Instead you arrive to the aftermath of an event that occurred on New Years Eve 1959.

It is noticable that the devs of Bioshock wanted you to be able to do a lot within the game, following the pattern of its predecessor System Shock. You have various weaponry together with the powers you can acquire through using injectable plasmids (telekinesis, fire and electric powers, etc.). But in the end it feels too much, as there is also a hacking and crafting system thrown in which makes you as the player having to keep up with a lot of different gameplay mechanics and systems.

Overall, it is not a bad game by any means but playing it today you realize that both the genre and the way the game wants to do its story telling has progressed beyond it. It is a game that really paved the way though, and for that it should be given the recognisition it deserves. Unfortunately it is one of those games that you probably just play once or twice, and then never again.

I'm just tired on take two shenanigans.

All take two games are getting negative reviews until T2 stop attempts to undermine player control over their games and information.

The gameplay is fun and the history is increadible with an unexected twist! In case you not a fan of shooters but have an interest for the history, the easy level is vary friendly.

very fun i enjoy the fact i have to actually think about my ammo consumption and i like the level style

This has to be my favorite videogame ever! The world building, the story, everything is absolutely amazing and don't even get me started on the soundtrack and all that. Overall it's a super interesting and fun horror shooter that will definitely leave it's mark one way or another!

Holy mother of ports, this sh** sucks!

- You need to troubleshoot it sixteen different ways to actually get it to boot.
- You need to turn on comparability mode to then reach the main menu.
- And when you do finally boot up the game, the audio stops working with a 360 controller.

- So you put it in Windows XP Compatibility mode, congrats! The audio now works. You're almost there, sort of.
- But now, the game won't go fullscreen.
- And if you do fullscreen it, it crashes.

- No audio. No fullscreen. No controller support. Why is this for sale?

''... Ze product does not work, my Lord Steam! Wake ze f*** up!''

Amazing Game. Can't belive I missed the chance to play it when it came out long ago.

in 2025, the original bioshock and its sequel hold up far better than most modern games in terms of optimization, visuals, gameplay, and audio (sound design and voice acting)

Just a great game and story if you pay attention to your surroundings and makes you feel overwhelmed but also powerful.

The classic noir Bioshock as I remember playing it for the first time on console many years ago. Still enjoyable and very playable. A futuristic city where things have gone oh so terribly wrong, the character you play is a mystery. But the story is gripping the atmosphere gripping and immersive. Of the Franchise this and the second are the best in my opinion. Didn't care for the third all that much.

It wont make it past any loading screens. Including the first one. I have seen the intor 20 times trying to fix it.

The game's graphics and story are great , but the gameplay is terrible

Still a great game, after nearly 20yrs. Unluckily only the first part kickt my ass till the end. 🤷‍♂️

BioShock wishes it could be half as good as System Shock 2

DO NOT BUY THIS! The game is buggy and wont even start. Lost 6 hours to do everything i find on reddit/google/youtube/steam to fix this trash, and it still crashes after the first cutscene before you enter the city... Will just watch gameplay and hope the 2nd one works better

It feels dated but still fine I guess, crash less than bioshock 2. but still a lot of crash.
Better play the remastered version IMO

Great Game with big plot twist.
The dialogues were difficult to follow since you have to shoot and follow the dialogue at the time.

No way Bethesda actually made a finished underwater Fallout with a plot!
Oh, wait... my bad. Totally different studio. Bethesda could never.

Hello, welcome all Chuds, Gamers, and other Nerds. I aim to 100% all the games that catch my eye and join the sea of reviews on this platform.
Most will never read this, but I will review the games I find simply and thoroughly.

(Note: This is a copy of my Bioshock Remaster review, in which I have 100%ed the game for those who may judge this based off of playtime, This was simple stability testing in comparison with the Remaster.)

1 What is Bioshock?
Bioshock takes place in Rapture, a underwater utopia located under the Atlantic ocean. When you discover this city after a plane crash, Rapture has become a hellscape. You are now forced to survive it in your efforts to escape, and you will find yourself wrapped in a conspiracy.

2 What does this game play like?
This game was inspired off of System Shock and would later inspire other immersive sims like Arkane studios Dishonored. As a result of this games inspiration, Bioshock is a first person shooter that relies on environmental interaction and impact. You can shoot lightening from your hand, shoot it into water, and everything in the water will get hurt, fire melts ice, and so on and so on. The gun play is also satisfying, not relying on typical COD hide and shoot game play, but more on positioning to use the environment against your foes.

Simple rankings
Story 10/10: This game is known for it's story, and it is a masterpiece. Bioshock examines themes from the real life Ann Rand, but it is not just limited by her rejection of government, but it also examines human nature regarding the idea of a utopia. Did Rapture fail because anarcho capitalism is fundamentally flawed? Or did it fail because Andrew Ryan became what he hated most, a government more controlling then NZ Germany or the Soviet Union? Would you kindly just play it?

Game play 10/10: The game play is well paced and immersive. Each of the zones has a theme and grants you the freedom to use all your tools to overcome your opponents. Each map has plenty to explore and interact with, for a immersive sim, the only better game you will find is Dishonored 1.

Overall 1/10: This fits into the immersive sim genera as one of the greats, a masterpiece one could say, and it earns the 10/10 reputation it has.

(The only issues with this version compared to the remaster is audio, and a steam form guide exists to fix this small issue)

Took me maybe a bit over 16 hours to finish on medium and the game didn't feel like it was unnecessarily long for no reason. The ending felt a bit weird/short, but I'd say I did enjoy the game over all, so if you're looking for a classic game to play, this is not a bad choice.

Played on a different system.

Iconic horror game that still holds up with its atmosphere, plot, and iconic twist!

i enjoyed this, the world, gameplay, enemies, characters, weapons, it's stellar, no wonder i heard many great things about this series 10/10

i finish tihs game now and i just can say wow
the best story and game play

Take drugs and kill Ayn Rand supporters with a tommy gun, would you kindly play this game already?

Actual masterpiece of a game, won't spoil anything but the twist has to be one of the best parts of any game I've played so far, at least in regards to the narrative

The remaster is the better version to get tbh

underrated game it's a hidden gem
very well designed it almost says would you kindly play it again

Reminds me of fallout but underwater.

harvest worm infested children for cool powers!

played the game for two hours and the game is giving me an option to harvest kids 10/10

There Are many things good with the original Bioshock game, but there a few gripes I have with the game. During the main story there are a few glitches and bugs (I was playing the non-remastered edition) but nothing major, mostly just rare occasional crashes, too intense for the physics engine to handle (same with the 2nd game, but more on that over there).
The introduction of the plasmids and weapons were very fluid and intuitive and at the ADAM stations, the prices for ammo, plasmids, and tonics were very balanced the entire course of the game. The Game is also very well put together story-wise, aside from at the ending of the game. In which (at least the good ending, I haven't played the other ending) seems very forced onto the player, you get a happy ever after with all the Little Sisters, and not more of a realistic ending where it works out, but some things don't.

One good thing in the game are the Plasmids; they are the genetic encoding power-ups you get throughout your journey in Rapture. Some are unlocked through Story progression, meanwhile others are rewards for harvesting ADAM, or even just exploring the different rooms in the game, although most are just bought at the ADAM vending machine. They are pretty balanced, being you as the player needs to be able to use plasmids, as well as using the Weapons in order to fairly get through the game. They need to work together, not seperate power systems throughout the game. for example you can get the frost blast plasmid and then freeze a big daddy stunning him. Then you can shoot him with other weapons while he is frozen, which they balance with the incinerate ability (fire blast). which if you use ice and then fire, it just melts the ice, not being able to have both active on an enemy. Another Good aspect of the game is the Weapons; during my play-through I mostly used the Shotgun, Wrench, and Tommy Gun. Throughout the game you can upgrade your weapons, but only up to 7~ times throughout the game collectively, across all your weapons, so you must choose wisely. Even on easy mode, you will want those upgrades.

Another positive element about the Original Bioshock is the story. You are the sole survivor (or so you think) of a plane crash and stumble upon a lighthouse, bringing you to the great underwater city of RAPTURE. Here, you find your first plasmid on the surface, and are communicating with someone known as Atlas; in which he asks you to help him with helping out in recovering someone/something he needs from the city. "Would you kindly?". Where it leads to you going around a relatively small portion of rapture, searching, finding out what ADAM is, seeing the remaining residents of the broken city; and most of all Andrew Ryan, the supposed crooked villain of the story. But all is revealed throughout the story, As you collect ADAM and grow stronger. In order to escape you will have to turn into a Big Daddy, in order to both, lure the Little Sisters to help you (in the good ending), and it adds an extra layer of defence, armour, and protection to you for the Final Boss fight. Although this is a good game, there are some plot-holes that arise and are never acknowledged in the subsequent games being Bioshock 2 and Infinite.

All in all, Bioshock 1 is a pretty solid game, story and game-play-wise, but overall does lack just that extra oomph that is to be desired.

Please ignore the time played. Played all the way through this twice just not on this platform. The first run took me about 10 hours
Crows: Plasmids are genuinely fun to use: Incinerate, freeze, shock, use telekinesis to toss grenades back in the face of the thrower, etc. Fighting the understandably immediately iconic Big Daddies is quite memorable. For being linear, this does have marvelous levels and I didn't stop enjoying seeing new areas, even when it goes on for too long near the conclusion(where it brings up issues that could be compelling if it wasn't too little and far too late, if some of the twists are cool). Neat idea to have a camera that you take photographs with(to get better at taking out opponents). Attractive, visually and audibly. Voice acting is good. Filters, especially water, looks fantastic. You go up against security in the form of cameras(with a halo of light, meaning that you can figure out the angle they're coming from before you spot it, smart), flying bots and turrets(the latter using machine-guns or rockets), and all three can be turned over to your side.
Cons: Lack of enemy variety. Part of the supposed appeal here is making choices and that mattering, and yet all you can really do is choose between three endings by your actions in this(that is one of the unusual show of guts that this does engage in) and what genetic specials to be carrying around(I swear, they were tossin' 'em at me!), since you can find in excess of the six you can use. While the guns aren't bad, they almost all have the exact same ammo types: Fire, cold, electricity and regular... what's the point of having different ones? At its core, this is a mere FPS(it arms you with a revolver, a shotgun, Tommygun, grenade launcher, chemical thrower(burn, brr, and zap), and crossbow(they can be upgraded, and you can actually see it, physically). ) with one or two unusual features, and as such, it's in no way the best of its kind. A sequel in spirit to System Shock 2, that decades-old(!) product beats it with both arms tied behind its back. While it is a great choice that this severely limits certain things that weren't in SS2: You can only carry so much money, that many bullets, bolts or the like, etc.(Yes, you can find them almost anywhere and I never ran out of anything important... guys, the way you do it is make the availability low). No multi-player. The radio transmissions never seem to shut up, and bugs you if you go exploring(even though that's part of the point). This is also excessively streamlined, if it could be worse.
Mildly recommended, but if you find this sort of thing appealing, I greatly recommend both of its sequels and honestly also System Shock 2 over this
I bought this on sale to try to help others decide if they want to buy this game

Like System Shock 2, minus the stuff that makes me ever want to play it again

Incredible atmosphere, i got jumped by splicers every 10 minutes perfect 10/10 game (i am having seizures)

10/10 Saved every little sister first playthrough

Classic now. One of the greatest games I have ever played. No bullshit launcher, great PC settings, doesn't run like dogshit, no micro transaction DLC bullshit, its just a good game, made by people who wanted to make a good game.

The game is every bit incredible in atmosphere and game play; there are intricate mechanics that were thought out very well during the making of the game, and the world-building is just as good with the audio logs scattered throughout the game.

However, gun play felt very unforgiving. Unless you like accurate gun play, the shotgun feels weak at any distance other than when you're at melee range. It's very hard to get shots to hit with the machine gun, as well. I think it's just me, but I could not git gud throughout the game; I relied heavily on my powers to nerf the enemies to then mow them down. Maybe that was the intention to begin with.

Hacking everything is broken; it's the one mechanic that helped me breeze through the hardest mode.
Resources can me scarce mid-game, but you eventually run out of space near endgame.

I don't know if I'd replay this game, but for a first time experience, it was great; it lived up to the hype.

P.S. - I played Atomic Heart first, so take this critique with a grain of salt.
Addendum -- If you want atmosphere, play this game. If you want stability, play the remaster; this game likes to crash; quicksave is your best friend.

2560x1440 native resolution
4090 laptop GPU
i was trying to all the fixes from the internet for the whole hour, for Bioshock and Bioshock Remastered. First save in the game - it crashes. It keeps crashing all the time I am trying to save the game. Awful experience for such an epic game.
If you have new system - doesn't bother yourself to download/play, even with a huge discount

Has its place in gaming history, but has a major flaw I can't overlook.
The otherwise very effective horror atmosphere is undercut by the lack of any consequences upon player death. No resources are lost, enemy health doesn't regenerate.
Game is at its best when you play it like a sandbox and don't worry about conserving your resources, as you'd think to in a survival horror.
Worth playing through at least once, especially if you haven't been spoiled.

Another overrated classic.

I don't recommend it. 3/10.

Excellent game! Ending was a bit abrupt, but still nice! Gameplay holds up very well and the voice acting is top-notch.

Miserable compatibility, in desperate need of some patching. Remastered version does not help with any of the problems. You could try and put up with the issues, looking all over for fixes, but I have yet to find solutions for borked texture streaming and audio cutoff that work for me.

2K launcher can fuck right off.