BioShock

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 6069 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,075 out of 6069
  2. Mixed: 678 out of 6069
  3. Negative: 316 out of 6069
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  1. MZ
    Sep 12, 2007
    4
    The only good thing about this game are the graphics. Other than that, there isnt even 24 hours of gameplay, the storyline is almost non-existant and there is no replay value what-so-ever. Borrow it from someone who already bought it rather than shelling out your own money.
  2. NathanH
    Aug 25, 2007
    4
    Such a pity. Great art direction is wasted on the same old crap dressed up in pretty clothes. No sense of build up or tension, repetitive combat, contrived plot. The atmosphere that people are going on about is actually the 'potential atmosphere' this game could have had if it was made by capcom
  3. AdrianH.
    Sep 30, 2007
    4
    After downloading the demo and cruising through it, I found myself wondering why on earth anyone would spend more than $10 for this game. Sure, the graphics weren't too bad... but thats about the only thing worth mentioning.
  4. ThegiDDl
    Oct 18, 2007
    4
    Really, really nice graphics, story is quite well, but there are always the same enemys, difficulty doesn't increase at all.... I'm very disappointed
  5. KatO.
    Oct 4, 2007
    4
    It's a mediocre game. Many of the "new" features were made ages ago, and about 8/10 of the "revolutinary interactive gameplay" has already been made in Dark Messiah of Might and Magic! This game has kinda sorta some decent graphics, kinda sorta a decent storyline - but besides that? Well... I wouldn't quit my day job.
  6. JoeM
    Jul 22, 2008
    4
    Despite a promising start, this game quickly disappoints, as it becomes apparent that in the midst of all the game's atmosphere, they forgot to make it fun. That is to say, shooting enemies is boring, regardless of your weapon or special powers. Add to this clichéd anti-intellectualism and a gaming world devoid of motivation and you have a distinctly sub-par game.
  7. xioxenna
    Jul 8, 2008
    4
    Great looking but shallow, linear, very little true customisation, 4stars all for effects and atmostphere, precious little in the way of a challenge, attrocious ai, cant understand ANY good reviews this game has got, it's just completely untrue.
  8. Viktor
    Dec 28, 2009
    4
    Looking at the score I expected something that would blow half-life 1 into the dust as the most innovativ game and best gaming experience. However it is a boring game which I had to force myself into playing through. I don't understand how the criticts could fall for this game as they have. It is a mediocre FPS.
  9. goggruel
    Aug 25, 2007
    4
    VERY poor quality - game is GREAT - but no as complex as system shock - more FPS then anything - story line is ok (the sound quality to hear it is POOR - game crashes and resets all settings every 30 mins or so - DONT BUY FROM STORE - buy it from steam - it gets patches 1st and has a lot less problems
  10. DavidP.
    Nov 24, 2008
    4
    It was fairly boring. You are kept busy in bioshock, but the things you do are repetitive and not actually fun, hack this, hack that, choose what upgrade goes in what slot. select a plasmid shoot ememy, select wrench hit enemy, repeat. Graphics are very pretty but i don't care about that very much, i care about gameplay/ game pacing/ highs and lows/ moments that get your heart racing It was fairly boring. You are kept busy in bioshock, but the things you do are repetitive and not actually fun, hack this, hack that, choose what upgrade goes in what slot. select a plasmid shoot ememy, select wrench hit enemy, repeat. Graphics are very pretty but i don't care about that very much, i care about gameplay/ game pacing/ highs and lows/ moments that get your heart racing or make you panic or decide to tease an npc before killing him because he annoyed you by jumping out from a corner. There are not enough different enemy types in bioshock. I liked HL and HL2 because there was variety, open skies fast moving in a boat to claustrophobic tunnels etc etc, sometimes a crab was hidden and got a bite out of you so you get a fright but you're not going to die = game variety. Bioshock is repetitive indoor boringness. Story was interesting-ish but gameplay is more important and bioshock doesnt have it. Games i have an opinion on: Doom, Duke Nukem, Quake, HL1, HL2 and the episodes - great but some are old. FEAR Perseus great, scary. moh series, good. cod 1->3 good but old, cod4 AWSOME. Prey, avg. Stalker, annoying as hell uninstalled after 3 hrs. Timeshift, cool concept but pacing is not there because of time controll, therefore fairly boring. Oblivion TES, 3rd person doesnt interest me, looks boring. Crysis, good. Team fortress 2, awsome. Portal, very cool.… Expand
  11. anonymous
    Oct 25, 2009
    4
    very boring game, was expecting something brilliant and in return got a dud. most boring story in a video game yet. very redundant game play. the 4 points come from the outstanding artwork but in a video game it doesn't make up for the poor mechanics and the lack of hook-factor.
  12. Kriel
    Sep 14, 2010
    4
    From the greatly positive reception i expected a great game, however i found it nonsensical by the trailers. Well in short: easy, boring, repetitive combat, exploration and mini-game(one kind but you can do it way too many times). There are good ideas in it too, like the photographing and the different effects of some plasmids on the environment but these does not save the game from beingFrom the greatly positive reception i expected a great game, however i found it nonsensical by the trailers. Well in short: easy, boring, repetitive combat, exploration and mini-game(one kind but you can do it way too many times). There are good ideas in it too, like the photographing and the different effects of some plasmids on the environment but these does not save the game from being confusing and boring at the same time.… Expand
  13. toSTONEiGO
    Jul 16, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. oing beyond "run and gun corridors," "monster-closet AIs" and static worlds, BioShock creates a living, unique and unpredictable FPS experience. After your plane crashes into icy uncharted waters, you discover a rusted bathysphere and descend into Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Constructed as an idealistic society for a hand picked group of scientists, artists and industrialists, the idealism is no… Expand
  14. DoctorPazuzu
    Oct 8, 2013
    4
    Bioshock is a boring, clunky, overly streamlined, and an overall overrated game. It has a great story and would've been great if it was a movie or a book, however it's a horrible game. The game play is dull and un-fun, it's not scary, and it feels like it's stepping on the far superior System-Shock. Once again, Good for a book or movie, bad for a game.
  15. rapidrack
    Sep 25, 2012
    4
    Having played System Shock 2, I was expecting something really great from Bioshock, but it's mostly shallow eye candy. It would have been okay if the story was good, but to me it seemed like it pandered to teenagers a bit. Overall, not much to engage you besides mindless shooting
  16. Friendzie
    Mar 7, 2013
    4
    I bought this game based on the lofty overall ratings. The setting is nice, but I feel strongly that this game gets too much acclaim for the story while the gameplay is only average. In a market crowded by great first person shooters, Bioshock's gameplay is only good enough to recommend to diehard FPS fans dying for another game to play. If you value immersion and story a lot, I guess youI bought this game based on the lofty overall ratings. The setting is nice, but I feel strongly that this game gets too much acclaim for the story while the gameplay is only average. In a market crowded by great first person shooters, Bioshock's gameplay is only good enough to recommend to diehard FPS fans dying for another game to play. If you value immersion and story a lot, I guess you might want to check it out. If you value gameplay, you really should check out any number of rival FPS games before Bioshock.… Expand
  17. Hellanger
    Apr 29, 2020
    4
    Not a horrible game, not a good game, just a mediocre shooter with a mediocre story.
  18. TheTownDrunk
    Jan 27, 2021
    4
    Playing BIOSHOCK I can't help but wonder, what's all the fuss about?
    It's been compared to SYSTEM SHOCK which is ludicrous. SYSTEM SHOCK bled atmosphere, Shodan was a unique adversary that attained cult status. The idea with having all NPCs replaced by audio logs and emails was completely new here and it fits perfectly. Even DOOM 3 ripped off this idea. The graphics - now of course    Playing BIOSHOCK I can't help but wonder, what's all the fuss about?
    It's been compared to SYSTEM SHOCK which is ludicrous. SYSTEM SHOCK bled atmosphere, Shodan was a unique adversary that attained cult status. The idea with having all NPCs replaced by audio logs and emails was completely new here and it fits perfectly. Even DOOM 3 ripped off this idea. The graphics - now of course outdated - were dark and gritty and the level design superb. No senseless mazes, but a perfectly designed space station.
    BIOSHOCK has zero atmosphere. It looks too sterile, too polished. Instead of space you play in an under water city - but it doesn't feel real: you feel like in an aquarium with wallpaper pasted all along.
    Enemy variety is lacking and the main villain is forgettable.
    Sounds are terrible - guns don't sound like this guys! Controls are clunky as hell. Combat is just terrible, as is the level design! SYSTEM SHOCK came out in 1994, almost 13 years before BIOSHOCK and it mops the floor with BIOSHOCK in every category except of course technically.
    BIOSHOCK is seriously overrated.    … Expand
  19. JoshuaMarks
    Nov 17, 2007
    3
    When i first played it i thought maybe it will get better, but it didn't. i swear i must have been playing a different game to everyone who gave it above a 4. it was just like your average FPS. It does not even have online capabilities, so compared to games like COD4 and even the only Unreal games its not worth playing at all.
  20. D.S.
    Oct 23, 2007
    3
    It was fun the first half, up to the fight with sander cohen (that level was pure brilliance). I thought they were just going to go up from there, i was loving the game at that point, but it just fell flat from there. The story gets more and more convoluted and random as the last chapters progress, and plot holes start to form all over the place. I rarely found myself using plasmids, as i It was fun the first half, up to the fight with sander cohen (that level was pure brilliance). I thought they were just going to go up from there, i was loving the game at that point, but it just fell flat from there. The story gets more and more convoluted and random as the last chapters progress, and plot holes start to form all over the place. I rarely found myself using plasmids, as i had so much cash for ammo from hacking damn near everything i saw, which became painfully repetitive very quickly. The big dadies are a joke after the first few levels, and AI is piss poor. There isn't any gameplay choices that actually effect how you play or what you will experience in game besides a different set of voice overs here and there- i was marketed to that this was certainly not the case- that bioshock was groundbreaking in this regard. A large part of the second half of the game feels like it belongs somewhere else. The atmosphere was among the best of any game ever released- but they let it go to waste on a very ordinary set of game mechanics and an extremely anti climatic finale... buy it if you like being dissapointed.… Expand
  21. [Anonymous]
    Sep 20, 2007
    3
    Great concept, but marred by horrible instability and random (show-stopping or experience shattering) bugs.
  22. GeorgB.
    Sep 27, 2007
    3
    Bioshock is an arcade shooter with some pretty art direction and and a decent attempt at telling a story. Gameplay is another question however. Its short. Its very linear. It relies on too many "oh no blood" moments and Neither the FPS nor RPG side are particularly well developed. This would have been a 6/10 if it had multiplayer and a less obstrusive activation system. As it is, Bioshock Bioshock is an arcade shooter with some pretty art direction and and a decent attempt at telling a story. Gameplay is another question however. Its short. Its very linear. It relies on too many "oh no blood" moments and Neither the FPS nor RPG side are particularly well developed. This would have been a 6/10 if it had multiplayer and a less obstrusive activation system. As it is, Bioshock deserves about 3/10.… Expand
  23. A.NOther
    Mar 7, 2008
    3
    I just dont enjoy playing bioshock. It plays like a cheap console FPS with RPG elements. The artwork and themes are pretty cool but are let down by ropey graphics and lighting. The whole game is just so dissapointing, i cannot see what people are raving about so much! Bioshock may be deeper than Halo 3 or Crysis, but its faliure to pull off basic FPS elements and engage the player result I just dont enjoy playing bioshock. It plays like a cheap console FPS with RPG elements. The artwork and themes are pretty cool but are let down by ropey graphics and lighting. The whole game is just so dissapointing, i cannot see what people are raving about so much! Bioshock may be deeper than Halo 3 or Crysis, but its faliure to pull off basic FPS elements and engage the player result in a game of quality not aproaching either of these titles.… Expand
  24. Ikke
    Apr 13, 2008
    3
    Sure... the game looks just AWESOME... But the story is very vague / confusing and does not interest me to play any further. Stupid thing is, even if I wanted to play any further, the game simply won't let me. Like many others I have a problem with the game crashing at certain point's in the game.
  25. vespinevespine
    Aug 5, 2008
    3
    It is ridiculous that this game scored so high! Yes it is a good game but it is far FAR from the 5th best PC game ever made, as the reviews would lead you to believe. I'm glad the user reviews are a little more realistic! I have one thing to say about this game: WTF is a vending machine dispensing a one use weapon upgrade?!!? Come on? Dumbest feature in a game ever. Even worse is It is ridiculous that this game scored so high! Yes it is a good game but it is far FAR from the 5th best PC game ever made, as the reviews would lead you to believe. I'm glad the user reviews are a little more realistic! I have one thing to say about this game: WTF is a vending machine dispensing a one use weapon upgrade?!!? Come on? Dumbest feature in a game ever. Even worse is that it would have been very easy to do something a lot more interesting and believable, like, for example, you simply FIND a weapon upgrade in a locker, or cupboard or something! Or if you really like the vending machine idea, make it cost a rare plasmid or material that you only find one of in the level or something, was that so hard? Are we supposed to believe someone built a free weapon upgrade vending machine that has exactly ONE charge, and lucky for you, no one else has used it up yet until you come along! So very dumb. Ok, one more thing: The end boss was completely out of place in the game, just about enough to ruin the game by itself if I didn't think there was other things wrong with it. Deus Ex deserves the number 5 spot way more then Bioshock, hell, even COD4 deserves it more. Yes 3 is probably low, but i'm scoring relatively, realistically i'd give it a 6.… Expand
  26. PhilH.
    Nov 11, 2007
    3
    The console version might be all well and good, because it's practically unique for an X360 title, but on the PC Bioshock is relatively poor. Combat is slow and boring and the RPG elements are almost non-existent, so all you get is basically a very poor FPS dripping with pretension. The much vaunted characters and story are also a serious disappointment.
  27. B.M.
    Oct 5, 2007
    3
    Nice visuals, but absolutely boring gameplay - nothing new. a big disappointment.
  28. WesleyC.
    Aug 24, 2007
    3
    The thing that makes me really, really mad is that you need one of the best graphics cards just to play. Now games these days are so called "Pushing it to the limits" which makes them think that the graphics are the only things that matter! Bioshock is just one lucky game that has good gameplay with next-gen graphics. There is no way that I'm spending hundreds on a new graphics card!!!
  29. AndyWilson
    Aug 27, 2007
    3
    It is a great game. It is totally unique. It is unlike anything you have ever played before.......

    It is also completely unplayable on the PC. Forced mouse accelaration with no way to turn it off? I mean come on. No serious gamer will ever play a game with mouse acceleration on. FOV issues. 70degrees fov in 4:3? Crazy. The norm in PC gaming is 90degrees. When they announce    It is a great game. It is totally unique. It is unlike anything you have ever played before.......

    It is also completely unplayable on the PC. Forced mouse accelaration with no way to turn it off? I mean come on. No serious gamer will ever play a game with mouse acceleration on. FOV issues. 70degrees fov in 4:3? Crazy. The norm in PC gaming is 90degrees. When they announce this game they said it would be designed for PC gamers. It isn't it's designed for XBOX360, ported to PC and set for people using a 360 controller on their PC. If you play with the controller, its fine. If your a real PC gamer who want mouse and keyboard control, don't bother even looking at the game. It will be the biggest waste of money ever. If you don't know what mouse acceleration is, you'll enjoy the game and think it's the best thing you've ever played, and that's probably because it is. Just a shame they can't make it for serious gamers.    … Expand
  30. SHODAN
    Jan 12, 2008
    3
    This game is a backwards step from the decade-old game it is imitating. Elements not lifted directly out of System Shock 2 are those that were stripped from it in the dumbing-down process. This says a lot about the current state of the industry.
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2007
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2007
2
#2 Most Shared PC Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 44
  3. Negative: 0 out of 44
  1. PC Gamer UK
    95
    A dark and astonishing masterpiece...I spend my career, and my gaming life, waiting for a moment when a game just astonishes me, when I can't believe what I'm seeing, what I'm doing. BioShock has five. [Sept 2007, p.66]
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  2. Eurogamer
    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.
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  3. IGN
    97
    There is art here, despite what many would say isn't possible with games, from Roger Ebert to game designers like Hideo Kojima... BioShock stands as a monolithic example of the convergence of entertaining gameplay and an irresistibly sinister, engrossing storyline that encompasses a host of multifaceted characters. This is an essential gaming experience.
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