First and foremost – there aren’t going to be any plot spoilers in this review. That said, I’m going to be talking about the gameplay fundamentals, so consider yourselves warned. After reading this, you’ll still have no idea what’s going on in the overall scheme of this game – you’ll just know about some treats you have to look forward to.

Bioshock is a rare type of game that only comes around once in a long, long while. It’s easy to look at this beautiful underwater utopia and call it a FPS game, but it’s just as easy to see the structure of the game and call it an RPG. In fact, it’s really both and more, and it’s a fantastic blend unlike anything else we’ve ever played.

If you haven’t already heard, Bioshock takes place in an enormous sprawling underwater city that’s in a pretty serious state of decay. This underwater utopian society was created with the idea of getting away from government and religion, but it’s immediately evident that something has gone very, very wrong down here.

Upon starting this game, it’s just about impossible to not notice one thing immediately – it’s absolutely visually stunning. Water has always presented a challenge for 3D graphics, so basing a game around the element entirely is a very bold move – and it works. You’ll see just about every type of water imaginable from slow leaks to rushing torrents, or even ice and steam – and it all looks simply amazing. It’s not just the water that looks so good either – the same physics and reflectivity apply to all the blood in the game too. It may be thicker than water, but it’s just as cool looking in Rapture.

And of course, it’s not just the liquid effects that are visually impressive. The environments are nothing short of a masterpiece. The game takes place in 1960, and the era shows through in every corner of every environment. The state of decay of the city is constantly reinforced in so many ways I couldn’t even begin to list them, but the best way is through the character design. Rapture is a world that thrives on genetic modification, and the enemies in this game reflect that at every turn. There are really only a few types of enemies, but there’s still a lot of variety. The character designs, while morbid and dark are perfectly suited to this environment. And then of course, there’s the Big Daddy. Rarely does a single enemy from a game generate as much buzz as these big guys have, and they’re as cool as you thought they would be. When you come across one of these powerful giants lumbering through Rapture, you’ll be hard pressed not to turn tail and run away.

The sound design is equally masterful, and truly serves to enhance the feeling this game puts out. The music is a blend of orchestral and period music, and it’s just plain creepy. Hearing “How Much is that Doggy in the Window” while shooting a genetically modified freak in the face with explosive shotgun shells can be a little unsettling. As far as the voice work, I haven’t heard a single character that I don’t like, and there are a lot of characters here. Everything – including crucial plot information – is delivered excellently. This game could easily flounder if you don’t believe the world’s inhabitants, but everything that happens will resonate deeply. That’s one of the things that has made this game into such a phenomenon – it’s absolutely gut-wrenchingly intense at every turn. The story keeps you guessing at all times, and it’s one of the main reasons it’s so successful at pulling you in. In the beginning, you know nothing about where you are, who you are, or why you’re there. As you progress, you’ll need to be vigilant about collecting information and listening to everything, because the exposition largely relies on the player to uncover. I won’t tell you anything about the story except that even about 8 or 9 hours into the game you’ll still be able to say “I don’t really have any idea what’s going on here.” For those of you who may be torn by a statement like that, trust me – the lack of information only serves to make it all the more intriguing, and the wait is definitely worth it.

So fine – the graphics are great, the sound is great, the story is unbelievably cool and intense – fine, but what about the gameplay?? Well fear not, because the game plays as good as it looks and sounds. Essentially, what we’ve got here is a somewhat standard FPS with a lot of flair and variety. You’ll earn weapons at a relatively slow pace, but that’s largely augmented by the acquisition of plasmids and gene tonics. While the weapons (including one melee weapon) allow you to inflict traditional physical damage on your opponents, the plasmids give you the cool extra abilities you’ll be using. There are a ton of special abilities that you can unlock with plasmids, and most seem to have a few levels of upgradeability.

You’ll get a slew of abilities by the end of the game and what you have is up to how you play. Certain tasks will reward you with rare upgrades while others can only be acquired by earning enough Adam to purchase them. It really serves as the most customizable aspect of the game, and makes second or third playthroughs almost a necessity. The weapon upgrade system is unfortunately nowhere near as robust. Essentially, there are 12 weapon upgrades and 12 places to unlock them. Each station only gives one upgrade before the station is decommissioned, so you’ll need to be extremely thorough in order to get all of your weapons maxed out.