Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game contains many instances of graphic violence and gore, and the controversial option to harvest "Little Sisters," characters who are mutated 10-year-old girls. These "Little Sisters" extract a coveted fluid called "Adam" from dead people. To genetically enhance your character, you need "Adam." The game presents you with the moral dilemma of deciding whether to harvest (kill) the little girl for the most "Adam," or to save her life for less. The latter decision has additional payoffs including bonus items and support from other characters in the game. This game is adult in nature across the board with some sexual overtones, foul language, and references alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs -- picking up and injecting your character with needles also enhances them genetically. The game is probably 70-30 action versus puzzle-solving, and some of the gameplay combine the two.
Families can talk about how BioShock introduces very mature themes within this story about a secret underwater paradise torn apart by genetically altered rebels. Could the game makers have delivered the same kind of visceral experience without pushing the mature envelope? And how about the moral decision to kill or save the "Little Sisters"? Do you become heartless when choosing to kill them or is this acceptable within a game setting, especially given its creepy sci-fi context?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marc Saltzman
Mature Microsoft Xbox 360 owners in search of an intense 3-D shooter have been waiting for a title like BIOSHOCK from 2K Games, an exhilarating adventure that breaks new ground in interactive storytelling and digital art design.
The game begins with a plane crash in the North Atlantic. You're a survivor, and must swim your way through flaming debris to the shore, where a lighthouse stands. Inside, an elevator takes you on a one-way ride down into Rapture, a hidden underwater city that has been torn apart by civil war. This once-idyllic society, which served as a secret refuge for the world's elite, is now dominated by biologically mutated citizens, robotic enforcers, and little girls who steal life-giving fluid from the dead.
Not only must you find a way out alive in this non-linear underwater world, but you have to solve the mystery of what happened here.
BioShock can best be described as a "genetically enhanced" first-person shooter. It lets you biologically modify your body to create superhuman weapons, including bursts of energy that fly out of your fingertips to freeze enemies solid and using your mind to turn one enemy against another. In order to adapt and survive, dozens of unique plasmids and gene tonics (often found in vending machines throughout this world) must consumed to enhance your abilities.
In many cases, you'll advance through Rapture by combining regular weapons, such as a machine gun, with your newfound powers. You will also solve challenging puzzles, including hacking into computers to unlock doors and open safes, bypassing chained areas, and disabling turrets.
Along with money, resources in the game are made up of Adam and Eve; the former are special cells used for character growth, while Eve allows the use of these plasmids for special abilities.
You will face moral choices in the game, such as whether to harvest (kill) young girls known as "Little Sisters" to get their Adam or to rescue them (let them live), which will give you less Adam (but benefit you in other ways). Players face this decision only after battling through the "Little Sisters" huge "Big Daddy" robotic bodyguards.
While the game takes place in 1960, Rapture enjoys a 1940s art deco style, with neon signs, hand-drawn advertisements, and classic architecture, as well as crackling recorded messages and fitting music (composed by Garry Schyman) you'd swear was playing on an old phonograph record.
More so than any other game in recent memory, BioShock is dripping with atmosphere and intrigue, and it's one of those rare titles where story, dialogue, and character development are just as important as the action sequences. Xbox 360 players who are 17 or older will not want to miss out on this extraordinary interactive adventure.
Adult fans of the sci-fi 3-D shooters in the Halo and Half-Life series will be drawn to BioShock. Younger sci-fi gamers will love LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentThe game contains a strip club that is advertised throughout various levels. There is no sexual activity but at one point you will see the ghost of a brutally murdered stripper laying on a bed. |
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ViolencePlenty of shooting, gore, and blood, including the option to kill mutated little girls. You can use regular weapons including shotguns, machine guns, grenades, and crossbows; as well as special powers, thanks to Plasmids, including incineration, insect swarm, ice blast, lightning strike, and more. Some of the puzzle solving is about how to kill your enemy, such as giving enemies a fatal electric shock by using your lightning strike power on water they're standing on. |
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LanguageExamples include "f--k," "s--t," "Goddammit," "hell," "bastard," "son of a bitch," and "piss." |
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Social BehaviorPlayers are forced to make moral choices, such as whether or not to kill "Little Sisters" (needle-toting girls) to absorb their powers. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoYou can drink alcohol in the game, which affects your vision and performance, as well as shoot up with a needle to obtain special powers. There are also advertisements for smoking. |
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