Any form of media that involves a plane crash is going to be good, throughout history this theory has been proven over and over again. The most recent example of this comes in the form of the blockbuster television series Lost. The pilot episode of Lost, which included many scenes involving a plane crash, was the most expensive pilot ever created. Luckily for developers 2K Games it does not cost nearly as much to make a plane crash happen virtually, inside of a video game. The long anticipated, and not known to people outside of the industry, demo of Bioshock hit Xbox Live this past Sunday and nearly brought the online delivery service to a halt. It is unknown if the slow downs and disconnects were directly caused by the Bioshock demo but reports on the internet seem to say that Xbox Live worked fine before the demo went up. This amount of surge surrounding your demo is not a bad thing, if anything it should make the developers and publisher of Bioshock very happy. From the few reviews out there this game is getting phenomenal scores (and the reviewers are probably playing a preview build) and this demo is sure to add to the fire of excitement surrounding this game's August release. While you can look forward to a full review of Bioshock here at Planet Xbox 360 very soon take some time to read our impressions of the massive (1.5 GB) demo.
First let me say that there are a few story spoilers ahead in this article but 2K Games did a good job of keeping most things hidden concerning the plot-line, even throughout the demo, but if you want to know nothing about Bioshock before it ships in a few weeks stop reading now, otherwise enjoy.
The demo starts off with the main character sitting on a plane smoking a cigarette.; the fact that people are smoking on airplanes should inform you that Bioshock does not take place in present day. Bioshock takes place in the year 1955, but the city of Rapture was created in the 40's, this is very evident in the architectural style of the underwater city. Basically as the main character (name unknown at this point) sits on the airplane he talks about his parents and looks at their picture; one small thing I noticed while this CG movie was taking place was the envelope on his lap which read "Please do not open til you arrive", I am sure this will come into play later in the game as the developers told us nothing is in Bioshock by accident. The calmness of the opening movie quickly fades as the screen goes black, screams are heard all around you, and you can hear the plane crash into the water; this is quickly followed by one of the coolest game logos ever seen. The screen comes to life and there you are, gasping for air underwater, swimming upwards toward an insane inferno. Once you reach air one of the best "opening scenes" ever created is underway. As you scan to your left and right you notice you are in the middle of the ocean, fire everywhere around you. The only way to go is to the small openings in the flames and once there you see the tail end of the plane, sinking slowly into a watery abyss. I need to take a second here and tell our readers just how amazing the water effects in Bioshock are, to date I cannot name another game that comes even close.
Towering above the main character is a massive structure (in the middle of the ocean, go figure) so swimming towards it is the obvious next move. Finally you break ground as you step onto some stairs leading mysteriously out of the water and into this dark, eery building. Step inside the huge doors and all you see is a small water craft with an open door begging you to climb in. Once the main character has decided to climb into this contraption the game starts and you are introduced to the man behind Rapture, as well as the initial reason it was created. I won't spoil too much but basically the underwater city was built to create a free-thinking society with no boundaries and no political suffocation. I wish the screen shots of Bioshock did the city of Rapture justice, they do not. If I was to sit here and go over all the small breathtaking things I noticed during the three minute decent this preview would go on for pages. Inside the city you are introduced to Atlas, your guide and protector for the remainder of the game. The voice acting in Bioshock is some of the best I have heard and I genuinely felt involved in the characters, much more than thought to happen in the small amount of time the demo lasts (30-45 minutes).
