BioShock

Overview

BioShock is a 2007 first-person shooter from 2K Boston, later Irrational Games, and 2K Australia, published by 2K. It came out on Windows and Xbox 360 in August 2007. The PlayStation 3 version was made by Irrational, 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes, and was released on October 17, 2008 internationally and October 21 in North America.

You play Jack, the only survivor of a plane crash in the Atlantic, who finds a way down to Rapture, an underwater city built by Andrew Ryan as a refuge from government and religion. The discovery of ADAM, a substance that gives superhuman powers, wrecked the city. You fight splicers, use plasmids that give you magic-like powers, hack the city's own defences, and decide whether to save or harvest the Little Sisters.

Ken Levine and the team that made System Shock 2 came up with the idea. It draws on writers such as Ayn Rand, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, and the art deco look came from New York architecture. The game uses a heavily modified Unreal Engine 2.5, cost about 25 million US dollars, and its late additions included the plane crash at the start.

The PS3 port has no graphical upgrade over the Xbox 360 game, but offers the horizontal plus widescreen option, higher resolution cutscenes, trophies and PlayStation Home support. A demo appeared on the PlayStation Store on October 2, 2008. PS3 owners also got Survivor Mode, where enemies are tougher and Vita-Chambers heal less, and an update on November 13, 2008 added Challenge Rooms and New Game Plus.

Reviews were extremely positive. The PS3 version holds a Metacritic score of 94, against 96 for Xbox 360 and Windows. Critics praised the story, the setting and the art, and it is often named one of the best games ever made. About 4 million copies had sold by March 2010. BioShock 2 followed in 2010 and BioShock Infinite in 2013.

Official trailer

Bioshock (PlayStation 3) Trailer, neXGam. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Bioshock for PS3, Longplay, No Commentary, DaPuma. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Publisher

2K

Series

BioShock

Engine

Unreal Engine 2.5 (heavily modified)

Composers

Garry Schyman

Directors

Ken Levine, Alyssa Finley, Jordan Thomas (PS3 version)

Developer

2K Boston and 2K Australia (PS3 port by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes)

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Disc IDs

The serial printed on the disc and the case. It tells you which region a copy is from.

Trophies

Trophies66

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

3

Silver

3

Bronze

59

Total

66

Points

1545

Platinum time

15 hours

100% time

20 hours

Difficulty

4 out of 10

Playthroughs for platinum

1

Playthroughs for 100%

1

New Game Plus

Yes. Added free by the PS3 update in November 2008

Platinum without online

Yes

Online trophies

0

Boosting needed

No

DLC has trophies

Yes

Platinum includes DLC

No

100% includes DLC

Yes

DLC comes in

Sold only as a download

DLC still for sale

Yes

DLC note

The Challenge Rooms add 12 trophies and are still sold, US$9.99.

Missable trophies

5

Chapter select fixes a miss

No

Separate trophy lists by region

Yes

Only in a language other than English

No

Region note

The Japanese PS3 version has its own list.

Online-only version

No

Digital-only

No

Disc-only

No

Trophy list shared with other versions

No

Other versions

The PS4 versions have their own lists.

Players with the platinum

7.76%

Missable trophies

• Found Cohen's Room
• Historian
• Little Sister Savior
• Tonic Collector
• Weapon Specialist

Grind

• Collectibles: every audio diary and tonic
• Research photos

Glitches and fixes

• I Chose the Impossible can fail to unlock.

• PLATINUM TROPHY Collected all other BioShock trophies Platinum 7.76% of players
• Completed Welcome The player has successfully completed the Welcome To Rapture Level Bronze 89.62% of players
• Defeated Dr. Steinman The player has defeated the crazed Dr. Steinman Bronze 74.67% of players
• Defeated Peach Wilkins The player has defeated Peach Wilkins Bronze 63.63% of players
• Restored the Forest The player has restored the forests of Arcadia Bronze 56.26% of players
• Completed Cohen's Masterpiece The player has completed Sander Cohen's great masterpiece Bronze 52.8% of players
• Defeated Andrew Ryan The player has defeated Andrew Ryan Bronze 50.78% of players
• Broke Fontaine's Mind Control The player has broken Fontaine's mind control Bronze 48.84% of players
• Became a Big Daddy The player has become a Big Daddy Bronze 47.69% of players
• Defeated Atlas The player has defeated Atlas Bronze 46.92% of players
• Maxed One Track The player has purchased every slot in one of the Plasmid or Tonic tracks Bronze 50.88% of players
• Maxed All Tracks Purchased every slot in all four Plasmid and Tonic tracks Bronze 33.38% of players
• Bought One Slot The player has purchased one slot in any Plasmid or Tonic track Bronze 67.01% of players
• Upgraded a Weapon The player has acquired at least one weapon upgrade Bronze 62.9% of players
• One Fully Upgraded Weapon The player has fully upgraded one weapon Bronze 54.35% of players
• Two Fully Upgraded Weapons The player has fully upgraded two weapons Bronze 49.09% of players
• Three Fully Upgraded Weapons The player has fully upgraded three weapons Bronze 43.34% of players
• Four Fully Upgraded Weapons Fully upgrade four weapons Bronze 33.73% of players
• Five Fully Upgraded Weapons Fully upgrade five weapons Bronze 22.97% of players
• Weapon Specialist Acquire all upgrades for all weapons Bronze 13.73% of players
• Fully Researched Thug Splicer The player has fully researched the Thuggish Splicer Bronze 31.87% of players
• Fully Researched Gun Splicer The player has fully researched the Leadhead Splicer Bronze 34.32% of players
• Fully Researched Spider Splicer The player has fully researched the Spider Splicer Bronze 30.91% of players
• Fully Researched Houdini Splicer Fully research the Houdini Splicer Bronze 25.64% of players
• Fully Researched Nitro Splicer Fully research the Nitro Splicer Bronze 22.48% of players
• Fully Researched Rosie Fully research the Rosie Bronze 25.05% of players
• Fully Researched Bouncer Fully research the Bouncer Bronze 20.86% of players
• Fully Researched Little Sister Fully research the Little Sister Bronze 22.84% of players
• Prolific Photographer Take at least one photo in every research group Bronze 28.79% of players
• Research PhD Max out all possible research Bronze 14.88% of players
• Quality Research Photo The player has taken a Research Photo of the highest grade Bronze 65.79% of players
• Researched a Splicer The player has taken at least one Research Photo of a Splicer Bronze 67.05% of players
• One Successful Hack The player has performed at least one successful hack Bronze 88.04% of players
• Hacked a Security Bot The player has successfully hacked a security bot Bronze 88.01% of players
• Hacked a Security Camera The player has successfully hacked a security camera Bronze 62.55% of players
• Hacked a Turret The player has successfully hacked a turret Bronze 74.21% of players
• Hacked a Vending Machine The player has successfully hacked a vending machine Bronze 78.75% of players
• Hacked a Safe The player has successfully hacked a safe Bronze 74.57% of players
• Skilled Hacker The player has successfully completed 50 hacks Bronze 48% of players
• Basic Inventor The player has successfully invented at least one item Bronze 60.4% of players
• Avid Inventor Successfully invent at least 100 items Bronze 15.38% of players
• Ammo Inventor The player has successfully invented all possible ammo types Bronze 37.78% of players
• Little Sister Savior The player has completed the game without harvesting any Little Sisters Silver 35.24% of players
• Tonic Collector Collect or Invent 58 Tonics in the Physical, Engineering and Combat tracks Bronze 10.01% of players
• Historian Find every audio diary Silver 10.28% of players
• Seriously Good At This The player has completed the game on the Hard difficulty setting Bronze 12.42% of players
• Dealt with every Little Sister The player has either Harvested or Rescued every possible Little Sister Bronze 34.96% of players
• Lucky Winner Hit the jackpot at a slot machine Bronze 20.75% of players
• Irony The player has taken a picture of Sander Cohen's corpse Bronze 23.59% of players
• Found Cohen's Room The player has entered Sander Cohen's personal quarters Bronze 19.71% of players
• Toaster in the Tub The player has shocked an enemy in the water Bronze 89.74% of players
• Brass Balls Complete the game on Hard difficulty without using a Vita-Chamber Gold 9.4% of players
• A Man Chooses Complete the game on Survivor difficulty Gold 9.24% of players
• I Chose the Impossible Complete the game on Survivor difficulty without using a Vita-chamber Gold 8.59% of players
• “The ‘I’ in Team” - Rescuer Rescued the Little Sister in “The ‘I’ in Team” Bronze 23.43% of players
• “The ‘I’ in Team”, Expert Rescued the Little Sister in “The ‘I’ in Team” in under 3:00 Bronze 12.86% of players
• “The ‘I’ in Team”, Collector Found all collectable Roses in “The ‘I’ in Team” Bronze 14.23% of players
• “The ‘I’ in Team”, Pacifist Rescued the Little Sister in “The ‘I’ in Team” without destroying any Machine Gun Turrets Bronze 12.4% of players
• “A Shocking Turn of Events” - Rescuer Rescued the Little Sister in “A Shocking Turn of Events” Bronze 19.48% of players
• “A Shocking Turn of Events”, Expert The player has rescued the Little Sister in “A Shocking Turn of Events” in under 4:00 Bronze 11% of players
• “A Shocking Turn of Events”, Collector Found all collectable Roses in “A Shocking Turn of Events” Bronze 12.48% of players
• “A Shocking Turn of Events”, Master Electrician Charged up the Ferris Wheel 9 different times in “A Shocking Turn of Events” Bronze 12.45% of players
• “Worlds of Hurt” - Rescuer Rescued the Little Sister in “Worlds of Hurt” Bronze 15.68% of players
• “Worlds of Hurt”, Expert Rescued the Little Sister in “Worlds of Hurt” in under 15:00, on Medium or higher difficulty Bronze 7.04% of players
• “Worlds of Hurt”, Collector Found all collectable Roses in “Worlds of Hurt” Bronze 10.39% of players
• “Worlds of Hurt”, Tough Guy Rescued the Little Sister in “Worlds of Hurt” using only plasmids, tonics, the wrench, and the research camera, on Medium or higher difficulty Silver 10% of players

Space and patches

Space neededAbout 5 GB

Update patch01.10

Mandatory install

Yes

These are the patches Sony still hosts for this disc ID. The game's real history can be longer.

DLC

Survivor Mode and New Game Plus came free with the PS3 version and its update. The Challenge Rooms are paid DLC with 12 trophies.

Items

Name	Adds	Date	Price	Obtainable today
Survivor Mode	A harder mode where enemies are tougher and Vita-Chambers restore less health.
New Game Plus	Added free by the PS3 update.	2008-11-13
Challenge Rooms	Three levels, The 'I' in Team, A Shocking Turn of Events and Worlds of Hurt, with four trophies each	2008-11-20	US$9.99	Yes

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Single-player only, with no online features.

Online

Online servers runningNo online features

Plays offlineYes

The game has no online features.

Services

Service	Status
Online play	Does not exist

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	PS3	94	100
Metacritic	Xbox 360	96	100
Metacritic	Windows	96	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale	Grade
IGN	9.7	10
GameSpot	9	10
Game Informer	10	10
Eurogamer	10	10
Destructoid	10	10
GameSpy	5	5
Edge	8	10
Official Xbox Magazine UK	10	10
PC Gamer UK	9.5	10
PC Zone	9.6	10
1UP			A+

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Director	Ken Levine
Director	Alyssa Finley
Director, PS3 version	Jordan Thomas
Art director	Scott Sinclair
Lead level designer	Bill Gardner
Composer	Garry Schyman

Notes for collectors

• The PS3 version has the same graphics as the Xbox 360 game, with a widescreen option and higher resolution cutscenes.
• The PS3 update of November 13, 2008 fixed hangs and graphics problems and added Challenge Rooms and New Game Plus.
• A patch lets you turn Vita-Chambers off, and the Brass Balls and I Chose the Impossible trophies depend on not using them.
• Little Sister Savior and Historian are the trophies players most often miss: one needs the whole game without harvesting a Little Sister, the other every audio diary.
• The plane crash that opens the game was added late, after playtesters said they felt no link to Jack.
• Atlas was given an Irish accent after early testers disliked his first voice.

Credits

Publisher

2K

Developer

2K Boston and 2K Australia (PS3 port by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes)

Director

Ken Levine

Released

2008-10-21

Age rating

ESRB M

Disc ID

BLUS30166

Region

US

Time to beat

about 15.8 hours