I used to hate Bioshock. Even before earing about System Shock 2, it didn't really "hit me" as much as it did everyone else.

Bioshock is System Shock 2 without freedom of approach. Most people hadn't played System Shock 2 in 2005/6, so that shallowness kinda went unnoticed. It was hinting at great gameplay depth but it didn't require any. Nowadays, after seeing games like Deus Ex HR, Prey, Dishonored, Metal Gear Solid 5 and Zelda: Best of the Worst, etc. I can hardly believe even a part-time gamer wouldn't find Bioshock a bit wasteful in its design.

It's an FPS pretending to be an immersive sim... But, ultimately, it's a pretty damn good FPS.

The production value is incredible, the environments are non-linear and fun to explore, it sounds perfect, the story and its concepts wins in having lots of really interesting, extremely clever pieces (even though the whole "puzzle" isn't as great as SS2), it's memorable and iconic and proactive and whatever.

It's a special game that casts a huge shadow of quality over most other games. But it has shadows of it's own that not enough people know about. As far as quality goes, I'd say it's on par with the early Resident Evil games.

I used to hate Bioshock. Even before earing about System Shock 2, it didn't really "hit me" as much as it did everyone else. Bioshock is System Shock 2 without freedom of approach. Most people hadn't played System Shock 2 in 2005/6, so that shallowness kinda went unnoticed. It was hinting at great gameplay depth but it didn't require any. Nowadays, after seeing games like Deus Ex HR, Prey, Dishonored, Metal Gear Solid 5 and Zelda: Best of the Worst, etc. I can hardly believe even a part-time gamer wouldn't find Bioshock a bit wasteful in its design. It's an FPS pretending to be an immersive sim... But, ultimately, it's a pretty damn good FPS. The production value is incredible, the environments are non-linear and fun to explore, it sounds perfect, the story and its concepts wins in having lots of really interesting, extremely clever pieces (even though the whole "puzzle" isn't as great as SS2), it's memorable and iconic and proactive and whatever. It's a special game that casts a huge shadow of quality over most other games. But it has shadows of it's own that not enough people know about. As far as quality goes, I'd say it's on par with the early Resident Evil games.