The year is 1960. I’m flying home on a red-eye transatlantic flight. Packed into my coach seat I flip through my passport as I finish off the last of my burning cigarette. Turbulence gently rocks the cabin as the fasten seatbelt sign illuminates the dimly lit cabin. From behind a stewardess is calling out to me in a rather contemptuous voice.

“Sir, your tray table. Excuse me, sir. Your tray table, please,” she says.

Before I can react, another powerful surge of turbulence rocks the plane and the captain quickly comes on over the intercom to inform the passengers to please stay in their seats. But suddenly, the cabin goes dark. The last thing I hear is the impact of a thousand pounds of metal smashing into the cold waters of the Atlantic.

I come to under water. Having somehow survived the initial impact, I now quickly realize my need for air and thrash my way to the surface. Amid the bright orange flames engulfing the wreckage, I spot a lighthouse in the distance. Still disoriented by the crash, I don’t bother wondering why something like a lighthouse would be in the middle of the Atlantic. For now it is simply a sanctuary from what would likely have been a watery grave.

Making my way into the interior, I find an open submersible rocking with the water beneath it. With few options left I enter the pod and slowly begin to descend below. Making my way down, a recoded man’s voice suddenly speaks from an intercom. He introduces himself as Andrew Ryan, a powerful industrialist and ideologue, who derided the forces of government, church, and communism as holding back the strong of society. That is why, he says, he built an oasis away from such corrupting forces; a place where greatness could be achieved without interference. With that said, an underwater skyline becomes visible through the submersible’s window. Brightly lit billboards and towering buildings fill my view while the pod moves into one of many decompression chambers.

“Welcome to Rapture,” the voice says.

This is Bioshock. What you just read was the in-game introduction to how this violent, moody, and morally ambiguous game begins. Recently I was invited to check out Bioshock, and see, firsthand, the progress that has been made on the game since its unveiling back in early 2006 as well as play, right from the start, the beginning areas of the collapsed utopia known as Rapture. And if you think the introduction sounds good, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Once I had reached the ocean floor and entered Rapture I quickly realized my safety was in no better condition now that I was here. Irrational had done an amazing job at capturing the feeling of a lost and destroyed utopia. Rapture looked war-torn and unstable. Amid the once beautiful art deco furnishings water seeped out of the walls, bulkheads creaked and debris was everywhere. My opinion was confirmed when another voice came up over the intercom. He said he was a resident of Rapture and that the city, and those living within, were falling apart. Recommending I find safety, he told me to meet him in the security center further in the complex.

Carefully exploring further I began to hear noises among the shadows - almost like whispers. Was someone nearby? If so, they were following me and they didn’t want to be found. I looked for the nearest weapon I could and grabbed a wrench among the rubble.

No sooner had I gripped my makeshift weapon that a deformed figure leapt from the darkness. With hooks for hands and blood-soaked clothing the creature screamed “Adam! It’s MINE!” as it flailed its deadly appendages at me. Parrying its slashes, I drew my hand back and smashed the wrench into the creature’s pale, inhuman face. After two more blows the grotesque attacker finally succumbed to its wounds. Only later I would find out I had been stalked by a “splicer”, one of the many deranged former denizens of Rapture whose dependence on a powerful gene-altering substance called “Adam” was responsible for these horrible state of affairs.

Shaken but even more determined to find safety, I pressed on. Entering an open lobby I found a discarded revolver and some cash in a nearby desk. The revolver was a nice upgrade and the money would come in handy when buying something from the vending machine next to the desk to help replenish my health after my earlier fight. But next to the vending machine was another odd machine labeled “Plasmi-Quik”. I fiddled with its controls only to suddenly feel intense, agonizing pain shoot through my body. Screaming and with my vision blurring I collapsed to the floor and blacked out.

Waking up I felt a surge of power rush through me as my left hand began to glow. Without a thought a sudden bolt of electricity shot through and out my arm, hitting a bright neon sign in front of me as it sparked and eventually died out. My elusive friend came over the intercom again this time welcoming me to the power of “plasmids” saying that while they change my genetic structure, these Adam-fueled abilities - scattered around the city - also grant me powers that would help protect me from the more dangerous inhabitants lurking the halls of Rapture.

In the distance I could hear the whispers of more Splicers. Not yet feeling prepared to take on more of these monstrosities, I dashed into the entrance of the surgery ward hoping to lose them. But upon entering I ran into something far worse. In front of me was a massive figure clad in a metal diving suit and holding an immense drill. Next to him was a small girl who seemed preoccupied with the bodies strewn about the surgery floor. She proceeded to stick a large needle into them only to then drink the substance.

This duo was the notorious “Big Daddy” and “Little Sister”. Bound by a symbiotic relationship, the Big Daddy serves to protect the Little Sister while she collects the precious Adam contained within the bodies of the dead. Driven to gain Adam at any costs, the other citizens of Rapture, and now I, would be compelled to take such a large concentration of the substance from the Little Sister. But even if I could somehow defeat her protector, would I be willing to sacrifice my morality to fuel my powers?

I did not need to answer such a question just yet, as I was ill-equipped to take on a Big Daddy. But with Splicers on my tail, I needed to think of something to avoid a battle I could not win. Thankfully the Big Daddy ignored my presence while I ran to the other end of the surgery ward where a large pool of water had collected. One Splicer, foolishly distracted by the Big Daddy, gave off pursuit. The other, still following me, entered the water. Charging my electricity plasmid, I shot the water and sent the Splicer into shocked convulsions.

In Bioshock, it’s all about being creative in your solutions and taking advantage of your environment. Using my electricity plasmid to shock a splicer while in the water is just one example. Eventually, as I gain more powers I can light oil spills on fire, throw objects - even my enemies’ grenades - with my mind, or force characters to fight against each other. Or if I’d prefer, I could hack nearby security bots to use as added protection while I fight hand-to-hand. My options are almost limitless.

No longer stalked by the Splicers I was free to continue, albeit carefully, through the surgery ward to the security center still far away. Though I had just barely scratched the surface of the secrets contained within the broken utopia of Rapture, this brief experience confirmed that Bioshock’s dark story, inventive and open-ended gameplay, and customizable powers rightly make it one of the most anticipated games of the year.

Originally from GamePro