12 people found this review helpful
Recommended
0.6 hrs last two weeks / 86.7 hrs on record (22.7 hrs at review time)
Posted: 10 Sep, 2017 @ 2:24pm
Updated: 19 Sep, 2017 @ 5:47am

This remaster crashed more than five times while playing. First, when I was quicksaving (it deleted the quicksave), so I have been saving manually since then. Once when using the Steam Overlay and then generally when manually saving, especially during playing the DLC. Other than that, I had no serious problems. Now, even if you know the game by heart, you will find it hard to find many differences. The game was already so good-looking, designed to be an example of art in a video game. The unique Art Deco artistic style makes the game's looks almost indestructible by ravages of time. So it was very pleasant to see how much it can be improved without violating its hallmark of quality. Blind Squirrel Games succeeded in remastering most textures, models, decals and even UI while staying true to the original. Sound issues disappeared and the game has no problem in playing more sounds at once, like the original had. What they didn't improve are the annoying and loud metal against metal clinking sounds when hacked turrets or security bots attack enemies. The long-forgotten issues with the original and the raging community forced devs to update the game's options menu, including an FOV slider. The nicest change to Unreal Engine 2.5 is the unlocked framerate of physics making combat much more satisfying. The gameplay and amazing story remain unchanged, with only a new difficulty level being added. I would describe BioShock as a casual shooter (even on the new Survivor difficulty, because you are swimming in resources) with heavy intellectual themes, coming from its incredibly detailed philosophy and narrative. What gives me a rash though, is the last fifth of the game. It is so different from the rest of the game in terms of raw quality that it becomes a mediocre shooter at that point. And when they put an FOV-increasing, tunnel vision helmet on you, it becomes a nightmare that ends soon, thankfully.

8.5/10 (because of the crashes, 9.5 for the legendary original)

+ art, philosophy, science and killing madmen effectively
- crashes, the changes are cosmetic and are indiscernible if you don't know the original well
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