BioShock - first PS3 look

We see the bunnies and mannequins soon enough - the entrance to Fort Frolic’s covered in them. And before long, we’re taking on a gang of bunny-masked monsters, taking potshots at them as they skitter along the ceiling. Here JP takes the reins, showing some of the smarter ways to finish off enemies. He finishes off one pair with the Incinerate Power - which sees your hand ablaze and enables you to lob fireballs, attaches a mine to a security droid and sends it into another group… then terminates another set with the Cyclone Trap ability. “JP Plays in a style that we like to call ‘Crazy Spider Monkey’,” says Christian. “But it’s amazing what other players have done in BioShock. There’s a moment where I wanted the player to feel like they were dancing. And then I saw a clip on YouTube of a guy who had synchronized his use of the cyclone trap tool to major rises in the music, so it felt like he was conducting a symphony of flying, unhappy people. It was awesome.”

This brings us to an important point: BioShock - as you probably already know - has been out for ages on Xbox 360. The conversion’s being handled by teams coordinated between San Francisco, Boston and Australia, and seems to be going smoothly, but is that all we’re going to see? Well, it’s already been confirmed that PS3 owners will get all of the downloadable content from the 360 version - including a dozen extra power-ups, a Sonic Boom plasmid that fires air blasts and a difficulty setting with no respawn points - on day one. But will we get anything else? “Our hopes right now are that we can find something to add,” says Executive Producer Alyssa Finley. “Sony has been tremendously supportive, but we don’t have anything we can talk about yet. Anything new that we do is going through the same collaborative process that we used to make the original BioShock.” Does that mean they’re angling for Sixaxis control? Alyssa says no. “Sony loves BioShock and they’ve been very helpful. They aren’t making us do anything.”

BioShock is looking impressive - at least as good as the Xbox 360 version - but we’re left wanting. More than anything, we’re praying that 2K manages to add some brand new content to what’s an already inspiring game. After all, BioShock is all about choices - now let’s hope they make the right ones.

If you’d like to know more about what BioShock has to offer, you can check out Rapture’s bizarre array of super-powers on offer in ourPlasmids Guide, and in case you’ve missed it, our original reviewon 360.

Jun 5, 2008