any of you getting it? I'm gettin' it next month, scheduled to be out in August 21.....here's some screens
Videos -
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bioshock+gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bioshock+trailer
The game starts in the year 1960, with the player underwater following a plane crash in the ocean, surrounded by debris. No introductory cut scene is displayed explaining how this happened, leaving the player to decide for themselves why they were on the plane. Nearby, a lighthouse is sticking out of the water, in the middle of the ocean. Upon getting inside and traversing the internal stairwell, the player finds a bathysphere submersible with a corpse inside. Upon removing the corpse and descending in the bathysphere (having nowhere else to go), the player eventually reaches an underwater city on the ocean floor.
A plot unfolds involving the crumbling city and the utopian society for which it was built. It began with a Howard Hughes-like industrialist named Andrew Ryan. Born in Russia in the early 1900s, he witnessed the rise of the Soviet Union, losing his entire family to the corruption that would plague it throughout its existence. He eventually escaped to the United States, becoming a wealthy and respected industrialist/inventor. At first he is a dedicated patriot, grateful to his new nation for rewarding his intelligence and determination with prosperity and fame. However, his devotion is tested by the Great Depression, the New Deal, and finally shattered by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Immediately afterward, in 1946, was when he withdrew from the world and built the underwater city. A hidden sanctuary for those Ryan considered to be humanity's best and brightest, the society was envisioned as the ultimate capitalistic and individualist paradise, with the elite achieving for themselves, rather than for the whole. Mocking the beliefs of common society, he named it Rapture. Protected by a network of giant sea walls and consisting of a cluster of enormous skyscraper-shaped hive towers, Rapture was designed to be entirely self-supporting, with all of its electricity, food production, water purification and defense systems powered by undersea volcanic openings. At one point, it is learned that Rapture's population numbered several thousand at its peak during the early 1950s, composed of those people Ryan viewed as the best examples of mankind. A large and tiered economy grew among the people, catering different quality products to different levels of the society. The city itself is inspired by Art Deco and has an appearance merging the futuristic and archaic.
A scientific discovery upset the balance of the society. Two scientists studying ocean-floor dwelling creatures discovered a species of sea slug that secretes pure stem cells. These could be used to enhance one's body, improving physical or mental capabilities, curing diseases and healing injuries. A young entrepreneur named Tenebaum invested early on in the research to gain control over the material. The substance, dubbed "ADAM", became so sought after in the society, that it became the dominant currency of the city. A "full-scale genetic arms race" broke out between Ryan and Tenebaum as Tenebaum's monopoly on ADAM threatened the current social structure. Ryan eventually won, but everyone in the city was permanently changed. During the war, it was discovered that ADAM could be used to modify one's body, combining technology and mutations to adapt and survive the conflict, but losing their humanity in the process. During the conflict, all natural sources of ADAM were destroyed, which eventually resulted in a major shift in the "ecology" of the city, as all inhabitants had become biologically dependent on ADAM to survive.
When the player arrives in Rapture, the city is in a state of disrepair, its vast underground living areas and laboratory complexes scarred by the effects of the civil war and poisoned by biological weapons. Low-level flooding is also found to be a problem, as the use of high-powered explosives and corrosion weapons during the war created small breaches in the city's sea walls, allowing seawater to enter some of the buildings.
As the player descends through the underwater city, he or she will explore the many levels of the giant undersea base, including the huge living quarters modules and the multi-floored scientific headquarters. Remnants of the last days remain in notes and recordings made by the citizens before and during the collapse of Rapture's society. Not only does this provide background, it also opens new avenues in the player's interaction with the ecology of Rapture.
Videos -
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bioshock+gameplay
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bioshock+trailer
The game starts in the year 1960, with the player underwater following a plane crash in the ocean, surrounded by debris. No introductory cut scene is displayed explaining how this happened, leaving the player to decide for themselves why they were on the plane. Nearby, a lighthouse is sticking out of the water, in the middle of the ocean. Upon getting inside and traversing the internal stairwell, the player finds a bathysphere submersible with a corpse inside. Upon removing the corpse and descending in the bathysphere (having nowhere else to go), the player eventually reaches an underwater city on the ocean floor.
A plot unfolds involving the crumbling city and the utopian society for which it was built. It began with a Howard Hughes-like industrialist named Andrew Ryan. Born in Russia in the early 1900s, he witnessed the rise of the Soviet Union, losing his entire family to the corruption that would plague it throughout its existence. He eventually escaped to the United States, becoming a wealthy and respected industrialist/inventor. At first he is a dedicated patriot, grateful to his new nation for rewarding his intelligence and determination with prosperity and fame. However, his devotion is tested by the Great Depression, the New Deal, and finally shattered by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Immediately afterward, in 1946, was when he withdrew from the world and built the underwater city. A hidden sanctuary for those Ryan considered to be humanity's best and brightest, the society was envisioned as the ultimate capitalistic and individualist paradise, with the elite achieving for themselves, rather than for the whole. Mocking the beliefs of common society, he named it Rapture. Protected by a network of giant sea walls and consisting of a cluster of enormous skyscraper-shaped hive towers, Rapture was designed to be entirely self-supporting, with all of its electricity, food production, water purification and defense systems powered by undersea volcanic openings. At one point, it is learned that Rapture's population numbered several thousand at its peak during the early 1950s, composed of those people Ryan viewed as the best examples of mankind. A large and tiered economy grew among the people, catering different quality products to different levels of the society. The city itself is inspired by Art Deco and has an appearance merging the futuristic and archaic.
A scientific discovery upset the balance of the society. Two scientists studying ocean-floor dwelling creatures discovered a species of sea slug that secretes pure stem cells. These could be used to enhance one's body, improving physical or mental capabilities, curing diseases and healing injuries. A young entrepreneur named Tenebaum invested early on in the research to gain control over the material. The substance, dubbed "ADAM", became so sought after in the society, that it became the dominant currency of the city. A "full-scale genetic arms race" broke out between Ryan and Tenebaum as Tenebaum's monopoly on ADAM threatened the current social structure. Ryan eventually won, but everyone in the city was permanently changed. During the war, it was discovered that ADAM could be used to modify one's body, combining technology and mutations to adapt and survive the conflict, but losing their humanity in the process. During the conflict, all natural sources of ADAM were destroyed, which eventually resulted in a major shift in the "ecology" of the city, as all inhabitants had become biologically dependent on ADAM to survive.
When the player arrives in Rapture, the city is in a state of disrepair, its vast underground living areas and laboratory complexes scarred by the effects of the civil war and poisoned by biological weapons. Low-level flooding is also found to be a problem, as the use of high-powered explosives and corrosion weapons during the war created small breaches in the city's sea walls, allowing seawater to enter some of the buildings.
As the player descends through the underwater city, he or she will explore the many levels of the giant undersea base, including the huge living quarters modules and the multi-floored scientific headquarters. Remnants of the last days remain in notes and recordings made by the citizens before and during the collapse of Rapture's society. Not only does this provide background, it also opens new avenues in the player's interaction with the ecology of Rapture.
