We've been all over BioShock ever since we first saw it at the E3 of old. Even back then it stood out and captured our full attention; it looked like nothing else before it, had a captivating premise, and was beautiful to look at. Now the release of this first-person action game is less than one week away and a playable demo is available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. We decided to give you our full impressions of this demo in case you don't own an X360 or you, for some ungodly reason, have an X360 but don't have Xbox Live. This means there will be spoilers in the following paragraphs, so consider yourself warned!
As the demo opens you'll find yourself seated in the smoky cabin of a passenger plane. Yes, it's 1960 and the term second-hand smoke probably hasn't even been invented yet. Your character looks at a photo of his family and a voiceover monologue talks about how you're destined to do great things. Next thing you know, your prop plane is plummeting towards the water in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. You awaken in the murky depths of the ocean and swim towards the ocean. The night is illuminated by burning jet fuel and parts of the plane are slowly sinking into the water. Nearby is a tower lit with lights. You have no choice but to swim for it.
While tail section of the plane slowly sinks into the depths of the ocean you enter the strange tower. Just as you walk past the threshold the door slams shut, drowning you in darkness. Then, one by one electric lights click on revealing a room with a large statue of a man in the center. In front of this statue is a bright red banner with the phrase, "No Gods or Kings. Only Man." Below this statue is a plaque inscribed with a quote from a man named Andrew Ryan saying, "In what country is there a place for people like me?" An old-time-sounding instrumental version of "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" plays on speakers hidden throughout the tower.
You'll then make your way down two flights of stairs to a room with a spherical bathysphere in it. With no other choice, you enter it and descend into the Atlantic. As you dive further and further a projection screen will appear. A short message from Andrew Ryan plays. He talks about how the sweat of one man's brow should belong to himself, and introduces the city of Rapture to you. As this underwater metropolis comes into view Ryan's recording tells you that it's a place where science no longer being hindered by "petty morality" and "the great will not be constrained by the small".
As your ride ends in a dock within one of the many underwater skyscrapers that compose rapture you'll see a man waiting for you, but before he can do anything he is attacked by a deformed man with scythes where his hands should be. These creatures are called "Splicers". This Splicer kills the other man and then jumps onto the top of the Bathysphere, punching holes in it and rendering it useless. After the damage is done the Splicer leaves.
This is when you'll notice a radio in the Bathysphere. You pick it up and are contacted by a man named Atlas. As all the Ayn Rand fans get a little chuckle you'll be told that you're in grave danger and that you need to get to high ground. The door to the bathysphere opens and you take your first steps into the city of Rapture.
