Bioshock

There aren’t many games which list a critique of objectivism as one of its selling points, but then Bioshock isn’t like other games. Indeed the only titles it can easily be compared to are System Shock and its sequel, to which this is a spiritual successor. Instead of being set in a derelict space ship though the game’s story involves you exploring a mysterious underwater city after a plane crash. The city had been created as an art deco paradise for the intellectual elite but is now in ruins and populated only by grotesque mutants – both physically and mentally.

Although at first sight the game appears to be a first person shoot ‘em-up it is not primarily an action game. Your goal is survival, not extermination, with ammunition limited and many enemies far more powerful than yourself. You are able to upgrade your abilities though, both physical and psychic, by collecting Adam – the mutagen which was the cause of the disaster in the first place. Even so the best way to defend yourself is to play the creatures and environments against themselves, tricking one group into fighting against another or taking control of security robots and devices.

The game gives you full freedom to play the game exactly as you want, while at the same time creating a living world which carries on with or without you – with many creatures not even bothering to acknowledge you unless you attack them. With stunning graphics, especially the water effects, and an extremely disturbing atmosphere this could well be the most intelligently macabre video game ever made.
HARRISON DENT

BioShock is the "genetically enhanced" first person shooter that lets you do things never before possible in the genre: turn everything into a weapon, biologically mod your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade your weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques in an incredible and unique underwater city.

You are a cast-away in Rapture, an underwater Utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces, and hunted down by genetically modified splicers and deadly security systems, you have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same, and no two gamers will play the game the same way.

BioShock is loaded with some of greatest, most modifiable weapons to ever blast their way into a shooter. But guns alone won't be enough to defeat the devious AIs of Rapture. There are literally hundreds of other strategies players can use to take out his enemies.

There aren't many games which list a critique of objectivity as one of its selling points, but then Bioshock isn't like other games.