BrightFlame BioShock Remastered Review

[b]You Won't Run Out of Ammo: Why BioShock Isn't Quite an Immersive Sim[/b] BioShock Remastered is, first and foremost, a diverse shooter featuring exploration and a combat system built around combining weapons with Plasmids (special abilities). Contrary to popular belief, it's not a classic immersive sim. The stealth mechanics are rudimentary, and resources are quite plentiful. RPG elements are minimal – they mostly boil down to picking the right set of Plasmids and Tonics (perks), along with increasing your maximum Health and EVE (the game's "mana"). On Easy and Medium difficulty, the game becomes almost a pure shooter where ammo and consumables are readily available everywhere; you'll rarely experience scarcity. On Hard, the resource economy gets tighter, encouraging more non-standard solutions rather than just straightforward shooting. You can (and I personally recommend) disable Vita-Chambers in the settings – these are the respawn points. Turning them off removes the ability to just brute-force enemies through endless respawns, as death without them means loading a save instead. With Vita-Chambers enabled on any difficulty, the penalty for failure feels far too low. Because resources are so abundant, the motivation to explore thoroughly can sometimes dip, even on Hard difficulty. However, the game makes up for this with its greatest strength: immersive storytelling. The narrative unfolds not just through dialogue, but through exploring the levels, observing the environment, and listening to audio logs – an approach that was revolutionary for its time and still works brilliantly today. The plot isn't structurally complex, but it's philosophically engaging. Plus, BioShock's main plot twist is widely considered one of the best in gaming history. The characters, by the way, are very lively and memorable, albeit sometimes grotesque. The graphics have aged remarkably well thanks to the stylized art design – the underwater city of Rapture, the game's setting, still looks impressive and atmospheric. The sound design isn't groundbreaking, but it's varied. The music stays mostly in the background; it's not particularly memorable, but it effectively sets the right mood. Optimization is excellent – the game runs smoothly even on lower-end hardware. Bugs are infrequent (though objects occasionally clip through textures), but you might encounter random crashes for no apparent reason, so quicksaving often is a good idea. The main story will take about 8-12 hours, depending on your chosen difficulty. If you explore every nook and cranny and listen to all the audio diaries, expect it to take up to 15-20 hours (especially if you tackle the extra Challenge Rooms added in the remaster, accessible from the main menu). BioShock Remastered is a great fit for fans of unconventional shooters and serves as a good entry point into the immersive sim genre for players mainly familiar with traditional action games. However, it's likely not the best choice for hardcore fans of pure immersive sims, as they might find the gameplay mechanics lack sufficient depth. 8/10