May 10, 2006 - Bioshock is about choice. It's about exploration, problem solving, and survival. It's also about scaring the crap out of you. If you're wondering what the best game at the show is, this may very well be it. We got in at 2K Games' both to see a 20 minute demo of the game in action, and got to see a number of gameplay mechanics, as well as gaze at its gorgeous graphics. Bioshock's setting is a large part of its appeal. Set in the underwater city of Rapture, the environments are a striking blend of sci-fi machinery and art deco designs. Since Rapture is under enormous aquatic pressure, the city is constantly leaking, meaning there's a significant amount of spraying water mixed in with the settings. The city was created in secret and subsequently forgotten. By the time you arrive there, there's evidence everywhere of the denizens attempting to manipulate their environment to survive. In addition to rearranging their disheveled surroundings, some of the inhabitants have ingested too many of the genetic modifiers littered around, driving them mad.

The demo started out with your character in the middle of a marble hall, surrounded by glass windows and wooden planks for reinforcement. Cracks, debris, and other signs of wear were all over, proof that Rapture's residents no longer cared for cleanliness. Their concerns were decidedly elsewhere, irrefutably proven when we met the first shambling character. From behind a walk stalked a Big Daddy, a hulking humanoid covered in thick, cumbersome underwater equipment. Instead of charging right at us in a murderous rage, he slowly stepped by, aware of but uninterested in our presence. This gave us a sense of Rapture's autonomous natures. We're not the person around all the action revolves; every enemy is just trying to live its own life.

Making its way over to a far wall, the Big Daddy creaked open a hatch and let gently down a Little Sister. She looked normal enough, like a disheveled small child, but her actions belied a simple nature. Slinking over to a nearby corpse, she procured a long drill and proceeded to bore into the body. According to developer Irrational Games, she was after Adam, a valuable resource which you too must harvest. Since these Little Sisters and Big Daddies are generally involved with resource harvesting, they carry quite a bit around with them.

Trying to take them down and snag their goods, however, is complicated by the fact that Big Daddies are some of the most powerful enemies in the game. If you leave them and their Little Sisters alone, they won't bother you. If you get too close, however, they'll get upset. During the demo, Irrational approached a Little Sister after she'd harvested the resources, frightening her into hiding behind the Big Daddy. The big, metal-suited oaf was obviously aggravated, as he took a heavy swing with his arm, knocking us back several feet and blurring the screen. When we backed off a few more feet to give him space, he soon lost interest, the Little Sister overcame her fright, and they both continued with their business.

Irrational mentioned they're focusing more on interesting, emotional enemy A.I. rather than advanced squad tactics. Like with the Big Daddy, we're to expect lifelike, authentic behaviors rooted in more complex motivations than blind, murderous rage. Another enemy type we saw, the Splicer, was much more aggressive than the cumbersome Big Daddies. These enemies hopped around erratically, sometimes stood on the ceiling, and slashed around hooks on the ends of their hands. Capable of quick charges, the Splicers were the biggest threat encountered in the demo. These mangled female forms in ratty green robes had abused too many of Rapture's genetic enhancements, driving them nuts.

To combat these fierce foes, only had one weapon was available. Best described as a shotgun, the weapon was a cobble of rusted cans, spare parts, and cogs, making for a uniquely rudimentary yet attractive piece of machinery. All of Bioshock's weaponry can be modified, making it useful against a range of targets. This particular weapon took two kinds of ammunition that we saw: armor piercing and anti-personnel. Whereas the armor rounds were effective at wiping out mechanical enemies, they were frustratingly ineffective against the Splicers. It took about six or seven shots to cut up a Slicer with armor rounds, whereas it took two to shatter its life with the antipersonnel variety. When playing, players must exploit strengths and weaknesses like this to help conserve ammo, of which there's far from an inexhaustible supply.

Further into the demo Irrational entered a bar, flipped on the lightswitch, and was immediately shot at by a standing turret gun. Like the shotgun adorned from cans, the turret was equally rudimentary; a desk chair with a machine gun roped to it. Taking cover behind a bar, it was possible to grab a few bottle off the counter to replenish health. A downed register yielded some Adams. Like those objects, almost every item in Bioshock's game world can be inspected or interacted with, adding to the immersion factor. To escape the turrets deadly fire, it was possible to initiate a speed burst implant, sending us flying across the room to an open door, and safety. At the stairway's end some armor piercing shells were found, which were highly effective at taking out the turret gun.