This game has picked up steam and momentum since early 2006 when it was first announced, and has been one of the most anticipated games for 2007, unless of course you have been living in bomb shelter, everyone knows it set to be release Tuesday, August 21, 2007.  GDN was lucky enough to be able to get a early copy and though we won’t spoil it for you we just might just let you in on a little secret.

BioShock takes place among the ruins of an underwater utopia. After your plane crashes into icy, uncharted waters, you discover a rusted bathysphere and descend into Rapture, a city hidden beneath the sea. Constructed as an ideal society for a hand-picked group of scientists, artists and industrialists, Rapture collapsed under the weight of its own idealism. Now the city is littered with corpses, wildly powerful guardians roam the corridors, mutated little girls scavenge the dead, and genetically modified citizens ambush you at every turn. Now most of you probably have seen the demo, but all I can say is, you haven’t seen nothing yet.

Graphics:  I can think of only one thing to say, "Unreal", or is it "Real", heck I don’t know, all I do know is the graphics are awesome. From the plane that keeps sinking into the water, (if you played the demo, you’ve already seen that, to the water effects itself, to the feel of being in another era that this game was based in, really makes this a game to not only enjoyable to play, but being the nice guy that I am, let others play also, and to be honest it was great just to be able to sit there and watch someone else play. With that being said, I do also have a complaint, the one down side is the blood when squashing one’s head in, with all the water and sorroundings looking so realistic in this game, couldnt the bloodshed be a bit better? It isn’t like I wanted to throw the controller across the room because the bloodshed wasn’t good enough. I almost forget to mention the fact that the opening scene (no I didn’t play the demo) caused me to sit there for a couple of minutes thinking I was watching a small opening credit, when in fact I was already floating in the water. The 360 degree viewing never seemed to miss a beat or get distorted.

Sound: When they first announced that Garry Schyman was going to create the score for this game, I researched him and he kept being announced as a "Hollywood" composer,  but yet when I looked at his credits, the only thing I recognized in his long list were the video games. (Destroy All Humans! 1&2, Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers) Though these aren’t riveting scores to me, I wondered what he could contribute to Bioshock. Once again, I wasn’t let down, the score was perfect for this game. I keep mentioning the era, (though I couldn’t tell you what era it reminds me of, someone mentioned the fifties), to me it all plays a big part in this game, and the music almost seems like it was borrowed from that era. They did a great job fitting the score within the gameplay and make it appropriate when it needed to be.

Gameplay: When first starting out playing this game (remember now, I didn’t play the demo, so I didn’t have a leg up on the what buttons did what and how), I had a heck of a time, remembering and deciphering what buttons did what. There were many a time I wanted to shoot and the next thing I know I’m holding a wrench ( I found out quickly a pipe wrench doesn’t shoot anything or anyone). Now, to be fair, I am also handicapped for a while as I decided to remove part of my thumb from the rest of my body, so I only have four fingers on the right hand. Try to game without a thumb,you’ll see, it isnt easy) There are not a whole lot of buttons on that controller you dont use in some part of the game. Challenge wise, there is plenty of it. Between just figuring where you need to go, some of the in game puzzles you need to do to move on, keeping away from bots, and all the other things (told you I wont ruin everything).

Replay: Though until you start finding weapons, which seemed at some points far and few between, plus all your special abilities you can aquire, I could never get bored. There is so much to do in this game, though in the end it all ends up the same. I can’t say I won’t be trying a lot of things many times over and trying to get through sections better (believe me, the first time around definetly wasn’t pretty) I think this could be the down fall of the game, as once its done, its done.

Overall: The answer to the original question, does it stand up to the hype? The answer is a resounding yes. It is great when a game can come out with all the talk and hype Bioshock came with, and it stand up to it. This is A MUST HAVE for your 360 collection. Though to be fair, I’m not yet throwing it a game of the year award yet (Mainly because we still have 4 months to go.) I will give it this distinguished honor. Bioshock is the first recipient of the GDN Editors Choice Award.