Bioshock: The Collection (PS4)

Really pleased I pre-ordered this game. I played Bioshock 1 and 2 on the 360 and loved 1, like my old school favourite System Shock by Looking Glass Studios, this has the same gritty feel, an environment gone mad, mutants and mayhem galore. Its one of those games that pulls you into its world very cleverly with a great script. The game is split into unique areas, each has a maniac boss and a lot of exploration, crouching and moving round air vents to discover a new location, using a fire plasmid to melt ice blocking a door, etc. Initially you are very weak but later you can add potions to your gear that give you extra armour, shock damage to melee attackers and so on. It pays to explore every nook and cranny, use the touch sensitive pad to bring the map up, X to zoom in. The main baddy is Andrew Ryan, creator of plasmids and gene splicing but then who is Atlas and why is he really helping you?This set has all 3 games remastered and all the DLC on 2 discs, Bioshock 1 and 2 on disc 1 (30GB), and Infinite on disc 2 (30GB). Really good value for money and some hundred plus hours easily. The game also has the addition of video reels that have interesting discussions with Ken Levine and Shawn Robertson about their game design philosophy, and work on System Shock 2 and other titles. Looks like Ken is doing some film work writing the script for a remake of Logans Run (sci-fi classic).The graphics for Bioshock 1 are very good, not up to Witcher 3, but perfectly good on the PS4. The game mechanics with weapons and plasmids is excellent and a whole lot of fun. Electroshock the first plasmid you get shocks enemies so you can then whack them with the wrench to save ammo, or if you're lucky shock water they are standing in. The game unravels through a unique story told with audio and visual clips (like the original Shock introduced way back). Enemies are varied and all require care to take down if you are to conserve your ammo, and avoid taking a lot of damage.Search every crate, dustbin and corpse to pick up extra ammo, health and adam. Generally this game plays best as a stealth type, so running around blasting everything will get you heavily damaged. Later you can also hack turrets and bots to attack enemies. Really well written story for Bioshock 1, 2 I didn't like as much (constant whining pyschiatrist, a bit boring) and Infinite was utterly unique. As a trilogy plus the DLC all for £32 (way to go Amazon, PSN is £44 digital copy) this is a no brainer buy!Finished the Medical Pavillion area and moving onto the Fisheries area, very fun game. Got 3 plasmids and several potions so the base character is getting stronger. Used AP rounds and electro shock to take down a Big Daddy and rescue the Little Sister for ADAM. Minerva's Den is a very good DLC for BS2, reminds me a bit of 'The Difference Engine' by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, steam-punk computing.nb, There is a limit to the amout of saves you can have, and this carries over to Bioshock 2. So I uploaded all my 1 saves to PSN and then deleted them on the PS4 so Bioshock 2 could save ok. Dionysus Park is great!

Brilliant game

So, Bioshock. I know a lot of people are sick of remasters, but I myself like a remaster of the game is worth remastering and it's done right. Well Bioshock is definitely worth them doing, and I've actually been waiting for them to get around to it since the current gen consoles came out. As for the quality of the remaster, I'm afraid it's a mixed bag.The game is just as special as I remember it. A superb setting in Rapture, the undersea utopia gone wrong, and a great story that follows some interesting themes. It's one of those games I've played through at least half a dozen times, and each time I start I realise how I've forgotten how much I enjoy it.The gameplay in Bioshock has always been strong, with a nice mix of using a fairly standard set of weapons which you can upgrade, and your plasmids, which for those who don't know, are basically powers that you can use to attack your enemies. There's also a bit of crafting and hacking thrown in, and it feels to me as if the game was ahead of its time in a lot of ways that other games now do routinely.After that brief bit on the game, now onto the remaster. I'm afraid it is flawed in a few ways, but that's not to say it's all bad. It runs at 1080p resolution now and at 60fps which is great. There are also new textures and a few new environmental details that add to the atmosphere nicely.Now the bad. It crashes occasionally, and I keep having to restart the game as my controls have stopped working. On one occasion just the right stick stopped working for some reason while everything else still worked. It's not my controller at fault. The most serious flaw for me so far is that they appear to have messed up the AI of the splicers, at least to some extent. Those who have played the game will know the enjoyment to be had from experimenting with plasmids and seeing what you can make happen. Well, one thing I've always liked is how you could use Incinerate, your fire plasmid, and if there was water nearby the enemy would jump in it to put themselves out, when I would then use Electrobolt to electrocute them while they were in the water. Well, this no longer works in the remaster. They don't react very much to being set on fire at all, and in dozens of times I've actually tried to recreate what would happen in the original, it never does, they just stand there on fire next to water until they drop dead. They keep attacking the whole while, but never behave as they did originally. Thankfully I haven't found any other instances where the game logic is messed up, but I'm still disappointed in this. I emailed the developer that worked on the remaster, but I don't imagine it will do any good. They certainly haven't emailed back.Another flaw I found earlier was a water texture that was missing, or not applied correctly anyway. I've hopefully added a photo to this review. Sorry for the poor quality. This is only a one off thing as far as I can see, but it's pretty bad. The water just isn't animated at all, and it looks terrible.It shows the high quality of the game that I could find several flaws that annoy me greatly, yet I still rate it as 4 stars. I have only played through most of the first game, not the other two, but I've completed all the trilogy before, and this set really is very good value. You're getting 3 amazing games and all the DLC which is very much worth playing through as well. I kind of miss the MP for Bioshock 2 as I loved that back in 2010, but it's understandable them not including it.I hope I haven't forgotten anything. If I find anything really bad in the other games I may change the score of this review, and likewise if they fix the issues with a patch. Without the problems it would definitely be a 5 star product. Cheers.EDIT - I'm very close to the end of the first game now, and finally the splicers are behaving as they should in that situation. I find it very strange that this is the case. There has been no update to the game, so I don't know why. I had tried to make them jump in water when on fire many times earlier in the game and they never did, but suddenly now they are doing. It leads to very fun combos of plasmids, one I like is using the plasmid that sets bees on them, then setting them on fire, before finally electrocuting them when they're in the water. Makes me laugh every time and is very satisfying.

I was thrilled that my favourite game series from the previous generation were being remastered for the new gen and I absolutely had to get this collection on release for my PS4.Bioshock is an amazing series, which if you have not tried, you should definitely give it a go especially at this excellent price for all three games. The games look great but are not that different to be honest. However that is not important to me as the games and their stories are the reason I love them so much.The first game will always be my favourite, but all three are amazing and well worth playing. The online content is missing but the Bioshock 2 multiplayer was never really that great. It is the single player experience that makes these games for me. The underwater city of rapture is a fantastic setting and the story is so unique and interesting it really keeps you hooked. Then you can visit Elizabeth and Booker in the equally bewitching Columbia, the city in the sky.If you want to enjoy these games on a new gen console, this is great value. If you've never played them before but enjoy immersive single player games, you should snap this up immediately.

Played through the original trilogy before. Needed to get them on disc for the remasters. Some of the most important games ever created. There contribution to FPS gameplay and story is remarkable.