When my brother arrived last weekend, he told me in no uncertain terms that he wanted to spend a week vegging out and playing computer games. Always one to oblige my guests, I downloaded a copy of BioShock. It’s been years since I’ve played a first-person shooter, but comparing this game to earlier standards of the genre is like comparing a Lamborghini to a Big Wheel. Yes, it’s a shooter and the primary goal is still to blow stuff up, except that you get to blow stuff up in a beautifully realized undersea city with an unfolding story that is equal parts James Bond and 1984. It’s the kind of game that helps me justify the money I poured into my new system. I don’t know if we’ll reach the game’s end before my brother leaves next week, but we’ll have fun trying.
