Source: 2K Games

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today the upcoming release of an exclusive EP remixed by Moby and Oscar The Punk for its highly anticipated BioShock video game. The CD will be bundled with the GameStop and EB Canada exclusive Limited Edition version of BioShock when the title launches on August 21st for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows®. The CD is also available as a pre-sale gift-with-purchase from video game retailer, Game Crazy.

The three remixed tracks on the CD include Beyond the Sea, God Bless the Child and Wild Little Sisters, variations of which appear in their original format in the game. Music luminaries Moby and Oscar The Punk have joined forces to remix them with the game’s atmosphere in mind.

“While these classic songs from the 40’s and 50’s evoke a happier time, they take on an eerie aesthetic in BioShock’s decaying art deco-designed underwater city of Rapture,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games. “Moby and Oscar The Punk have captured that disparity with these remixes and added a new spin to these indelible classics.”

Fans of the game and the music will be able to obtain the CD as part of the Limited Edition version of BioShock, which also contains a figurine of one of the game’s hulking “Big Daddy” creatures, exclusive packaging and a behind-the-scenes DVD.

Developed by 2K Boston and 2K Australia, BioShock is a “genetically-enhanced” first person shooter set in Rapture, an underwater art deco-inspired utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, players have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. To survive, players can turn everything they encounter into a weapon, biologically modify their body with plasmids, hack devices and security systems, upgrade weapons, craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques. No encounter ever plays out the same and no two gamers will play BioShock the same way.

BioShock is rated “M” for Mature by the ESRB, and will be available on August 21st in North America and August 24th in Europe. For more information, visit the BioShock website at: www.BioShockGame.com, and the BioShock community site at www.TheCultofRapture.com.

Today Stockers all across North America are desperately try to keep BioShock on the store shelves. But with all the hype of last weeks premature release by several stores, it looks like keeping this game on store shelves may require allot of extra work and lots of inventory. Last week there were reports of copies of BioShock going for as high as $159 on EBay. With all the hype surrounding this game on the Internet, and the great reviews this is sure to be a huge seller. European gamers will have to wait until August 24th to get their feet wet in this game.

BioShock is a “genetically enhanced” first-person shooter that lets players do things never before possible in the genre. Gamers enter the game as a castaway in Rapture, an underwater utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, players have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same and no two gamers will play BioShock the same way. “With the release of BioShock, we are redefining the shooter experience by providing players with the freedom to decide how to proceed and which actions to take,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “The teams at 2K Boston and 2K Australia have captured the essence of this underwater world and brought it to vivid life in the art design and open-ended storyline. Welcome to Rapture.” In the decaying art deco underwater city of Rapture, players can turn everything they encounter into a weapon, biologically modify their body with plasmids, hack devices and security systems, upgrade weapons, craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques. “The development team has been working on BioShock for years to push the limits in every way possible, so we are excited for gamers to finally experience BioShock as we’ve always imagined it,” said Ken Levine, President and Creative Director of 2K Boston. “We delivered on our promise of bringing gamers a unique and enriching first-person shooter experience that not only challenges their capacity to adapt and survive, but tests their values and commitment to the inhabitants of Rapture.”

BioShock’s features include:

• Biologically modify your body with plasmids which are genetic augmentations that empower you with dozens of fantastic abilities including: send Electrobolts storming from your fingertips, unleash a swarm of hornets hatched from the veins of your arms, or strategically turn enemies against one another with irritants.
• Take control of your world by hacking devices and systems: reprogram enemy security bots into personal bodyguards, modify vending machines to change prices, and transform machine gun security turrets into powerless pieces of metal.
• Upgrade your weapons at Power-to-the-People stations located through Rapture: craft variants of ammo and plasmids by picking up materials in the city to modify them at U-Invent kiosks.
• Turn everything into a weapon: the environment, your body, fire and water, and even your worst enemies. BioShock’s free form combat options allow gameplay scenarios to be approached with a variety of weapons, active and passive plasmids, environmental objects utilization, exploitation of political alliances, or a combination of techniques. Find your style but know when to adapt.
• Explore an incredible and unique art deco world hidden deep under the ocean, vividly illustrated with realistic water effects and truly next generation graphics.
• Make meaningful and mature decisions that culminate in the ultimate question: Do you exploit the innocent survivors of Rapture to save yourself…or risk it all to become their savior?

For more information, visit the BioShock website, and the community site.

You are Jackie Estacado, a hitman for the Franchetti crime family. On your 21st birthday a timeless force known as ‘The Darkness’ awakens within you. You can wreak havoc on your enemies with the powers it bestows. But you’ll quickly learn that The Darkness has a will of its own. (2K’s box description)

:: This review may contain spoilers ::

When The Darkness was initially released, a second game “Overlord” was released at the same time. Both games immediately interested me, however I was not about to shell out the cash for both games, but ultimately I decided to pickup The Darkness.

Single Player:

Right from the beginning of the game, I became confused. I hadn’t familiarized myself with the back-story, and was disappointed when I realized I didn’t start off with any of the Darkness powers. The game starts off as any first-person shooter often does. In this case you are a hitman for a Mob family and something goes wrong… on your 21st birthday, your uncle Paulie turns on you.

For those individuals who have not played the game, I will spare the details of the story, however throughout the game Jackie is thrown into a constant struggle of trying to control The Darkness that is empowering him. The game entertains the player with good graphics, and ample firefights. The pace of the game is good all the way through the end, and the ambient sound and music do a good job at immersing the player into the game. Controls feel natural and easy to navigate.

Never-the-less, despite this games good qualities, it is not without its faults. Initially it takes some time to figure out where to go and how to get there. Using the Subway system to get where you want to go can become burdensome, especially when you are faced with repetitive cut-scenes while the game loads. Playing the game I ran into a couple situations where I would back my character into a corner, or duck in between a phone booth and bus stop for cover, and my character would get stuck and I was unable to move. This would result in some frustration and a restart to the last checkpoint. I also had some difficulties with the side quests. I have heard complaints from other players as well, that they were unable to collect rewards from characters they completed side quests for. I too had this problem.

Despite the issues I ran across, the team at 2K did a great job with the story of The Darkness. I understand that The Darkness was inspired by a comic book series. While I am not a reader or collector of comic books, after playing the game, I am interested in reading the graphic story the comics may offer. I enjoyed the game and while I still would like to play Overlord, I’m glad I chose The Darkness first.

Multi Player:

The Darkness also contains an online component. The online matches I participated in were of the standard deathmatch variety, however the match did have a unique component that made the game a little different. The Darkness multiplayer has what is called ‘Shape-Shifter’ mode. This allows the player to play as a darkling or as a human. There are also Team Deathmatch, Capture the flag, Last Darkling, and Last Human game types.

Overall the Multi Player was enjoyable, but dont expect this to be a major contender to Halo 2.

I don’t like to give my game reviews a numerical score simply for the reason that one person’s 7.5 may be another’s 5. I do however like to rate games on their value and tell you whether or not a game is worth spending your money on. I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing The Darkness. So much in fact I will likely hang on to the game. I can see myself pulling this one off the shelf and playing through the game again.

Bottom-line, would I recommend running out and spending $60 on this game? Perhaps not. I did however enjoy the game and with multiplayer and all of the side quests available within the game, it does have good replay value. For $45 or less, yes, I would recommend the purchase. Give yourself some time to get lost with The Darkness, I’m sure you will find it as enjoyable as I did.

When I first saw screen shots of this title it really intrigued me. And now I can tell you after drooling, it is my own personal nightmare, in a good way of course. Before I get into the guts(pun) of the game, let me warn you that this game is the most gruesome, bloody; hell, it makes “Gears of War” look like Alice in Wonderland. Shall we begin?

You are a passenger on an airplane over the ocean, which is specified as the Atlantic in the year 1960. Your plane out of nowhere rips apart(ala “Lost”) and you find yourself swimming to this pedestal jutting out of the water. You swim to it, as, well where else is there to go, certainly the plane has made it’s final stop.

Now I’m not going to try and spoil it, but it’s kind of hard to explain the environment, and what to expect out of this game without some morsels to give you an idea. So now you’re warned.

Let me spell some things out right now so you know what kind of game this is, then I’ll feed you a little story. This is not an open-ended game, ie. you can’t go everywhere. It’s between a rail, and puzzle shooter. So it’s “Resident Evil 4″ with MAJOR modifications. There is nomulti player over XBOX Live, however the case I received did mention downloadable content, so that is something to look forward to.

The game makes you “use” your environment. After you have been exploring the city of “Rapture” you come to a point where you must re-write your DNA using a method of injecting “Plasmids”. So the first one is electricity, no really, you can shoot electricity out of your hands, kind of like the Emperor in “Jedi”. To give you an example of using theenvironment , say there are 3 people in a pool of water(did I mention it takes place underwater?”) well shoot some electricity into the water and you fry all three of them, very cool.

This is a fantastic game, download the demo for sure, even for those skeptical. This game has a lot of potential with future downloadable content. The only thing holding it back is multi player or even co-op, but then it wouldn’t be YOUR story. Another nugget is you get a new experience every time, the game is not the same experience for everyone. There are different paths and ways to kill people that work in many ways.

This is a must game, so make sure you get your copy on the 21st, this is not for the faint of heart.

And the Final Score is 9.2 out of 10.

When I got wind of the BioShock Demo being available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace I started the download before I went to work this morning. But at 1.3 gigs in size I could not wait around and get a little game play in before work. If only I had picked the right six numbers for the Powerball last Saturday, my gaming would not be bothered by this pesky work stuff and I could have sat in my underwear playing BioShock all morning. Sitting at my desk this morning was the longest five hours of my life. As soon as noon rolled around, I was heading back home to play a little BioShock, and I have to say it was worth it.

I will try not to give away to many specifics of the story, but keep my comments mainly to game play and environment. The controls are your basic First Person Shooter controls, so not really anything new there and besides developers are kind of locking into a formula that seems to work with the controls. The visuals are amazing there is not another Xbox 360 game out there that looks this good. There is a scene where you are floating underwater trying to get to the surface. Between the visuals combined with the sound effects really evoke the sensation of terror. You almost feel like you are truly struggling to get to the surface for air. When you fight enemies they have certain presence that seems to make them really scary. You will notice as you finish them off they all seem to look a little different. One enemy that attacks you while being on fire is truely amazing, he is covered in flames as he lunges at you doing his best to send you to the same demise as he is certainly headed for. When you are finally finished beating him to a plup, you will notice his body is covered in burns. Like I said the visuals really REALLY good. The game seems to have this formula of crazy heart pounding action, then calm, then the suspense leading up to another super intense action scene.

I did notice a couple of visuals that seemed kind of off. First when you are swimming on the top of the ocean, I kind of got the feeling that I was floating over the water. Think of Shadow Run and floating up the ladders and you sort of have the idea. Since this is a first person perspective I kind of expected to see my arms reaching out in front of me as I swim. Second some of the clouds seemed kind of a strange color and texture as I was swimming, for those of you who have ever run Microsoft Windows in 256 colors instead of True 32 will understand what I am talking about. It just did not seem quite right. But honestly these two small instances do not even compare to the great eye candy that is the rest of the game. Seeing fish flopping on the ground or the flames that are consuming an enemy as he attacks you are incredible.

Before I played the Demo I was thinking about picking up this game when it got its first price drop. But now I am going to go out and pick this game up day One! My suggestion is try out the Demo. I think you are going to be like me and start racing to get through whatever game you are playing right now so you can be ready to start this game the day it comes out. I just finished Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Sunday, and I am planning on working twice as hard to finish up Call of Duty 3 before August 21st so I can dedicate myself to this game. If you are someone who believes in try before you buy then you definitely need to bump BioShock to the top of your Game Q.

Updated: To check out Ryan’s thoughts of BioShock, click here.