BioShock Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature)

It is a fun game, though the final boss is the easiest part of the game. I could not bring myself to play it a second time to get the few achievements I'd missed. Even changing the difficulty does not do more than affect how fast you kill and are killed. The surprise 3/4 of the way through was great, though the ensuing battle is on autopilot. Being able to hack the automatic defenses around town to use against the bad guys adds some interesting strategy against the infinite stream of evildoers. That was the most annoying part for me, to be sent back to a rez chamber (thankful that damage on enemies persists when you die) only to find an enemy right outside the chamber who esnds you right back in. Second most annoying is when you die while firing a weapon and you just keep on firing and wasting ammo against the chamber door when you come back to life. There is an option to turn the chambers off with a download, but I never did.

This game is great. I've been playing it for days on end. The ability to save, or if you get killed go back to a preset condition or start over at a preset game level makes getting killed not so hard to take. I've finished the game once and started all over again. It's addictive.

This is the offcial guide to one of the greatest video games in years. Unfortunately, it seems they focused on how NOT to give answers as much as possible. It is full of hints, but hardly any answers. If you want to pay money for a book to get hints and clues to the answers, then this book does its job. If you want the answers (such as the combinations to locks) then try the internet.

It even does not give a good summary of the storyline. I have found the Wiki's version of the story to be much more comprehensive.

The book provides good illustration of the game. It provides some good advice, such as the 5 best Plasmids and how one should spend the money at the Circus of Values. Other than that, its clues are very skimpy and even stingy. For example, I have tried to obtain the keys to the Chomper's Dental for many hours. This book merely says to look for it using newfound plasmid (Telekinesis) in the Dandy's Dental. It wasn't helpful.

I suggest using the internet as the guide, and not this book, which annoyingly tries to be cryptic and give as few answers as possible to the paying reader.

I agree with a different reviewer in that you really don't need this book. I only looked at it while playing this game once and what I was looking for wasn't even there (don't remember what it was now or I would say). I've decreased what would've been a 3 star review to 2 because Bradygames' QA people are slipping. My cover is glued on backwards, upsidedown AND offcenter - the copy I was sent should've never made it off the production line!

Bradygames and Prima both normally do a descent job with their guides and its not that this one isn't OK but you really don't need it at all in the the game ... I was mostly put off by Bradygames' lack of quality assurance with this one (the cover is horrible!)

Bioshock is an incredible game, no matter how you look at it. In truth, it's a game that one should explore on his or her own. However, that doesn't mean you won't get stuck, and if you happen to get stuck, this guide is a pretty good tool to use overall.

I must say something on a personal level, though. Bioshock is a very very extraordinary game. I highly suggest one go through the game without the guide first because a strategy guide (for better or for worse) can ruin some of the fun of the game and some of its better surprises. That doesn't mean the guide is bad, it just means you're using it at your own risk. For what it's worth it's a GOOD guide and does exactly what it's supposed to do, but as with purchasing any strategy guide, you run the risk of having a less fulfilling gaming experience. If you must use the guide however, use it as you go and try your best not to read too far ahead.

Anyway, now onto the review of the actual guide.

The guide begins with a prologue and a bit about the guide on its own. The prologue doesn't spoil anything. It merely tells you what Andrew Ryan tells you within the first five minutes of the game. Nothing that'll give away any part of the storyline, but more or less introduce you to the philosophy of the game itself. It'll then tell you about the guide in a short intro before jumping into all the stuff you want from the guide.

It first introduces you to the cast of characters in the game. The main guy doesn't have a name though (the guide commonly refers to him throughout the walkthrough as "Jack"), but it'll introduce you to other characters and tell you a bit about them. The guide then goes to talk about the adversaries you'll face along the way, even giving you a couple of tips to defeat them.

The guide then jumps into the game basics section entitled: "Life Underwater." This is more or less the game basics section. Here you'll learn of the basic controls and basic combat skills. For anyone new to the game who doesn't want to read the instruction manual or learn the game for themselves, they can use this as it is a rather helpful section of the guide. Most probably won't need it too badly but it is there just in case. For the most part, though, these are some pretty good tips. Even some of which you won't find in the instruction manual, and some of which the game doesn't tell you about either. So even for those well experienced with the game you might find something good.

We then go into weapons. Here the guide tells you about just about everything. About the upgrades, how well they perform in a firefight and how to effectively use them. It also tells you how much ammo you'll need. Again, a pretty basic thing and the guide gets through it pretty quickly.

Then we get into the Plasmids section of the guide. Here, the guide will tell you about the Plasmids and list what they think are the best five. It'll tell you how to effectively use them, and give you a list of Plasmids you can buy with the ADAM you find. The guide does a remarkable job here. In addition here, it also tells you about all the tonics and like they did with the Plasmids, they listed their top five favorites. But the guide does talk about each and every one of them as well.

To wrap up the game basics it then shows you about inventing items. It's pretty much the same as the two sections before it. But it is just as detailed and just as helpful to anyone who needs it.

We finally get into the last section of the guide: The Walkthrough. Aptly titled, "City Directory." The guide is divided into sections. Each section represents a chapter of the game. For example, the first chapter is called "Welcome to Rapture" in the game, and so the first chapter in this guide is titled the same thing. In addition to that the guide also lists all the objectives you have to perform, and again, they're also titled exactly as the game titles them. The guide will also list "Any new discoveries" that you'll make. This includes Plasmids, Tonics, Weapons and enemies.

The walkthrough is then divided by the Objectives. So even though it list them, it'll also provide a section for them outside the list and tell you everything you need to know in a detailed manner. It's very organized and goes on for a while.

The maps presented throughout the walkthrough are pulled straight from the game itself, but for the most part they tell you where things are located, including all the radio diaries if you're interested. For the most part, however, Bioshock is a pretty straightforward game, and with being able to view the ingame map any time you want, you can actually make the maps in this guide a great ally. The in game maps don't point out all the items, but the BradyGAMES guide does, in other words, you can coordinate yourself and it's rather easy to do. You shouldn't miss a whole lot with this guide in that case.

There are boss strategies for the games bosses and they're not so bad. For the most part they help. In fact, some of the suggestions are a must.

There are a couple of other neat things about the walkthrough. The guide has pulled quotes from the game itself. This makes the guide very well artistically designed. Some guides have bland and boring pages, but here the pages present the look and feel of the game. From the artwork to the very font of the guide itself. So you definitely feel as though it's a companion. Equally appealing are the crystal clear screenshots taken in widescreen. They aren't grainy and clearly depict what has to be done.

The only real problem with the guide is that it's chalk full of spoilers. As I mentioned earlier, it's the risk you run when purchasing a strategy guide, but when I say it's got spoilers I'm not kidding. A lot of the games surprises are ruined by this guide. It's a great companion, but if you're someone who is bothered by spoilers there are quite a few big ones here.

On the whole it's a good guide. Minor spoilers aside, it is a good companion and a helpful one for when you're in trouble. Overall it's a good guide, but still you run the risk of getting a few things spoiled for you.

The Good

+Really great look and feel to the guide... you definitely know it's for Bioshock
+Crystal clear screenshots
+Detailed well organized walkthrough
+Complete list of Plasmids, Tonics, U-Invent and weapons
+Good, basic, and helpful tips

The Bad

-Story spoilers
-Achievements section is a foldout. Not that it's a big thing, but if you lose it, you've basically lost your secrets section! Probably would've been better off had it been included in the walkthrough itself.