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Demo review.

Imagine playing a game where instead of playing through it quickly to get to the next sequence or cutscene, it was actually worthwhile to just look around. To take a leisurely stroll through that world. To really be the character controlled by a joypad.

Bioshock does just that. From the moment the plane crashes into the water until psychotic mutants trap you in a room and are just waiting to break through the glass barrier, there is a complete immersion into the role given. The graphics are truly realistic, the gameplay timely and intelligent, and there is a thickening plot at every turn. This isn't just an adventure on the screen. It will pull anyone into it.

It may have been the gorgeous water effects, the spectacular use of plasmids to electrocute or burn enemies, or even the extremely simple interface that makes it amazing.

The underwater medium only elevates that realism tenfold. Large puddles in the middle of rooms, walls and doors leaking from cracks just beyond sight, just to name a few. It also develops into an awesome plot, revealing the nature of the city of Rapture and its denizens. Only at one point of time was I taken out of the game due to the storyline, simply by some excessively corny dialogue. Then again, it does take place in the 60's.

For an hours worth of gameplay, this may just be the greatest game experience of my entire life. A few small things did stick out after a second run through, like no shadow from my body and some odd movement while in certain sections of water. Bioshock, however, cannot be listed as anything but a triple-A title, right off the bat. It's near-flawless gameplay and design leaves me shaking for more.