The PC version was released yesterday (at least the demo was) and i have to say i'm very happy that finally a unique type game in a very interesting and original setting is getting the attention it deserves.
The game takes place in 1960 in a fictional large underwater metropolis called Rapture. Built in 1946 by Andrew Ryan, Rapture was designed to be entirely self-supporting, with all of its electricity, food production, water purification and defense systems powered by undersea volcanic openings. At one point, it is learned that Rapture's population numbered several thousand at its peak during the early 1950s, composed of those people Ryan viewed as the best examples of mankind. A large and tiered economy grew among the people, catering different quality products to different levels of the society.
A scientific discovery upset the balance of the society. Two scientists studying ocean-floor dwelling creatures discovered a species of sea slug that could secrete stem cells. These could be used to enhance one's body, improving physical or mental capabilities, curing diseases and healing injuries. A young German scientist named Bridgette Tenenbaum invested early on in the research to gain control over the material. The substance, dubbed "ADAM", became so sought after in the society, that it became the dominant currency of the city. A "full-scale genetic arms race" broke out between Ryan and Tenenbaum as Tenenbaum's monopoly on ADAM threatened the current social structure. Ryan eventually won, but everyone in the city was permanently changed. During the war, it was discovered that ADAM could be used to modify one's body, combining technology and mutations to adapt and survive the conflict, but losing their humanity in the process. During the conflict, all natural sources of ADAM were destroyed, which eventually resulted in a major shift in the "ecology" of the city, as all inhabitants had become biologically dependent on ADAM to survive. On New Year's Day in 1959, attacks with biological weapons lead to the downfall of Rapture's society, and the city fell into a state of disrepair.
BioShock was originally going to run on an enhanced version of the Vengeance engine, the highly modified version of Unreal Engine 2.5 technology used by previous Irrational titles, Tribes: Vengeance, SWAT 4, and SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate. In an interview at E3 in May 2006, Levine revealed that "we've moved to Unreal Engine 3.0, we've done a lot of modifications on top of it," particularly to the way the engine handles water effects, which he claims will be very impressive, "We've hired a water programmer and water artist, just for this game, and they're kicking ass and you've never seen water like this."[17]
BioShock will utilize the DirectX 10 feature set when available, but it will also run on older DirectX 9 hardware.[
