You’ll pardon our absentee-ism yesterday; aside from stories that were generally just random unimportant bullshit, everything else was about Bioshock, coverage which stirred massively conflicting emotions within me. However, there are reasons why you’re hearing so much about the game that might not be completely obvious. First, because Madden is more like a yearly gaming tradition (like a hernia or prostate exam), and Lair was delayed (and was not so great according to sites whose word actually means something to me), Bioshock is the kickoff to the “Great Game Flood of 2007″, a time during which gamers will find themselves awash both in an orgiastic tide of awesomeness the heights of which we’ve never seen, as well as misery unlike any year prior as we scrounge, beg, borrow, and sell organs both our own and otherwise in an attempt to keep up.

This is why you’re hearing about it now. Why you’re most likely going to continue to hear about it is because there is a very good chance that Bioshock really is going to be Game of the (Motherfucking) Year in a year where there is no shortage of contenders for the crown. What’s my evidence? Read on, and weep that 2K didn’t push up the release date to this week.

As of right now (to my knowledge) 11 reviews for Bioshock have been released/published, and the current average of these reviews is around 98%. This is a higher average ranking (though with admittedly fewer reviews so far) than the current highest aggregated review score in the history of gaming, according to Gamerankings.com. While some may scoff at this trend so far, I’ve got news for you: There are more 10s coming today, now that the embargo on reviews is almost up. Here’s what some reviewers are saying:

via Eurogamer
“…to have any shred of doubt surrounding BioShock comprehensively swept away within the first ten minutes, well, you feel like dancing. You want to tell people about this game who you know won’t even care, just because it makes you so giddy inside. Before we get into the nitty gritty, here’s the deal: Bioshock doesn’t just meet your expectations, but completely redefines them forever in ways you never even expected - in ways that games used to in the past, routinely.”

I’d like to dispute the excessive nostalgia in that last sentence, but that’s a discussion for another day. I would like to point out that this is the same site who gave Gears of War an 8, largely because they didn’t feel that it lived up to expectations. Moving on, we next have Games Radar’s review:

As for what’s going to happen to Rapture, that story is the propulsive force of the game, and it comes to you over the wireless. Irrational don’t like to let you meet sane people in person - they can’t be simulated realistically - so don’t expect any Black Mesa East chapters. But there is one moment, in dealing with the few still-vaguely-cogent people of Rapture, that’s simply staggering to experience.

BioShock had already made us physically gape several times by this stage, but here our mouths fell open and stayed open, only widening further as the scene became more extraordinary with every passing second.

Getting aroused yet? Next up is Game Informer:

You stand over a genetically mutated corpse with a camera in hand, taking a picture of its final, twisted expression to appease a cruel puppet master. A haunting rendition of “Bei mir bist du schön” plays from a radio, over which you hear the low, whale-like cry of a Big Daddy as it ambles into sight. You freeze, but the hulking creature trips one of your proximity mines and fixes a glowing red eye on you in fury. Heart-stopping moments like these are what set BioShock apart as one of the most intelligent and daring masterpieces in gaming.

I don’t really see a need to go on with these. The point is, the praise thus far is consisteint, glowing, and unanimous. This will be, hands down, the best reviewed game of the year, and very likely THE game of the year. Why? What about the competition? Well, it’s kind of a short list for game of the year this year, even amidst the tidal wave of fantastic releases in the next few months. Assassin’s Creed will have good reviews, but the controls are going to turn some people off in their complexity. Call of Duty 4 is a military shooter, which is enough to make some people hate it arbitrarily. Rock Band is a niche title, and so is Guitar Hero III. Super Smash Bros is a series you either love or loathe, Metroid Prime 3 is going to get 7s and 9s (call it a hunch), and Drake’s Uncharted and Ratchet and Clank are going to be good but not ridiculously awesome titles for the PS3 this fall. Haze is another military shooter, and Unreal 3 is a largely multiplayer shooter.

This basically leaves us with two huge games, which are Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy. Both will win some GOTY awards here and there, but neither will win the universal praise that Bioshock is getting right now. Here’s why: Halo 3 has the word “Halo” in the title. I love Halo, and a lot of people think it’s a great series, but there is a vocal Halo Hater Squad, and the favoritism Bungie has played with pre-release coverage of their title has managed to piss off a specific, big name gaming network of sites. It could be the greatest game of this generation, and there would still be a not-negligible contingent of people who used the words “mediocre” and “uninspired” to describe it.

Mario Galaxy has similar issues from the Mario-Hater squad, and while that group isn’t nearly as large as those who despise Halo, it also has the challenges associated with Wii-control. While there are a number of people who love the Wii-mote, there seems to be a growing number of apostates, and that number alone will prevent the game from taking the crown. Because of all of these factors, politically and conceptually, Bioshock will very probably come out on top when the dust has cleared in January. But we’re the ones who really win.

Or I would be if I hadn’t gotten boned by Toys ‘R Us yesterday. Sigh.

-Aegies