BioShock Hands-on Preview

The console war used to be such a simple thing. You could get this game on this format, and that game on that one. Mario on the SNES, Sonic on the Mega Drive. Final Fantasy on the PlayStation, Halo on the Xbox. But these days the console war is a much more complicated battle. With the third-party console exclusive an endangered species, platform holders have begun scrambling for new weapons for use in the battle for gamers’ hearts and minds. One of these, perhaps the most devastating, is downloadable content.

Microsoft’s efforts to tie up exclusive DLC for the 360 have been well documented. While the amount of money it’s forked out for the two upcoming 360-exclusive GTA 4 episodes has not been disclosed, you can bet your bottom dollar it didn’t come cheap. Then there’s the exclusive DLC for Fallout 3 and Tomb Raider: Underworld, and God-knows what else in the coming years.

Sony has been less aggressive in the pursuit of exclusive DLC, to the disappointment of some PS3 owners. It would prefer, as Sony Computer Entertainment UK managing director Ray Maguire told us in a recent interview, to invest money in R&D than “paying other people a huge amount of money to stop people playing their product”. Meow.

Despite Maguire’s words, Sony does have an exclusive DLC weapon of its own inching ever closer to release, and it comes in the form of three brand new challenge rooms for the PS3 version of 2K Games’ stupendous FPS BioShock. This time the impact of the DLC is less potent, since the 360 and PC versions of the game have been out for a year. But, however improbably, there are still some of you yet to play what was for many (although not us) 2007’s best game. And so, if you’re still umming and ahhing over which version to pick up, you’ll want to know if the DLC makes the PS3 version the one to fork out your cash on. Indeed, even if you’ve already played the 360 or PC versions, perhaps even finished the game, you’ll want to know if the DLC makes buying the game all over again, and then the additional £6.29 for the DLC, worthwhile. After a solid hands-on session with two of the three challenge rooms that will be available to download upon its November 20 release, the answer to both those questions looks like an enthusiastic ‘yes’.

You’ve probably already read and seen much on A Shocking Turn of Events, the challenge room 2K Games demoed to press when it first announced the PS3 exclusive DLC, so we’ll concentrate on the second, Worlds of Hurt. The title gives you a good idea of what it’s all about. Here, a Little Sister is trapped in a glass chamber in the centre of a large room. Vending machines sit next to it, where you’ll be able to spend cash and Adam on upgrades, just as you do in the main game. A number of corridors, each with a symbol above its closed door entrance that gives you a visual clue to the challenge you’ll face inside, lead to rooms where you’ll be charged with beating very different, and often very elaborate, challenges. The Little Sister, with a sad, puppy dog face, points to one of the corridors – the first two rooms act as a tutorial, which has to be completed before the rest of the rooms open up.

Every room has a glass ceiling designed to allow you to get an idea of what you’re about to face and to plot a strategy – something you’ll have to do given weapons, ammo, cash and Adam are on short supply. To start you simply fall through a hole in the ceiling, but be warned – there’s no Vita Chamber back in the hub, once you’re in you’re not getting out till you quit or win.

The first room presents a simple challenge – kill a single splicer. Once done you get an auto save and a Little Sister pops through a hole in the wall, exactly the same kind the red-eyed girls use to travel through the bowels of Rapture in the main game. She gives you a gift, and it’s a good one – all the weapons in the game, and $200. The only problem is, you’ve got zero ammo and no plasmids, but you’ll find a weapon upgrade station in every room, allowing you to tailor your weapons to the challenges you’ll face. Once you’ve finished with that, you’ll be able to teleport back to the main hub, and the trapped Little Sister.

The picture hanging above the corridor entrance that leads to Worlds of Hurt’s second room is crystal clear – defeat a single Big Daddy. At the hub we buy some electro bucks for the shotgun and the Photographer’s Eye combat tonic – researching the various enemies will be an efficient way of improving your effectiveness against the brutes – even more important here than it is in the main game, and nigh on essential when playing on hard or the PS3-exclusive Survivor difficulty. Looking through the glass ceiling, we see the Big Daddy milling about in a flooded room with a single outcrop of rock in the corner. Our strategy is simple – keep the Big Daddy in the electrified water, and away from us, by pumping him with electro bolts. This works a treat – we’re saving ammo as the stunned Big Daddy takes damage from the water, and we’ve got time to take a few snaps, improving our effectiveness against the monstrous, er, monstrosities.

With the Big Daddy dead, a Little Sister once again emerges from a hole in the wall, giving us some more cash and some Adam. At the weapon upgrade station we improve our machine gun damage, which is about to prove very useful. Back at the hub, all the doors open, allowing you to tackle the rest of the rooms in any order you wish. We have a gander at the symbols – one shows Houdini Splicers, one of BioShock’s most difficult, and annoying, enemies. We trot back to the vending machines and buy our first plasmid – Insect Swarm. Oh yes.

As we scout from above the glass ceiling we can see that the room is actually more like a tower. It’s tall to say the least, with each level connected by a spiral staircase that wraps around the walls. Each room in Worlds of Hurt is themed differently, and it’s clear this one’s all about verticality. To kill every single Houdini Splicer you’ll have to make your way down the room to the very bottom. We inch our way down, slowly, using our machine gun, which as any BioShock player will know is great against Splicers, and sporadically let loose a swarm of bees when things get busy. At the very bottom of the room all the Houdini Splicers we haven’t taken out congregate – we go all Tony Montana and let the bullets fly.

Here our play test with Worlds of Hurt comes to an end. There are eight rooms in total, each presenting unique challenges. We’ve only seen three, and it took us about half an hour to work through those, suggesting the whole room will keep most occupied for a good few hours at least.

Our hands-on play test of A Shocking Turn of Events, the challenge room that charges you with saving a Little Sister trapped at the top of a Ferris wheel that can only be turned by electrifying its switch, proved as interesting as it was mentally challenging. It begins with what is a simple puzzle – you’re trapped in a small room with no obvious way out. What to do? We won’t spoil it, but it’s a clever puzzle, and one that sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the level.

We won’t explain exactly how we got the Little Sister down from her precarious position, either (the enjoyment comes from working it out yourself), but we will say that it didn’t take us terribly long. The longevity here will come from unlocking trophies. Despite the fact that you only need to turn it six times to save the Little Sister, it can be turned nine times, if you’re really smart. Do this and you’ll be rewarded with a trophy. Each challenge room provides the opportunity to win four trophies, one for defeating it on Survivor difficulty, one for defeating it in a certain time (a timer displayed at the top left of the screen shows you how long it’s taking you to work through each room), another for collecting hidden Red Roses dotted about the level and one level specific trophy – turning the Ferris wheel nine times is Shocking Turn of Events’, for example. The collection of these should keep the more dedicated among you going for ages.

There’s some inconsequential stuff 2K Games has thrown in there that serves little purpose other than to make you smile. There’s a guitar lying about in the Ferris wheel room, which can be played. You’ll also be able to try out a grand piano. Nearby is an Instant Piano Prodigy tonic, which, once picked up and equipped, will make your piano playing perfect. Again, pointless, but a nice touch.

Although we haven’t played it, 2K has released a snippet of information on the third and final challenge room, The I in Team. We’re told you’ll have to find a way to defeat a Big Daddy, negotiating traps and using limited resources and an even more limited arsenal. None of the single challenge rooms are set within areas of Rapture seen or explored from the main game, or feature any story elements whatsoever. Much of what we’ve played is puzzle based, but expect combat-heavy elements as well, and with limitations and constraints put on your resources, you’ll need to think more laterally about the plasmids you use and the environment that surrounds you than you might have done during the main campaign.

Will the DLC be worth the money? At £6.29 you have to think that they are, despite the fact that we haven’t played two of them all the way through. What is clear is that the challenge rooms will be essential playing for those of you who absolutely loved BioShock, especially those of you who tinkered with as many plasmids and tonics as possible and enjoyed using the environment just as much as the weapons for dealing death. It’s not adding to the main campaign, it’s not fleshing out other areas of the underwater city of Rapture and it’s not telling untold parts of the story, but it is more quality BioShock action, and that alone means it should find a solid home on your gaming radar.

BioShock’s Challenge Rooms will be available exclusively to download on PS3 on November 20 for £6.29.