The long awaited Bioshock 2 will be out Febuary 9th, and there are plenty of gamers already planning to snatch it up at the first opportunity. But don’t just run into the first game retailer you see and buy it! I’ve sorted through the pre-order deals so you can get your game at the earliest possible moment AND get something extra too.

Here are the retailers who are clamoring for your Bioshock business:

Steam: The pre-order price is 44.99, plus they’re throwing in the original Bioshock for free. And as always, if you buy from Steam, you can get your game right at release without having to wait in line with all those other losers. Or, if you like other losers, and have three friends who also want Bioshock 2, you can get the four pack- four copies of Bioshock 2, plus four copies of Bioshock. If you consider the Bioshocks to be freebies, that’s 33.74 per Bioshock 2. Of course, the problem I see with this bonus is that most people who want to pre-order Bioshock 2 probably already have Bioshock- especially after Steam put it on the holiday sale for $4.99.

Gamestop and EB Games: Both retailers are offering two bonus multiplayer characters with pre order- Blanche the actress and Zigo the fisherman. If you buy in store, you will get a card with the code to unlock the duo, much as you would expect. The price is also about what you’d expect: $59.99. If you’re really hardcore, you also get this bonus with pre-order of the $99 Limited Edition.

Amazon.com: Amazon is offering a pre-order price of $54.99 or $55.99 for X360 or Playstation, plus you’ll also get a $10 credit towards future game purchases. That brings the price down to around $45 in a way, but they are twisting your arm to buy more games later. (Which of course you totally weren’t already going to do.) That’s not so inhumane, but they also reserve the right to charge you an indefinite amount for release date delivery- you’ll find out the amount at checkout.

According to the Hollywood trade, Universal Pictures has halted the production work on the new BioShock movie announced last May. The film’s ballooning $160 million budget, which is now being revisited by Universal and director Gore Verbinski (The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, The Mexican) seemed to be the companies big hurdle.

“We were asked by Universal to move the film outside the US to take advantage of a tax credit,” Verbinski told Variety. “We are evaluating whether this is something we want to do. In the meantime, the film is in a holding pattern.” London is apparently a leading candidate for the production’s new location.

Written by John Logan (Gladiator, Star Trek: Nemesis), the big-screen BioShock was initially planned for release alongside a third BioShock game. However, with BioShock 2 not due out until later this year, the movie’s release was brought forward to summer 2010–a move which forced Verbinski to pass on directing a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean (minus Keira Knightley – ::Crutchboy:: notes).

The fact Verbinski turned down such a lucrative gig to direct BioShock is a good indicator of his commitment to the project. Both the director and Universal reps told Variety that the work stoppage and a few subsequent crew member layoffs do not mean the film is canceled, but merely delayed. Specifically, they promised it would not suffer the same fate as the Halo film, which is now on indefinite hold following similar budget concerns.

[Source]

BioShock
First Glance:
Haven’t I played this before? Except I was in space or something?

The Short Story:
It’s a great game. There’s a lot to do here but the Busy Gamer can sit down a couple of hours a week and beat this game in a relatively short time if they don’t mind playing on Easy mode. It looks great, plays well, and the sounds, well, spooky is a bit weak to describe it but the voice acting is solid and the background noises keep you on your toes throughout your play session.

The Score:
This game is a solid, very solid, 4. The score can even be bumped up to a 5 if you decide to play through on Easy You’ll probably unlock quite a few achievements even if you play on Easy mode but the fact of the matter here is that there’s a lot more to do in this game than in the majority of shooters on the market. Repeated play sessions may have you unlocking more achievements but you’re looking at a solid game with decent returns on your time spent playing.

Body of review:
There’s a lot in this game that harkens back to the days of System Shock and System Shock 2. The hacking, the shooting, the ghostly images of events that happened before the nameless character of You dives deep beneath the water. And there’s another thing here that can compare and it’s what made the System Shock games such a hit with me. It’s the atmosphere.

Bioshock does several things right but the one big thing that makes this game is the way 2K presents a story and immerses you in that story with a creepy, disturbing atmosphere and some very convincing voice acting.

From the moment the game starts, you’ll feel more like you’re playing through a story than merely blasting your way through levels. There’s a gentleman who seems friendly enough that you communicate with via a radio. He’s your guide and fills you in on the history of Rapture as you move along trying to make your way out of Rapture through the madmen, the Big Daddies, and the Little Sisters. It makes for a great means of telling the background and learning the controls as you actually move through the world 2K has created.

The underwater setting is a nice touch and keeps the player from wondering why he can’t just set fire to the stupid tree blocking the path that leads to freedom, something I often find myself doing in the escape/survival scenarios presented by other shooters. And before some of you ask, “Hey, why did I go down in the first place???, don’t worry, there’s a very nicely presented explanation! You just have to kick some butt to find out what it is. There’s no savior of the world here, folks. This game is all
about keeping yourself alive long enough to get back up to the surface.

All in all, this is a very nicely presented game. The graphics are gorgeous, the sounds are eerie, and the voice acting is some of the best I’ve heard in a game in a long time. You’ll find yourself having to make a couple of tough moral choices along the way through Rapture but that’s all part of what makes this a great game.

Grits – End of line