BioShock

I picked up BioShock for the Xbox 360 over the weekend. Holy fucking shit, is this game awesome.

I know, I know... it came out last year, this isn't exactly cutting edge news, whatever. I do shit at my own speed.

The graphics are amazing. Cool story, really unique setting... though not 100% unique, a lot of the cutesy '60s-era imagery is reminiscent of Fallout. Not a minus, just similar.

And it's creepy as hell. There were a couple of scenes that reminded me of Silent Hill 2, which is the scariest game I've ever played. I've seen worse in movies. Much worse, in a lot of movies. The tone swings between darkly comic and straight-up horror. Fun stuff.

But you're not semi-helpless like in SH... you've got guns and kooky genetic powers. A closer comparison is Resident Evil 4, a game for which I have big, stupid love.

It's 1960. You're on a plane that goes down in the middle of the ocean. But you're not doomed -- there's a light on a strange island. You swim to it. Whaddaya know? The "island" is the surface-level entrance of a massive, underwater city built by a genius billionaire. You learn he created this place to become a utopia, while he and a team of scientists delved into genetic experimentation with an eye on realizing humanity's full ability.

The problem is, toying with everyone's genes has driven them insane. They've been tearing the place apart. Everyone went crazy in the middle of a New Year's Eve party, so now you're stuck in a semi-wrecked underwater city full of 28 Days Later-style psychos, all of them tricked out in tuxes and dresses circa 1959.

I have found a lot of joy in sneaking up behind these nutjobs and clubbing them to death with a wrench.

You also find the leftover genetic tech the scientist had developed. You can give yourself X-Men-type powers. I started out with a short-range shock blast. Water conducts electricity in this game, and the facility is very leaky. I've had a lot of fun luring the crazies into a pool of water, shocking the water to stun them all and, while they flop around on the ground, beating them like baby seals.

I'm not a huge FPS guy -- I've owned Halo 3 for months now, and I've yet to go back and finish it. But I do love scary games. I played way longer than I intended to, and it was an effort of willpower to pull myself away and get some writing done.

Oh yeah, and Gore Verbinski's attached to direct the feature adaptation.