Words cannot say how much I love the BioShock series! The first game is a true classic. The first time you go to the underwater city of Rapture is awe-inspiring stuff.
Then you have the shooting, the plasmids that give you special powers and the awesome story. I even enjoyed the second game. It was an interesting take letting you play as a Big Daddy and I think that it is far better than people give it credit for.
However, BioShock Infinite is the game that really does it for me. Set years before the first game and in the floating city of Columbia.
Playing as a guy called Booker while you protect a young lady called Elizabeth is one of the best stories I have had the pleasure to play through. It still plays like classic BioShock (with a couple new element) but the story is so well written that I could not put this game down. The ending legit blew my mind and still to this day it is one of the best video game endings I have ever seen!
With me having so much love for the BioShock series I thought that it would be fun if today we had a look at some other BioShock alternatives as it does not look like we are getting a new BioShock game any time soon.
Dishonored
I really have had a great time with the Dishonored series. In the first game, you play as an assassin called Corvo.
Corvo is no normally assassin he has some supernatural and special abilities that make the people who have wronged him in the city of Dunwall in deep, deep trouble.
As much as I loved the first Dishonored game, Dishonored 2 is what really blew my socks off and is one of my favorite games of this console generation. This time you can choose to play as Corvo or his daughter Emily.
A side or third game if you prefer called, Death of the Outsider was released and it was not quite as good as the other two.
Still, it was sold at a budget price and it did give you a bit more Dishonored action. Which will have to do as I do not think that a new Dishonored game will be happening any time soon. All three games are on PS4, Xbox One, and PC and I highly recommend you play the first two.
Metro
I feel that the whole Metro series has to be on this list. I had heard of this series and Metro 2033 was a game I intended to play, but I never did.
Nor did I the sequel Metro Last Light. However, these were both remastered and released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and that was when I jumped in.
The Metro series is not a traditional first person shooter. It is a horror based game (actually more survival horror than anything else) Earth has been devastated by a nuclear war and now there are all kinds of monsters and creepy things that want you dead.
There is actually a new game, Metro Exodus that is planned for release in 2019. The story of the game appears to be all about survival as you make your way from Moscow and needs to survive the horrors that the world has in store.
It sounds like it is going to be quite story driven which is something I enjoy about the BioShock series and a reason I think you might be into it.
Prey
Prey was actually one of the games that made me so glad that I got an Xbox 360 back in the day. However, as that game was sold for next to nothing very soon after release I guess it did not exactly set the world on fire.
Well, Prey was kind of rebooted by the people at Bethesda. Any game that has Bethesda on board is going to be of a certain quality and that is certainly the case with Prey.
This has a sci-fi setting to it and the game takes place on a space station that is in orbit around the moon. Now on this space station, scientists are messing around with experiments and surprise, surprise things go wrong and now aliens are running about the space station.
You have some special abilities that you can use, but there are so many other things that you can pick up and smash aliens heads in with. I really enjoyed Prey and I am sure that you will have a lot of fun with it too, especially if you like your games to have a deep sci-fi story.
SOMA
You cannot have a BioShock list and not have SOMA on it. SOMA like BioShock is set under the sea. The game actually takes place on a research center that is under the ocean and I love the whole setting for this game.
Unlike BioShock though, you do not have much in the way to defend yourself. You see, SOMA is a game that requires you to think as you are quite defenseless against the “creatures” that want you dead.
There are so many things wrong under the sea in SOMA and you need to find out what exactly went wrong, how you can fix it and above all else you need to get out of there.
The other research staff has gone crazy, the facilities AI is acting weird and there are these creatures that are roaming the facility. I really love the way that SOMA mixes sci-fi and horror together and the fact you are defenseless makes the tension scale fly off the charts!
Singularity
Singularity is one of those games that people seem to either love or hate. It got very mixed reviews when it was first released, but I did have a bit of fun with it so wanted to talk about it here. You are a pilot for the US Air Force called Nate.
There is an island that is giving off some very strange readings and you have been sent to fly over it and see what is going on. Well turns out that the Russians are up to something, let’s just say odd and sinister on this island and they will not let you leave to tell about it.
This is a pretty standard first person shooter with a sci-fi/horror kind of story and that is always something I am going to get behind.
The gameplay is not going to reinvent the wheel or blow you away, but I feel it is solid and everything works well. I am not sure why this did not catch on, but I enjoyed the story and thought the gameplay was very fun.
If you want to play a game that is not usually on many top ten or best of lists, I suggest you give Singularity a try.
Alien: Isolation
I love the Alien movies and while the movie sucked, I was actually able to see (well I did not really see anything) a little of the filming of Alien 3 as I grew up close to one of the areas they used here in the UK. Anyway enough of my life story.
Alien: Isolation is the best Alien game since the Alien vs Predator games on the PC. This game sees you playing as Amanda who just so happens to be Ripley’s daughter from the Alien movies. It ties in so very well and it does not feel forced at all.
You may think that Alien: Isolation is going to be just all about shooting a never ending run of xenomorphs like most other Alien games. Well, that is not the case and this has far more in common with a survival horror game than an action game. You will need to hide from the Alien and figure out clever ways to distract it, trick it and get past it.
It is very scary stuff when you are hiding and the Alien is in the room looking for you. Alien: Isolation is a wonderful game and you can pick this up for as little as 5 to 10 bucks so it is well worth checking out.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution is actually the third game in the Deus Ex series and one of my favorites.
Why I think this deserves to be on this list is that it allows you to change the way you attack enemies in a somewhat similar way to how plasmids work in BioShock. Also Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a very story driven game just like BioShock.
Actually, while I am not what you would call a hardcore Deus Ex fan I would say that this one here has the best story.
You play as a guy called Adam Jensen who has been chosen to be the man who oversees the security of a biotechnology firm.
These guys are doing all kinds of crazy stuff and unfortunately some bad guys (or are you working for the bad guys?) want this tech and they break in, kill everyone and now you need to find out what happened.
This is sci-fi awesomeness and it is a very fun game to play through. It is jam packed with action, but it also has RPG elements as well so there is a lot of depth here.
System Shock 2
You cannot talk about BioShock and not talk about the game that inspired and came before it, System Shock 2. I never had the pleasure of playing this when it was first released, but I have played it in recent years and had a great time with it.
It has a very horror and twisted feel to it, but you have to remember this is a game that was first released in 1999 so if you are coming into it now, you have to expect it to be a product of its time. Still, System Shock 2 plays well enough and it has actually aged not that bad at all.
One of the most noteworthy things about this game was how until a few years ago and it was officially made available via digital download. System Shock 2 was a game that was very hard to come by.
People were paying top dollar for this and actually while the digital release has brought the price down a bit. Many collectors are still willing to spend a fair bit of money on a physical copy. I highly suggest you give System Shock 2 a try.
If you are a BioShock fan it is very cool to see where the series came from.
Fallout (Wild Card)
I love the Fallout series. I did not get into it until Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360, but since then I have been hooked. If I had to pick a favorite I would probably go for either Fallout New Vegas or Fallout 4. Both of these are fantastic games. I would say that the setting of New Vegas is better, but I feel that Fallout 4 has a better story.
What has made me put this on here is that while the Fallout series is all about huge open world and BioShock is not. I think the fact that it is so story driven makes the Fallout series one that fans of BioShock would probably have a great deal of fun with.
If I had to recommend a person new to the series a game, I would say just jump in with Fallout 4.
I love a first person shooter (or game in general) that has a really rich story and as I said in the intro, BioShock has a fantastic story.
This is especially true in my opinion for BioShock Infinite. Which by the way if you have only played the first BioShock is my number one recommendation for you to play.
There are some great BioShock alternatives listed up above, but I want to pick a couple that I really want to sell you guys on. The first is the Dishonored series, I love this series and if a strong story along with great first person mechanics are what you like as well as special abilities, I assure you that you will love the first two Dishonored games.
I also think that Alien: Isolation is well worth a play through, it may not have the action of BioShock, but it does have that same kind of tension and storytelling. If you want pure action, I suggest that you give Prey a try. Prey is a criminally underrated game and one I had a lot of fun with.