BioShock Collection (Switch) - Revisiting the classics

Nintendo Switch continues to expand its game library, not only with relatively niche exclusives or indie hits, but also with mainstream titles that would have seemed fantastic on the handheld just a short while ago.

The next great franchise to find its way to Nintendo's hybrid console is BioShock by Friv2Online Studio, the acclaimed first-person shooter series with immersive sim elements, which will be released on May 29, 2020, along with other collections from publisher 2K.

It's become a good tradition to release relatively old games on Switch in a max edition with all DLC. But this collection managed to stand out even in this case - it became the only one of the compilations released on May 29, where all available games of the series were included. Unlike Borderlands, where there is no last part, and XCOM 2, where on the contrary, they decided not to touch the first one, here we got an opportunity to literally hold in our hands all ever released BioShock parts. Naturally, with all the additions.

In particular, in BioShock Remastered we are waiting for a virtual tour of unrealized ideas of the series called "Museum of Abandoned Ideas", test rooms and director's comments. The second part (also in Remastered) boasts the DLC "Minerva's Lair" and another set of challenges - the defense of Little Sister.

BioShock Infinite: Complete Edition was the most generous for add-ons - it includes both chapters of Burial at Sea DLC, Clash in the Clouds trials and a huge set of Columbia's Finest gear, which will be a great help at the beginning of the friv game.

As usual, we will not dwell on the setting, story, genre features and the eternal question "for whom it was made" and will try to reveal first of all the feelings of playing the friv game in a portable. After all, that's what this port was released for in the first place.

BioShock series for me is another "love at a distance" in the spirit of jRPG. I first got acquainted with it back on the third PlayStation, having played the original first part. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get through the game then, but the gorgeous setting, atmosphere and lore hooked me very much. Needless to say, the opportunity to refresh my fond memories on Switch was very pleasant - after 2K's announcement, the BioShock collection was probably the most anticipated of all.

The remaster has already been released on Switch, but like all good remasters, it leaves an impression of "everything looked exactly as it was". The picture is of excellent quality, the "soap" appears only underwater - but in real life we can see worse underwater, to put it mildly. No frame rate drops were observed, the interface, despite the small fonts, is convenient and quite friendly.

The immersive atmosphere was also preserved - it's generally quite hard to scare me with a video friv game, but some scenes in BioShock made me feel very uncomfortable. And that's while playing during the day in a handheld. It's scary to think what it would be like at night in a dark room.

A small digression - you should definitely play with headphones. The sound accompaniment here makes a very significant contribution to the overall atmosphere, and in this case, the portable format is to the game's advantage - on PCs and even more so on stationary consoles we do not always play with a headset or good acoustics, often limiting ourselves to inexpensive speakers or TV speakers. Here, the headphone connection is a must, and even a relatively simple headset from a smartphone gives the friv game a huge bonus to immersiveness.

The BioShock 2 remaster after the first installment plays pretty much like the same friv game. The only difference is that at first it's a little less scary there at the expense of a greater sense of security for the protagonist. It's one thing to enter Delight as a survivor of a plane crash, quite another to be in a Big Daddy suit.

The third game in the series, BioShock Infinite, is far less grim in appearance, and makes up for it with an incredible disgust that arises almost immediately upon learning some of the nuances of life on the gorgeous looking Columbia. Truly beautiful outside world turns out to be rotten inside, and despite the small screen size and limited technical capabilities of the console, this contrast conceived by the developers is masterfully conveyed.

Controls are also made perfectly - no differences in terms of convenience from the versions for the same PS3. Everything works smoothly, loading time is reasonable. Not instantaneous, but there was no desire to take out a stopwatch and measure it. All friv game mechanics are transferred honestly, without changes and cuts. At this rate, we'll soon forget that we once considered first-person shooters to be an "inappropriate" genre for Switch.

Ironically, it's the brightest and most colorful Infinite on Switch that looks weaker than all the other parts technically. It was expected - perhaps it's just the fact that the contrast with the "older" platforms in terms of graphics quality is most noticeable here.

After all, the memories of the last part are the freshest, and the peculiarities of the setting with its colorful world and large open spaces definitely made their contribution. So the picture in Infinite is noticeably more "soapy". The interface was also disappointing - it feels like they didn't even try to optimize it and just put what they had on a small screen, making gamers break their eyes.

Another drawback, though not so significant, but worth mentioning, was the lack of Russian localization. Here for players who do not speak English, it is especially frustrating - a significant part of the charm of the game is its lore. Without a clear understanding of various accompanying information, from audio diaries to banal inscriptions on the walls, the game turns into a mediocre first-person shooter. Well, except for a little bit scarier than some.

In addition, it is worth noting the impressive size of the collection - in total it is more than 40 GB (12.5 for the first part, 10.4 for the second and 20.7 for the third). This can't be called a disadvantage, but keep in mind that you will need a memory card to fully install all the games.

As with all reissues of recognized hits, the main task of the port was again not to spoil what is already there. And in this collection it definitely succeeded. Yes, in visual plan it is slightly inferior to Borderlands re-release - but the "board" is pulled by cheater sel-shading. There is also some unevenness of quality, but a noticeable drop in the level of graphics in Infinite is compensated by the ironclad stability of frame rate. Otherwise, the shortcomings may be offensive, but they can't be called serious.

On the other side of the scale we have a complete collection of all existing works on the BioShock universe - a great way to immerse yourself in the harsh dystopia again (or for the first time), which you can take with you wherever you go. Just don't forget your headphones!

On a separate note, the price is worth mentioning. The price of the collection in eShop is 2999 rubles, which is more than attractive for three full-fledged games with all the add-ons. Those who wish can buy the games separately - in this case the price of each of them will be 1199 rubles. In general, a great collection of excellent friv games.