Valve announced that BioShock, the highly-anticipated first-person shooter adventure with RPG elements by 2K Games is available for pre-purchase now via Steam. Gamers can pre-order BioShock on Steam for $49.95, and begin playing the moment the game is made available on August 21st in the U.S. and August 24th in Europe, alongside the retail releases on PC and Xbox 360.
One of the most anticipated games of 2007, BioShock is the “genetically enhanced” first person shooter that lets players do things never before possible in the genre — turn everything into a weapon, biologically modify your body with plasmids, hack devices and systems, upgrade weapons and craft new ammo variants, and experiment with different battle techniques.
Back when 2K Games was creating the BioShock Limited Edition, they took a poll for what fans wanted to see in the box. And while the Limited Edition set managed contain the top 3 choices: the Making of DVD, Sountrack CD, and Big Daddy Figurine, the BioShock artbook was left out… But they wanted to show the concept art and visualize the evolution of building the game.
So, with the help of the BioShock team and an amazing art designer, they put together a free artbook titled “BioShock: Breaking the Mold” for everyone to download. Here it is, in all its glory, in two PDF versions:
1. A smaller, ebook download;
2. A more high-resolution version that you can take to your local printshop and bind.
The one thing Cultofrapture recommends is skipping over Ken’s foreword until after you’ve played the game, as it holds some spoilers you might want to keep secret your first playthrough is complete.