BioShock is a first-person shooter with role-playing game elements and a spiritual successor to System Shock 2, which many of the developers were previously involved with through Irrational Games.
Weapons
The player collects an arsenal of weapons; weapons can be upgraded over course of play, and each can be loaded with different types of ammunition which can have different effects on different foes.
Plasmids
The player also gains plasmids, ADAM-infused concoctions that grant the player active superhuman-like powers such as telekinesis or pyrokinesis in addition to passive abilities such as increased speed or better damage resistance.
The player can use weapons and plasmids in conjunction with the environment to set traps or to turn the security systems of Rapture against the player's enemies. For example, all enemies in a water-filled room can be shocked by electrocuting the water, sentry guns and cameras can be hacked to fire on detected Splicers, or explosive proximity traps can be set through the help of telekinesis.
