In our previous BioShock preview, Shacknews editor Chris Remo elaborated on developer Irrational Games' high-minded approach to storytelling. Ayn Rand's philosophy, mise en scene technique, and all manner of artsy, complicated concepts were explained. And while Irrational president Ken Levine has certainly delivered on his promise of a captivating presentation, I didn't see much of that this week. During a demonstration of one of the game's later levels, what I saw was pure carnage; frantic, unrelenting mayhem. Make no mistake: While BioShock may have all the nuances of a gripping novel, it also provides all the gleeful destruction of a great action title.

Loading up a section of what amounts to the third level of BioShock, Levine set the scene. The player has progressed to an area of Rapture--the underwater world where the game takes place--in which a forest, dubbed Arcadia, was grown as a sort of tourist attraction. These plants double as the city's oxygen production center, and now Rapture's Orwellian creator Andrew Ryan has released a toxin into the atmosphere which is slowly sapping the life of the trapped trees. The player first has to concoct an antidote to the toxins using the game's crafting system, but Levine proudly acknowledged that he had cheated. With the substance in hand, all that had to be done was to release the cure into the chamber. Fortunately for our purposes, the diabolical Andrew Ryan intervened at the last second, sending a swarm of genetically-modified minions to attack.

In one swift movement, the player ran straight up to a doorway and cut down the first incoming enemy with a gory shotgun blast to the temple. I was immediately taken aback. This felt more like a scene from Monolith's visceral Condemned: Criminal Origins (X360, PC) than a moment from a tactical shooter. Levine was quick to note that there are, of course, more intelligent ways of going about your business in the hostile world of Rapture. On queue, the player fired a trip-wire trap into a wall, and with another shot attached the second end of the wire to the opposing wall. The wire wasn't positioned effectively enough, so the player then switched to the Telekenesis plasmid. Plasmids are essentially magic powers, through which the player can cycle through as he would a physical weapon. Using Telekenesis, one end of the trip wire was snatched up into the player's hand and quickly replanted across a doorway. "We found out in testing that this worked," Levine remarked, alluding to the game's unpredictable nature. An enemy soon came barreling through the passage, the wire sending out an electric current and dropping him like a sack of potatoes.

These kinds of traps can be set in a variety of methods. As more enemies poured into the room, the player began rapidly using the Cyclone Trap plasmid, dropping swirling vortexes along the floor which instantly shot the mutants into the air like a rocket. Standing in front of a pool of water, a handful of wading bad guys were dispatched with a quick shock from the Electrobolt plasmid. Environments can often be taken advantage of in this way. An oil slick milling in a corner can be ignited with the Incinerate plasmid, the fire spreading realistically from end to end and torching everything in sight.

Machines are exploitable as well, both by the player and by the ghoulish Splicers. Passing a medical station, Levine noted the dual nature of the innocent contraption. "These will heal people, and if the enemies use them they can heal themselves. But not if you hack it. If you hack it, it will poison them," he explained. At this an enemy approached, running to the machine for a boost of health. The player ran for the machine, attempting to hack it before the monster had used it--too late. Another shotgun round covers up any trace of failure.

Hacking is a free, easy way to increase your odds of survival in BioShock. Vending machines can be hacked for discount prices, and stationary turrets can be converted to save on ammunition. As the player will often traverse one section of the game many times over, having a turret on hand to defend from roaming Splicers comes in handy. Once in close proximity to a hackable object, the press of a button begins the hacking minigame. The game tasks you with completing a series of pipes by swapping out various pieces before the flow of water catches up to the end, like a timed game of Rivers, Roads, and Rails. Often challenging, but not frustratingly so, the minigames are a pleasantly puzzling diversion.

With so many mechanics at work in BioShock, some fairly inventive scenarios can be devised. While enemies were slowly cutting through a steel door, a proximity mine was attached to a barrel and placed just in front of the doorway. Needless to say, the ensuing battle was short-lived. Flying attack bots can also be hacked and put to non-standard use. Attaching a proximity mine to an oblivious bot, the friendly machine runs straight into a swarm of enemies like a homing missile, exploding in a massive fireball. "That's nice," Levine cackled, still entertained by a world he has labored to create for years.

Some time later, the player managed to tether a flying bot to the ceiling with a wire, the bot bouncing back and forth in a futile attempt to escape. Wires can also be attached to Splicer enemies, the ensuing tangled mess leading to clothes-lines that take down other enemies as they run in circles. In a brooding, atmospheric game, the entertaining combat often transforms it into a dark comedy. "The best part is when you blow off people's hats and just toss them back at them," Levine said while, on screen, a little ingenuity transformed a teddy bear into a deadly weapon.

Continue reading for more details on BioShock's environments and teaching methods.