BioShock

Well as many have said this is a superb game, atmospheric, greate graphics and sound. Brilliant playability.

And then there's securom.
This copy protection system undermines the whole game for the following reasons;
You can only activate twice before your key is invalidated.
You HAVE to activate online (restrictive)
The securom software cannot be removed after you uninstall the game, which is tantamount toa rootkit (see the sony/bmg furore a few years ago) or at the very worst malware.

Personally I find it wholly unacceptable to have software installed on my PC that;
a - I did not authorise
b - Can't be removed after the game is uninstalled.
c - contravenes the games EULA.

As a result and despite being a great game, I am sending this back to Play and only giving it 1 star.
2K games should get a competent publisher.

If you have an XBOX 360 I recommend you go down that road to play this game, but to PC users I can only say;
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

What should be a five star game is instead put on the list of games to hold off buying until they're patched. There is the mother of all authentication/DRM systems required to play this game and it's just not worth the aggro. In a year this game will be released in a GOTY edition for less money and without the online activation. I'd wait until then and show 2k that they can't pull this kind of nonsense.

Received my copy last night tried to install it and was told it requires an internet connection to play which I do not currently have! gutted! It apparently needs a one time online activation despite the game not having any online content. This is very poor especially as you dont actually find this out until you get the game through the post and maybe even after you have already opened the packaging (in my case)! not good...

There have been some severe initial issues with this game resulting in many refund requests to various (r)etailers. Whilst the demo was nothing short of brilliant, the retail game has problems, some noted below...

Installing:

The game *must* autoupdate online when installed. If it cannot contact the update server it will fail the install, removing all installed files. The update server was down until around 13:00 BST 23/08/07 but appears okay now. Anyone who has attempted to install before this and had a failure, please try again before considering going for a refund.

Multiple installs:

This game has a limit of 2 simultaneous installs - this is not noted anywhere in the manual. If you attempt a 3rd install the install will fail. If you have a system crash and need to reinstall the OS more than twice the install will fail. Your only option is to ensure that you have uninstalled the game via Add/Remove Programs before a reinstall is performed or an install on another PC. If you pass the 2 install limit without having uninstalled a prior install, you will be required to contact the game's support services to resolve the issue.

Please note that the number-of-copies issue is an attempt to cut down on game piracy - but apparently is making the issue worse for us, the paying gamer.

For further information and to read masive amounts of heated language, go to forums.2kgames.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=42

NB: I do not work for, or have affiliation with, either play.com or any company involved in the production of Bioshock. If I worked for the latter, it certainly wouldn't be using Securom either! At least it isn't Starfarce (sic)

Reason for 3 stars - It looks to be a brilliant game, marred by some severe initial issues. (But S.T.A.L.K.E.R. worked eventually, didn't it?)

It installs a rootkit kit called SecuROM that gives you hidden files and 'services' in the windows system32 directory. The idea of spending 30 minutes to remove all traces of software you spent £24.99 is offensive. It would be easy SecuRom to include a full clean up upon uninstall but they do not. Exactly what their agenda is, is open to question. No one has the right to alter my machine without my consent. This Securom system is no different than any other malware, spyware or other outside attempt to invade our personal property (systems). They give no notice of what will happen when you consent to load their software. Clearly if they notified the customer that using the product will make almost permanent changes to the registry and other OS files and that these changes may cause conflicts.