I finished BioShock a couple hours ago. As it turns out, the “universal acclaim” the game has been receiving is not without merit. It really was exceptional and, as I was suspecting, sensationally original.

Judged on the quality of the game itself (and not including launch issues or complaints), BioShock is easily the most important first person shooter since Half-Life 2. It certainly is a long game; total game play approached 19 hours for me, and I’m pretty sure no other first-person shooter I’ve played has been so lengthy.