Irrational Games are mighty proud of what they've achieved with BioShock, as just last week they launched the game's orchestral score and now they've rolled out the game's artbook, up on the Cult of Rapture, hosted by 2K Games. You can download the incredibly detailed artbook right HERE. There are two available versions: a 15MB low res version and a 75MB high res version.

The artbook is entitled "BIOSHOCK: BREAKING THE MOLD." Originally posted by Irrational up on 2kgames.com:

"Way back when I was creating the BioShock Limited Edition, I took a poll for what you guys wanted to see in the box. And while we managed to put your top 3 choices in - the Making of DVD, Sountrack CD, and Big Daddy Figurine, we just couldn't manage a BioShock artbook.

But with a game as beautiful as BioShock, that just didn't sit right with me. Because everyone should be able to experience the beauty of BioShock, see the concept art and visualize the evolution of building such a revolutionary game.

So, with the help of the BioShock team and an amazing art designer, I put together a BioShock artbook for everyone to download. Here it is, in all its glory, in two PDF versions: a smaller, ebook download, and a more hi-resolution version that you can take to your local printshop and bind."

And so they did. Take a closer look for instance, at the Little Sisters/Gatherers. For one thing, they don't look like putrid corpses as much as they did when the original concept art was created. The haired Gatherer actually looks pretty innocent compared to the bald ones, right? Then there are the characters that didn't make it. I'm sure you'll be able to distinguish a few, having played the game and all.

However, it is recommended that you skip Ken Levine's foreword until you've plated the game for a few hours - it may contain some spoilers. Alright then, HERE's the download link again for the two different resolution versions of the artbook. Enjoy!

http://games.softpedia.com/get/Tools/BioShock-Artbook.shtml