If you were to ask a typical gamer what the best first person shooter of all time is you'll probably get a long list of answers. Halo: Combat Evolved, Half-Life, Call of Duty 4, Doom, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Duke Nukem 3D, and several others. You may get a few bizarre of modern answers like Titanfall 2 or Overwatch, but for me it's gotta be BioShock by Irrational Games. One of the most philosophical, deeply written, complex, and thought provoking games to come out during the 2010s. More than ten years later it still holds up to be a masterpiece. A pure work of art that elevates the expectations of what a video game can be. It's the game that continued the immersive-sim genre even when it died and how the audience for them still existed. Proving neiche titles still have their place in the market today and we don't always have to sell out to trends.
Before BioShock was made, the people who would eventually become known as Irrational Games originally worked for Looking Glass Studios back in the 1990s. LGS was praised for publishing titles such as Thief: The Dark Project and Irrational’s first game System Shock. Both of which received sequels that were acclaimed if not better than their predecessors. Both of these games followed a gameplay strucutre of offering multiple choices to solve problems and reactive systems. Along with Deus Ex, these games help make what would be become known as the immersive-sim genre. They were pretty popular at the time and they rewarded players for thinking for themselves. A tragic fate then lied for these games as it wasn’t until the start of the 2000s and after the release of Thief 2 that Looking Glass Studios shut down. No more immersive-sims were seen since and other games started to popularize some of the design trends we see today in most modern FPS games. Ken Lavine, one of the founders of Irrational, had plans for a third System Shock, but it would be difficult as the gaming market made it difficult to express artistic vision. He wanted to stick to having innovative and unique choices while maintaining the design philosophy System Shock was renowned for. At first they imagined a game where you controlled a powerful being armed with a drone who would protect a small creature who harvested resources.
This concept sounded boring when actually put into practice, but it would be recycled into a new and more interesting idea. They then imagined a plot that had a dark tone and delved into philosophical themes most publishers would find controversial. The tones they handled were very political, but the political themes then made them realize they wanted to make a philosophical game with depth and meaning. When it came to the setting they imagined a place that a normal human being couldn’t possibly create. A place full of culture, inspiration, and was generally very classy. It was eventually around 2004 that Take-Two Interactive, who would become known as 2K Games, would help with the publishing of Irrational's new game. Irrational Games agreed to the business deal and later changed their name to 2K Boston. They soon revealed gameplay of their upcoming game and the title dropped for the world to see, BioShock. What type of game would BioShcok be and would it succeed the games that came before it?
Those answers would be answered around the 2007 release. Nintendo released their most successful console one year before, Microsoft is killing it with the Xbox 360, and Sony plans to release the Playstation 3 later that year. BioShock was designed to make use of the new tech of those consoles and would come midway through the year. Irrational Games wasn’t really expecting BioShock to blow up, but when it did they were amazed. The game sold more than one million copies and critics all around were claiming BioShock to be one of the best games to come out that year. It had so much depth to it, the story was deep, an intriguing plot twist, the combat was slower paced compared to something like Halo 3 but rewarded creative play, and the atmosphere was magnificent. BioShock is considered one of the greatest games ever made and even though I’m a modern gamer even I have to admit that BioShock stood out against the test of time. This is possibly one of the greatest games I ever played, and now it’s time to remind you all why it's a masterpiece. Today we’ll be talking about why I love BioShock and why it deserves your attention. So load up your atomigun, pack a fistful of lightning, and journey to a city thousands of feet below the ocean.
Story
We follow the role of a man named Jack, an ordinary man traveling overseas to visit his parents who own a peaceful farm. He tells himself that he doesn’t have many goals in his life and that there isn’t much purpose for him at the moment, but he remembers a phrase his parents taught him . “Son, you were born to do something special” and that phrase has reminded him that one day he’ll be chosen to carry out a special duty. While looking at a photo of his parents the plane he is traveling on begins to shake and it is reported that the entire vessel is violently crashing towards the ocean. The impact is rough and the plane is literally torn to shreds. Jack wakes up to find himself sinking like everybody else, and quickly swims to the surface before he can drown. A trail of fire surrounds the entire crash site, but a strange lighthouse lies in the middle of it. Jack is forced to swim towards the tower before he can be engulfed in the flames and he heads inside to shelter himself. Jack finds a banner hanging in front of the entrance and a gold statue of a fancy man. The banner reads, “No gods. No kings. Only man”, and the stairs lead down to what seems to be a submarine. Jack, knowing it's the only way to leave the lighthouse, enters the contraption and pulls a lever to activate it.
It begins to seal and Jack is slowly transported underwater. Jack has no control over the sunken vehicle and has no idea of where he is being taken. The submarine goes dark and a video pops up onto the wall. It’s the fancy man from the statue before and he calls himself Andrew Ryan. He complains that he has grown tired of the government, religion, and any systems of strict ruling. He wanted to escape it all, so he had an idea. Why not build a place far away from those systems of government and religion? Build a place where “the greatest minds and artists alike” can share their ideas and contribute without having to be limited or taxed heavily. A place he would call paradise. It took several years and millions of dollars, but Andrew Ryan built a city hundreds of feet beneath the ocean, Rapture. A place of industry, expression, celebrating, and a way of escapism. Those who enter Rapture cannot leave or tell the outside world unless it is in secret. Rapture is a paradise, and you are welcomed into Andrew Ryan’s paradise.
Jack ends up in the docks of Rapture, but finds the city empty. The walls are chipping apart, the lights are out, and a strange man lurks close to the submarine. He kills another man next to him and begins to tear apart at the submarine’s engine. He is then chased off and a radio within the submarine begins to address you. Jack then picks it up and the voice calls himself Atlas. He is in hiding at the moment and states wherever Jack is isn’t safe. Jack navigates his way through the docks, picks up a pipe wrench to defend himself, and Atlas explains what is going on. Rapture went into a civil war weeks ago, and during that time the citizens began to mutate into horrifying monsters due to a substance called Adam. Capable of rearranging their genetic code, but would twist their minds and leave them with terrible side effects. Jack finds a vending machine that dispenses Adam, and Atlas instructs him to inject some into his veins if he wants to survive. Jack does so and the pain rushes through his body. Lightning shoots off of his hands, Jack doesn’t have control of it, and he trips over a balcony and is knocked out.
While unconscious Jack gets to see splicers investigate his body before a clunky iron beast and a little girl kills them all. The little girl wants the Adam in your body, but since you are still alive she leaves you alone. Jack then wakes up and ventures more through Rapture before Atlas asks him a favor. His wife and son went missing and he wants Jack to find them. Jack accepts the offer and he steps into a room to be talked to by Andrew Ryan. He is watching Jack using the cameras and claims that Jack is serving the enemy. Atlas, the man who started the civil war. Atlas then states that Andrew Ryan was doing a bad job running Rapture and that some form of rule needed to be made. He tells Jack to ignore Ryan and keep pushing forward. Only then he can locate a vessel to escape and escape the underwater hellhole. So that’s what Jack does. Roam the empty halls of Rapture, find new guns to defend himself, mutate his genetic code, and find Atlas’ family. Do as you're told and you'll set yourself free.
Gameplay
BioShock’s gameplay is old school design that doesn’t manage to feel outdated after all these years. You explore each area collecting resources, fighting enemies along the way, pursuing the level objective, and staying alive as long as you can. The main objective may follow a linear pattern, but levels aren’t structured in a linear fashion. Covered based shooting isn’t really an option as you are exposed to the wide open, and enemies can ambush at any time. BioShock is a game that wants you to play carefully, but when thrown into a fight they want the player to fight decisively. It’s a good mixture between survival and action, which I really like. It can almost feel like a survival horror game at times because you have a limited amount of resources, you can only carry so much at a time, and you want to search for more supplies or cash to buy said supplies.
There are a total of eight guns to use during a playthrough and they are all pretty basic to use. The pipe wrench is your basic melee weapon and a last resort if you are out of ammo or want to save up. The revolver has a good range and reload time, but lacks the power later weapons carry. The machine gun is automatic and is good for mowing a crowd down in exchange for low accuracy. The shotgun is powerful up close, but has a long reload time and low ammo capacity. There’s more I want to cover, but it would spoil how overpowered the player becomes late in the game. Guns can be upgraded at weapon stations labeled “Power To The People” and their designs can change with each upgrade. The stations are cleverly hidden throughout levels, so look carefully. Upgrades for guns include ammo capacity, range, reload time, and more. There are two upgrades for each weapon and you want to invest in the guns you use the most.
What makes BioShock different from most FPS games are the bionetic powers you can unlock. The first power you obtain is a lightning bolt which can shock and stun foes. You can even electrify bodies of water which deals more damage to enemies. The thing that makes BioShock powers very useful is that when put in the right scenario they can be extremely deadly. Incinerate allows you to ignite whatever they point it at. When put against enemies standing in gasoline they will all light up. Telekinesis can pull objects towards you and shoot it back at foes. You can use it to pull resources out of your reach towards you, or use an environmental object like an explosive barrel as a quick weapon. You can make the ground an enemy is standing on shake, blow them off their feet, freeze them, summon a swarm of bees, and much more.
A majority of these powers can be unlocked and upgraded at the Gatherer’s Garden, a vending machine which requires Adam. There's only one way to get Adam and that's through Little Sisters. Remember the little girls I mentioned? Those are Little Sisters and they are protected by heavily armed guardians, the Big Daddy. These are miniboss enemies who roam around freely, have lots of health, powerful weaponry, and will stop at nothing to protect a Little Sister. Kill a Big Daddy they drop numerous rewards, and the Little Sister is open for the taking. You have the choice between either sparing them and getting a small amount of Adam, or killing them to harvest the slugs within their bodies which contain more Adam. This is the moral choice aspect of the game. Doctor Tenenbaum who created the Little Sisters will beg Jack to spare as many Little Sisters as possible and will give him rewards for doing so. This may help you in the long run, but you can get more Adam by killing the Little sister. The choice is yours to make.
There are tons of splicers who will try to kill you and they each come in a wide variety. Some will fight you up close, throw sickles from afar, toss explosives around, crawl along the ceiling, or teleport. Splicers usually drop money, ammo, and sometimes health kits and Eve Stims. Money can be used to buy more supplies, and if you want to lower the price of items you can hack vending machines. Health kits will refill your health and Eve is needed to keep using your powers. Run out and you can't refill. Levels in BioShock are open and twist around in a way where you end up in previous areas. This is the immersive-sim aspect that the developers kept around. Sometimes there are rewards for exploring areas and you are offered more insight on what happened in Rapture through environmental storytelling. Besides that there really much else I can say . Everything that is here works perfectly and the game is just really easy to pick up. Hopefully you can escape Rapture and rise towards the shining sky above.
Thoughts
BioShock is timeless and even though it showed some rust in a few areas it doesn't really hold the game back. The combat is much slower than most shooters, but it makes up for it by being more methodical. You could just go guns blazing, or make use of your environment and wield the crazy powers you have. There's a lot you can do do and creative play is rewarded. The levels are open enough in a way where you have enough space to work with even in the most stressful situations. The difficulty curve is something I found to be extremely fair. Even on the higher difficulties the game isn’t so relentless towards the play or trying to kill them as fast as possible. The atmosphere is one of my favorite parts about this game. The neon lights and architecture of Rapture really signal to the player how much the place thrived before the downfall. The civil war may have made the place look more miserable, but it is still wonderful to wander.
The story is really good. It’s not cinematic like some video game narratives today like God of War or Red Dead Redemption 2, but it is really well written and has a lot of memorable moments. Who is Andrew Ryan and how did he drive Rapture into the dirt? Who is Atlas and should we really be listening to every word he says? What was the history of Rapture and how was daily life like before? What happened to people who wanted to leave or overthrow Andrew Ryan? Why were a bunch of little girls turned into Adam thirsty monsters? How did Adam become such an addictive substance? These are the questions that help build the City of Rapture and make BioShock interesting.
Now I’m not the type of person to look into politics in video games, but BioShock is one of few games out there with a political philosophy I'm engaged with. It’s a philosophy I enjoyed learning about and wanted to hear more of. Not that I agree with it, but it is understandable to see why someone would believe it. Andrew Ryan wanted to create a place with nothing but freedom. What happens if there is too much freedom? (Need to clarify right now that I absolutely do not like dictatorship, so people don’t storm to the comments and ask what political side I’m part of.) What happens when there's no form of rule and people end up committing a list of crimes? What then happens when you introduce them to a tool they can’t handle and they begin to abuse its power? What if conflict were to break out amongst the people? BioShock makes the player think and it does so without shoving it in. Just let them take in the info at hand.
BioShock is a masterpiece and I'm willing to give it a high score for how much I love the game, but since this is a review I do have to point out the problems. The way it handles moral choice is done poorly, because it’s a yes or no question. It's made even worse by the game pointing out what is the good option, so players gravitate towards what is morally good. The final boss while having incredible build up is underwhelming to fight and ends up being too easy due to how overpowered the player has become. Again, the moral choices you made doesn't really add up for the ending and the bad ending just seems like a really radical outcome. I thought the ending was satisfying though. It’s about who you ended up becoming despite all the bad things that drag you down. A message I like in fiction. BioShock is a timeless masterpiece and easily stands as an example of what video games should aim to be. Art. Beautiful pieces of work made with passion. In the end I am giving BioShock a 10/10 for being incredible.
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