Games That Matter: Bioshock

In this addition of Games That Matter, we're going to venture back in time and just roughly 20 leagues under the sea to explore a world that “No Gods or Kings. Only Man” rules (and apparently women don't count, sorry ladies). Bioshock had a summer release on August 21st 2008 and was developed by former Irrational Games; now known as 2k Boston. A side note for our readers, we won’t be referring to Irrational Games as 2K Boston during this article because we feel the credit should go to the original company behind the game and while we understand and know 2k Boston is now that company, Irrational Games will always stick in our hearts when we hear reference to Bioshock.

Traditionally we write articles regarding upcoming releases, so you’ll probably be thinking Bioshock 2 right now, and I’m thinking you’re right, if it weren’t for the extreme lack of information regarding the title, despite its release date being set to later this year. Instead we’re going to set our sights on something that’s a bit more real per say. Bioshock fits right into our series for many reasons (we’ll get to that soon), and that is why I have picked this game despite it being out for more than a year now.

What I have yet to see is developers actually capture what Bioshock brought to the table in terms of expanding the FPS genre and either push it further or just acknowledge that Irrational Games broke boundaries with Bioshock and it worked extremely well. At first glance Bioshock may just look like a traditional first-person shooter, but I assure you this is not the case at all. Sure you have weapons such as pistols, machine guns and my favorite a grenade launcher, but this game isn’t just an FPS, it has brought much more than that to the table.

Let’s start with the world; Rapture was a marvelous paradise at one point, where scientists were given the ability to advance technology and human modifications with no limits or boundaries. More surprising this paradise was not on land with the rest of the world, but under water on the ocean floor. The atmosphere Irrational Games created for Bioshock is among the most unique and refreshing I have seen in years. The game thankfully didn’t take place in a boring city, an alien world of some sort, Korea on a tropical island or in some post World War facility. It was an original setting; located in a place I’m sure most of us would have never given a second thought. Perhaps because when it comes to a world built on the ocean floor, it doesn’t seem that practical. None the less Irrational Games pulled it off and successfully brought Rapture to life.

Now what makes this game unique is what they actually incorporated into it. Bioshock had a top of the line production value, I’m talking cream of the crop here folks. Bioshock sported some of the best, if not the best voice acting to ever hit the FPS genre. It was Hollywood quality and it really helped to bring rapture and its people to life. Thankfully Bioshock sported a great plot as well, pulling you in from the start and not letting go until you discovered the truth. Story elements could literally be found all over the city. You could find remnants of Raptures glory days, what the people were like before things went to hell and even what transpired between the good times and your arrival. Most of the story was told through diaries scattered around the world, and the rest through the characters who were still living in Rapture and those who already passed on through some sort of spiritual scenes.

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of Rapture was the propaganda found throughout the entire city, aside from the very unique art style and level design which mixed well with the 1960’s theme. Even more so was how the world used an audio system, much like a loud speaker to convey these messages to its populous. Messages all over the place painted a vivid picture for the player and conveyed a clear image of what Rapture is all about. It didn’t take long before entering the city to find out that genetic modification was a new fashion statement and everybody was into it, perhaps even more than they should have been. Andrew Ryan, the creator behind Rapture had one clear vision, he wanted a world free from an increasingly oppressive political, economical, and religious authority and he essentially achieved just that. Rapture at one point was populated only by who Ryan believed exemplified the best in humanity and his beliefs. For this reason alone Rapture evolved at a rapid rate, with breakthroughs in technology and genetic engineering.

These advancements brought Rapture “ADAM” and “EVE”, stem cells that were previously harvested from some unknown sea slug. ADAM greatly influenced the world of Rapture by creating a plasmid industry that sold everything from a cure for male pattern baldness to Fire at your finger tips. To improve the yield of ADAM, scientists created the “Little Sisters”, young girls whom all had slugs imbedded into their bodies. The initial purpose of these girls was to act as ADAM factories by extracting the ADAM from the dead and recycling it within their own bodies. The Little Sisters of Rapture were deemed very valuable and it comes as no surprise that their existence became threatened as the citizens of Rapture became hungrier for ADAM. To aid in protection of the Little Sisters the scientists created the “Big Daddy”, heavily armed and highly enhanced humans in diving suits.

As you know Andrew Ryan’s very ideals not only created a utopia, but was the very thing that destroyed Rapture; creating a dystopia that corrupted and lost his envisions. Ryan’s single rule was no visiting the surface, the idea was to keep Rapture a secret, making smuggling highly profitable. Smuggling goods into Rapture created a black market, which came to be dominated by a man that had the same ambition and determination as Ryan himself: former mobster Frank Fontaine. Though unlike Ryan, Fontaine wanted complete control of Rapture and with his wealth and con-artist ways he eventually got enough followers to overthrow Andrew Ryan.

Moving on, the story and voice acting is just the tip of the iceberg. The game features beautiful visuals and Irrational Games put much time and effort into the detail of the environments, and let’s not forget the water (oh soooo pretty). Though pretty visuals don’t always guarantee a great game, in this case it did. Bioshock introduced a first-person shooter, mixed with role-playing and stealth elements.

The RPG and stealth elements in the game really shine when it comes to Plasmids and Gene Tonics. Plasmids are elemental powers that allow players to shoot fire or electricity, freeze or hypnotize and even send a swarm of killer bees at your enemies. Each Plasmid was capable of being upgraded to increase its power and strength. Gene tonics worked on the other end of the fence as protection to the players, instead of using them to attack enemies, they were used to protect you from them or enhance your own abilities when on the attack. Genes tonics gave the player added bonuses and protection, such as resistances to fire or electricity or even the ability to have an added shock (literally) to melee attacks, which resulted in an electrical burst being emitted each time you landed a punch. In addition to this, the player can also customize the weapons via single-use weapon upgrade units called “Power to the People”. Each weapon has a selection of three different ammunition types, ranging from normal, anti-personal, and armor piercing bullets. Later weapons prove to have more variety by offering electric or explosive bullets, more interesting is the crossbow which allows the player to spring electric wire from one wall to the next, packing a powerful jolt of electricity when triggered. Moving on, the game boost a research camera as well, giving the player an opportunity to receive extra bonuses such as increased damage, plasmids and gene tonics based on the quality and amount of pictures taken. Each one of these elements adds to the depth of the game, as well as the replay value. Specifically the plasmids and weapons offer the player a large array of possibilities when fighting enemies or setting up a trap for a Big Daddy.

Bioshock features a variety of enemies; you have Splicers (Baby Jane, Bread, Dr.Grossman, Ducky, Houdini, Lady Smith, Leadhead, Nitro, Pigskin, Rosebud, Spider, Thuggish, Toasty, and Waders), Big Daddy’s (Bouncer, Elite Bouncer, and Rosie), Security Bots, Security Cameras and Turrets. Each Splicer and Bid Daddy has its own unique look, weapons and attack patterns which players have to adapt to and determine the best way to defeat when up against. Stealth elements can be used to evade an enemy, set up traps without being seen and the most important to avoid turrets, security bots and the security cameras. Bioshock also allows the players to hack these units for use against enemies. Hack a camera and when it’s triggered, security bots come flying out with guns a blazing after whomever the culprit is, or hack a turret and when it detects an enemy it will open fire on them or my favorite, hack a security bot and have the little guy follow you around ready to put its life on the line for you.

Let’s briefly talk in regards to the A.I. and the moral choices incorporated into Bioshock. Please keep in mind that the enemies in Rapture have lost their minds and no longer are logical thinkers for the most part, even though they still remain human at heart. Bioshock boost some clever A.I., perhaps not as advanced as some hoped, but hear me out first. Before I go into detail, I want to say this, many gamers may argue that the A.I. in Bioshock should have been better, however I present you with this. The A.I. in Bioshock may be relatively simple in design from a programmer’s stand point, but in story terms, it functions in all the ways that you need it to function to make the experience convincing and life like. The A.I. in Bioshock is either minding its own business roaming the world of Rapture, or in attack mode chasing someone or something down. Now at no point during my play through did I feel the A.I. was stupid or not doing what it’s supposed to be doing. Should you light an enemy on fire, they will search for a pool of water nearby to put themselves out. Attack an enemy and get their health low enough and more often than not they will retreat to find a health station, just to return with full health and a badass attitude. Alerting a Splicer, Big Daddy or a Security Bot will result in the enemy chasing you down and attacking, simply running will not work, believe me they will find you. The only time I was able to run from an enemy I alerted without being found was after I equipped the “Natural Camouflage” gene tonic which causes the player to become invisible when standing still.

The most interesting A.I. in the game has to be that of the Big Daddy and the Little Sisters. Little Sisters roam the halls of Rapture in search of the dead, only to extract the ADAM from them and recycle it within their own bodies via consumption. They won’t bother you at all; in fact they fear you and any other enemy in the game. Should you approach them, they will either scream or run from you. Mind you this is where the Bid Daddy comes into play; Big Daddy’s are the most powerful enemies in the game and can be extremely difficult to take down depending on the situation. They will not bother you as long as you don’t bother them or their precious Little Sisters. Should you get too close to the Little Sisters, the Big Daddy will warn you and push you back, should you continue and attempt to attack either him or the Little Sister all hell will break loose. The A.I. once you have attacked a Little Sister or Big Daddy is not forgiving at all, at this point you have one of two choices, either take out the Big Daddy or die.

I didn’t mention this before while going over the story, however Irrational Games incorporated a moral aspect into Bioshock. This really adds to the experience, making the player feel like they are actually there and required to make a decision based on their conscience. You have two choices when faced with a Little Sister, you can save them by returning them to human form or harvest them for ADAM by literally ripping the sea slug out of them, resulting in their death. This adds a question to be answered by the player, and the game doesn’t allow you to be neutral either, you will be forced to make a decision. Though personally Irrational Games took this a step further in my mind, after all you can present a player with a task like such and keep it easy or you can up the ante per say and offer the player a benefit… making the decision a bit harder, think bribery. The game will reward you with a lot of ADAM should you harvest the Little Sister instead of saving her, which thus results in obtaining more stronger plasmids to boost your arsenal. However, if you decide to save the Little Sisters you will be rewarded with much less ADAM, despite doing a huge service for them. The decision is yours, you can be a good guy or you can be a bad one.

Before I conclude there is one last aspect I would like to discuss. Bioshock is a sandbox game and what this means is you are not forced to go from “Point A” to “Point B”, much like you are in many other first-person shooters available on the market. Instead you are presented with a world where you can go anywhere’s at your sole discretion, explore every nook and cranny or skip right to the missions and move on. Either way this adds a nice flow to the game play because it gives the player the ability to move at his or her own pace and increases the depth of the game by adding exploration to it.

Bioshock in short is a masterpiece. It successfully combines exploration, role-playing, and stealth elements to a first-person shooter. Not only does it do a phenomenal job at that, but it has incorporated a great story and voice acting that is hard pressed to be second best even when being compared to Hollywood films. The visuals pack a punch, are fantastic looking and the unique level design and architecture found throughout rapture is absolutely gorgeous. From the visuals, the enemy A.I. to the voice acting, sound and story, this game has top of the line production value that not only makes it pretty to look at but also immerses the player in the experience. Irrational Games has redefined what a first-person shooter is and offered other companies suggestions to push their FPS titles to the heights Bioshock has reached. To conclude, I can only hope that more developers follow what Irrational Games has done by striving to push their games into new territories and expand on their respected genres.