So, what was the big deal about Bioshock? (spoilers)

[stroopwafel]

Having never properly played through Bioshock I thought the collection was a good moment to ?dive? in. Now, let me iterate I had a great time playing it but I do wonder if the praise this game got at release was really all that warranted. Maybe standards were still lower back then but Bioshock is nowhere near anything exceptional in my opinion.

First the good points: gameplay isn?t anything special but still competent and a lot of fun and the plasmids added some cool variety. The game is a purely story driven FPS and this shows in everything from the variety in environments and enemy encounters to the thought and attention with which everything is put together; the game really does feel like it puts you through an adventure in this underwater 'utopia'. I love games with a clear focus and Bioshock definitely had that.

Now, what I expected more of was the story, or rather the thematic elements of the story. The story itself was pretty fun but it?s obvious the game carries the allusions to Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism on it?s sleeve. This itself wouldn?t be a problem but these thematic layers are so ludicrously shallow and superficial that it gives the game a sort of pseudo-intellectual feel that really starts to drag down the more 'serious' atmosphere the game is going for. Andrew Ryan(ahem Ayn Rand clever right?) in particular started to grate on me as he rambled on about the 'parasites' as a ludicrous goon or how superior his underwater grave was compared to society(again in a failed attempt to mimic themes from free market philosophies). Was Ryan just a billionaire sociopath without the 'intellectual' framing and Rapture just his pet project to exercise some of his more nefarious desires I think the story would have worked better. Bioshock could have been this really claustrophic experience(like Soma for example) instead of constantly snapping me out of the experience by constantly making these shallow references to before mentioned philosophies.

I think the story still succeeded in forwarding the player through the game as you always had to do something and go somewhere that made sense plot wise, but again rather than adding substance the thematic layers rather distracted from this. If you add themes to the game atleast make sure you integrate them into the plot in a meaningful way. Take for example Soma which I think is a game that is truly exceptional in integrating themes about the nature of identity and reliability of memories into it?s plot. Contrary to Bioshock I felt the developers really grasped these concepts rather than just adding them in the game to sound smart. Even Legacy of Kain for fuck sake had a better grasp on philosophical concepts of fate and free will. The themes in Bioshock just felt completely empty.


There are some minor points I don?t really like about Bioshock either. For example the art deco style they were going for gives the game an authentic feel, but combined with the game?s general aesthetic presence, the plasmids and enemies that wear bunny masks it makes the game look like some kind of Loony Tunes cartoon.

Bioshock is a fun game but ultimately pretty forgettable in my opinion. Anyways onto Bioshock 2.

 

[Zhukov]

It was clever and pretty and imaginative and atmospheric.

The combat was always a bit iffy. I haven't played it in ages but I can only imagine it's aged very poorly. (Bioshock 2, while weaker in every other way, actually improves on that aspect.)

Granted, yes, standards were lower back then. The last ten years have seen many more developers making an actual effort in the areas that made Bioshock stand out.

 

[Saelune]

My post is full of open spoilers, dont read if you dont want the plot blatantly spoiled.


Bioshock did what alot of other games more clearly today get praised for, which is challange the player on their motivation. You move forward and do what you're told because its a game, but Jack (the protagonist) is revealed to be a mindless slave (A man chooses, a slave obeys) who does what Atlas/Fontaine wills because he asked ever so kindly. The game after Ryan's "defeat" was probably a downhill point though plot-wise.

As for gameplay, I still enjoy it alot. Its simple, and more "old-school" and fun.

 

[stroopwafel]

It was a big timed exclusive for Microsoft and pushed as being ground-breaking and having "serious themes". At least that's what I remember from the E3 reveal with Peter Moore.

I liked the first one but yeah since then other games have certainly gone above and beyond.

 

[Cycloptomese]

Yeah, at the time it was a pretty big deal. I'm pretty sure that it was one of the first to use audio recordings to flesh out the story and environment. I could be wrong. Of course since then that has become somewhat cliche, but if I recall correctly, it was a fairly fresh story telling concept at the time.

 

[King Billi]

Spoilers ahead...


The most memorable aspect of the game for me was purely its visual design and setting, Rapture is just such an incredibly unique and unsettling place to be and the various stories that you uncover as you explore the different areas of the city and meet its strange denizons is enough to earn the reputation it has.

The one aspect I felt that I just didn't get was the revelation toward the end pertaining to the phrase "Would you kindly".
I felt the big " twist" was just that your ally Atlas was revealed to be Fontaine and the actual final antagonist. Though apparently there's something more to it relating to video game choices and player character agency that I just don't get...

 

[Zhukov]

Yeah, at the time it was a pretty big deal. I'm pretty sure that it was one of the first to use audio recordings to flesh out the story and environment. I could be wrong. Of course since then that has become somewhat cliche, but if I recall correctly, it was a fairly fresh story telling concept at the time.

Well, it actually revived that habit from the old System Shock games.

Fair enough I guess. Spiritual successor and all.

Not sure I'm grateful for that though since audio recordings have since become painfully overused and often used poorly. (Seriously, developers, stop making me stand in one place to hear the things, and place them so they won't play over other dialogue.)

 

[Cycloptomese]

Yeah, at the time it was a pretty big deal. I'm pretty sure that it was one of the first to use audio recordings to flesh out the story and environment. I could be wrong. Of course since then that has become somewhat cliche, but if I recall correctly, it was a fairly fresh story telling concept at the time.

Well, it actually revived that habit from the old System Shock games.

Fair enough I guess. Spiritual successor and all.

Not sure I'm grateful for that though since audio recordings have since become painfully overused and often used poorly. (Seriously, developers, stop making me stand in one place to hear the things, and place them so they won't play over other dialogue.)

I was on a hiatus from gaming during the late nineties and very early two thousands so I missed the System Shock games. But I know, right!? I swear I played a game where picking up an audio recording actually triggered combat and I'm trying to listen during shooting and explosions. What's up with that?

 

[MysticSlayer]

If you've played a lot of atmospheric games since BioShock released, you can pretty much guarantee that BioShock was a major source of inspiration. As a result, it probably feels less fresh now than it did almost 10 years ago. It also is probably the major source of inspiration for any game that deals a lot with challenging the player to think about why they do what they do and what implications it has for the developer-player relationship.

On top of that, there aren't a lot of games that deal heavily with Randian Objectivism, and for what it is, BioShock is still probably the best video game commentary on that subject, and it does so without even trying. Yes, it frames a lot of the narrative around that, but it is mere window dressing used to influence the characters, world, and narrative. Behind it all is the aforementioned commentary on video games (most notably player agency in games), which is itself far beyond what I've seen most other games accomplish (BioShock Infinite being another major one). So it is both a pretty good exploration of Randian Objectivism as it affects a world and its people, and it is a fantastic (subtle) commentary on player agency in games.

And then there's the usual stuff: It's very atmospheric and still among the best in that regard. Even if the combat isn't great, there's at least some fun to be had with the plasmids, hacking, research, etc. Overall, it gets the basics of a good game down. It just goes above that in a few ways.

 

[Saelune]

Spoilers ahead...


The most memorable aspect of the game for me was purely its visual design and setting, Rapture is just such an incredibly unique and unsettling place to be and the various stories that you uncover as you explore the different areas of the city and meet its strange denizons is enough to earn the reputation it has.

The one aspect I felt that I just didn't get was the revelation toward the end pertaining to the phrase "Would you kindly".
I felt the big " twist" was just that your ally Atlas was revealed to be Fontaine and the actual final antagonist. Though apparently there's something more to it relating to video game choices and player character agency that I just don't get...

Ever play any open world game ever? Particularly Elder Scroll games. When told to go be the hero you can...go do something else. Morrowind in particular lets you not only neglect the plot, but outright sabotage it by killing key NPCs or losing plot items.

Now in most linear games, you cannot do that, and just move forward. Sure you can just stare at the wall for theoretically forever, but in the game it is not considered active rebellion against the plot. Most linear games just ignore it for the sake of the plot. Master Chief blows up Halo because -he- wants to according to the plot for example, but you have no real influence.

Bioshock's would you kindly is an in-lore reason why you keep moving forward. You do so not just because its a game, but because the character feels compelled to, he wants to doit because he is made to want to do it due to the mind control phrase. Motivation in a game is important. The "Why?". For awhile you can just assume the protagonist either feels morally compelled to help Atlas, or because he has nothing better to do. Or maybe the game is poorly written, until its revealed the "motivation" was right under your nose, from the second the letter on the gift in the plane, which says "would you kindly..."

 

[gorfias]

I got my Xbox 360 in April 2006. First games I got were Call of Duty 2 and Burnout Revenge. The quality of the graphics blew my mind.

Then I saw the trailer for Bioshock. All else paled by comparison.

Now I played a bit of the PC remaster and it feels like old school by comparison. But that opening first look at Rapture? Still breath taking.

But still, it is a fairly competent game (unlike Infinite)

Didn't like Infinite? Best FPS I've played, maybe ever. The roller coaster mechanic was a hoot.

The "Why?". For awhile you can just assume the protagonist either feels morally compelled to help Atlas, or because he has nothing better to do. Or maybe the game is poorly written, until its revealed the "motivation" was right under your nose, from the second the letter on the gift in the plane, which says "would you kindly..."

I don't recall ever having a game changing choice as I had in Bioshock before (harvest or free a little sister). Bioshock, to me, is a big deal for being among the first (later, Fallout 3 is the next big example of which I can think). Never played Morriwind: Did it do anything like this?

 

[happyninja42]

But still, it is a fairly competent game (unlike Infinite)

Didn't like Infinite? Best FPS I've played, maybe ever. The roller coaster mechanic was a hoot.

I wasn't too impressed with Infinite either. The game felt very samey with the combat, and I didn't find the plot all that amazing. Granted, I was spoiled about the "twist", but even if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have found it all that impressive. It just...didn't really do it for me. It felt like it was trying to be amazing and shocking, and just came across as pretentious.

 

[hermes]

Bioshock (and Infinite) were heavily atmospheric FPS games by a big studio full of unique, memorable and inventive locations (that go far beyond generic middle eastern country) and moments, that was not distracted by bulletpoint features like multiplayer, microtransactions or DLC content being cut from the game. The story was also full of high concepts, and even when not delivering on all of them, at least they tried.

So, no... I don't think there are many games out there that come close to them, even now.

 

[gorfias]

But still, it is a fairly competent game (unlike Infinite)

Didn't like Infinite? Best FPS I've played, maybe ever. The roller coaster mechanic was a hoot.

I wasn't too impressed with Infinite either. The game felt very samey with the combat, and I didn't find the plot all that amazing. Granted, I was spoiled about the "twist", but even if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have found it all that impressive. It just...didn't really do it for me. It felt like it was trying to be amazing and shocking, and just came across as pretentious.

Buddy of mine said he stopped playing as it bored him. Maybe I liked it so much because for a guy that stinks at gaming (much as I love to) I need easy. He was off giving Dishonored his GOTY pick. I'm stuck on a bridge in that one. I greatly enjoyed the story of it. Love (and bought from Amazon) the Miracle of Sound song they made for it and watching it brings back great memories of the game.

 

[Xprimentyl]

But still, it is a fairly competent game (unlike Infinite)

Didn't like Infinite? Best FPS I've played, maybe ever. The roller coaster mechanic was a hoot.

I wasn't too impressed with Infinite either. The game felt very samey with the combat, and I didn't find the plot all that amazing. Granted, I was spoiled about the "twist", but even if I hadn't been, I wouldn't have found it all that impressive. It just...didn't really do it for me. It felt like it was trying to be amazing and shocking, and just came across as pretentious.

Same. Infinite wasn?t bad, but as what I consider to be the ?true? sequel to Bioshock (Bioshock 2 felt like too much ?me too, just not as good?) Infinite left a far smaller imprint on me. I liked Bioshock because of the constant feeling of despair and horror, plane crashing into tumultuous seas only to find myself trapped in the leaking remains of an underwater city and a societal experiment gone terribly wrong. Had you told me that in the next Bioshock, I?d start off watching an aloof 20-something dancing on the fairway at a late 19th century state fair, I?d have laughed in your face, but that?s exactly what happened. All the horror was gone and what was left was pretty much just an Action FPS. About the only thing Infinite did insofar as making an impression, was *spoiler* the lead up to the moment you have to choose whether to throw the baseball at the tied up interracial couple or the carney. Everything up to that point had been so pleasant and lovely, then they unveiled THAT, and it knotted my stomach; I?d never seen a Triple AAA game tackle such a taboo subject so overtly. So in that regard, Infinite was good; it was cathartic killing all those bigoted bastards and fucking up their city in the clouds, but as a sequel to Bioshock? Not so much?

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Was Ryan just a billionaire sociopath without the 'intellectual' framing and Rapture just his pet project to exercise some of his more nefarious desires I think the story would have worked better. Bioshock could have been this really claustrophic experience(like Soma for example) instead of constantly snapping me out of the experience by constantly making these shallow references to before mentioned philosophies.

Here's the ticket: Your assessment of Ryan is spot on. Ryan is explicitly a bad Objectivist, one who shirks from his ideals in favor of the oppression he so lambastes the moment he starts to face serious competition. While BioShock can be understood as a criticism of Objectivism, which it is to some extent, it is foremost an observation about how oppression breads oppression, no matter what kind of fancy words or ideology you hide behind.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Buddy of mine said he stopped playing as it bored him. Maybe I liked it so much because for a guy that stinks at gaming (much as I love to) I need easy. He was off giving Dishonored his GOTY pick.

It's funny you mention Dishonored, partly because I'm replaying it right now and the first thing that occurred to me when I read the title of this thread was "wait, Dishonored's whole your-off-hand-is-a-spell mechanic was pretty much done by Bioshock first."

As for its innovations: it incorporated the environment into its combat system, such as igniting oil spills to create fire traps; it merged the shooting, sneaking and hacking elements together quite nicely; it had a great plot with a Driving Question and a Terrible Secret, revealed crumb by sodden breadcrumb over the course of the game until you reach the Shocking Twist; and it had a clearly distinct art style coupled with an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere.

I understand that last point was somewhat undermined by the "re-master," as the improved graphics actually detract from the pervasive sense of dread and gloom that gave the game its character.

As for Bioshock Infinite, I personally reckon it's the better of the three Bioshock games. I don't get why people seem to hate on it so much.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Well you have to remember, it came out in a time when the biggest games around were Mario Galaxy, and Halo 3, and people still thought the most clever story telling element ever was 'The Cake is a lie'.


Bioshock was ironically a breath of fresh air in a 'shoot-the-alien-with-pewpewpew-lazers' and 'Nathan Drake is God!' world.

And a bunch of games have been copying it since. Look at Dishonored. Its basically just Bioshock, with a knife instead of a wrench. And more boring.

 

[Fox12]

You know, as someone whose made these kinds of threads in the past, I'm really sick of them. A lot of people liked the game play, atmosphere, and story. If you didn't like them then we won't change your mind here. Personally, I didn't care for Half Life 2, but I loved FF7. We all have different tastes and opinions. So that's your answer. People have different tastes and opinions.

I swear, it's impossible for the Internet to just enjoy things.