Why was the Bioshock plot twist such a big deal?

[-Drifter-]

People made a lot of noise over Bioshock's big plot twist and how it cast the idea of linear gameplay in a whole new light, but what I wonder is why? Am I wrong, or didn't both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 do the same thing years before? It was handled a bit differently than in Bioshock, but it's still the same basic idea. So why was everybody so blown away when...

Spoiler

... it turned out you were being controlled by Atlas the entire time?

Spoiler

Also, Leacults Heard.

 

[Plurralbles]

well because of the fact that if you had the game spoiled you didn't bother completing it might be an indication of its importance.

 

[HT_Black]

Because what Bioshock did was emulate the scripts of so many games before it and hurl subtlety out the window. The deconstruction of linear gameplay in HL2 was discreet, subtle and overarching; and in Bioshock it was grand, in-your-face, and succint. Personally I prefer HL2's take on the matter, but each to his own.

 

[Hippobatman]

Well, to me Bioshock's twist came like a sledgehammer. The whole setting, atmosphere and sense of vulnerability made me completely oblivious to the fact that there was something fishy happening.

I felt a connection to the only "human", and I didn't think anymore about it. I was handed the villain, and he was going to die. The twist was presented and built up so well, that it completely blew my mind.

One of the best plot twists in the medium, ever.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

What version of Half-Life were you playing? Last I checked, the only real person you could possibly be referring to is the G-man and he doesn't befriend you, he is a mystery, one we rarely get to see. He is an obvious villain with his own agenda and Gordon is nothing more then tool that does the job.

Atlas was our only ally going into the world of Rapture. He was there when we got off the Bathysosphere and he guided through the perils and troubles of Rapture. When the twist came, most of us believed Atlas, sympathized with him about his family and believed that Andrew Ryan was truly evil. It wasn't until the twist occurred that we realized that our greatest enemy was our most trusted ally and to top it all off, he had control of us and forced us to do his bidding.

It was something that no one saw coming and that is what made it great.

 

[Hoopybees]

I imagine it was a slightly bigger deal for people like me who never played Half Life 1 or 2. Also there's the fact that unlike most games/films/tv series/whatever which are so predictable you can guess the end result within the first five minutes (which makes an excelent drinking game by the way) I genuinely didn't see it coming. It's not the twist itself but the construction of it that's so compelling.

 

[Hosker]

I haven't really noticed people make a big deal about. It is a pretty cool plot twist.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

As others have said it was simply, the mix of atmosphere, and everything else. Me personally I played it straight for 3 days, and felt amazed after beating it. Like I just saved the world. ALso what Half-Life did you play? There was no plot twist like that in the game.

 

[Stoic raptor]

Half life or Half Life 2 never did that. Have you tried those games, or Bioshock?

Like another said, Atlas was your only ally. You thought you could always count on him, until the end. You realized he was your enemy, that the whole thing was a scam, that he was not even atlus, and that the entire game he was actually controlling you, that you never made those decisions by yourself.

 

[Supernovajake]

Spoilers-
Because Atlas said "Would you kindly?" so many times and we didn't realise!
The flashbacks to all the times he said it were creepy as hell and sent chills down my spine. Just like a good twist should!

 

[Busdriver580]

It's because you didn't play System Shock 2

 

[Blind Sight]

Did you not notice the complete tonal shift after that moment?

Ok, so up until that point the game was largely critical of Andrew Ryan's philosophy, which is based off Ayn Rand's Objectivism and rational egoism. Throughout the first half of the game Ryan's philosophy is seen as somewhat naive, especially with Fontaine attempting to destablize his power base.

However, as Ryan is staring down his assassin he says a simple line: "A man chooses, a slave obeys." This is a fundamental element of Objectivism, that a strong individual chooses his role, while a weak one obeys the commands of others (i.e. Atlas) despite not knowing whether these actions will benefit them in the long run. Once Atlas betrays Jack, and reveals himself as Fontaine, the entire plot focuses on this simple line. Jack was a slave, obeying the orders of someone else, but after Ryan reveals to him the truth of his actions, he, as an individual, CHOOSES to go after Fontaine and finish him off.

 

[Jaime_Wolf]

Because it was the PERFECT twist.

First, you never noticed that he said "would you kindly" until he brought it up. That fact alone is rather impressive given how many times he said it.

Second, and more impressively, it completely and totally abused your natural gaming instincts. Playing a game like Bioshock, you're used to being told to do things and just doing them. Unless presented with an actual choice, you don't bat an eye. Moreover, you don't have a choice -- to progress in the game (as in most games in the genre) you have to follow the objectives. This game gave you an IN-UNIVERSE JUSTIFICATION for the gaming behavior you naturally take for granted. When Atlus explains that he's been controlling you, he doesn't just mean Jack, HE MEANS YOU.

Third, it's one of those fabled "could only happen in a game" moments. It's the sort of moment that you just couldn't get in a film or a book. In the game, YOU followed the orders blindly as though you were being mind controlled. You didn't even think about it, you just did it. Seeing a character going through those motions in a film would be relatively inconsequential and perhaps a little bit trite. It's the sort of thing that makes the "games as art" crowd giddy because it's venturing into that mythical land of exploring what games as an independent medium have to contribute (things that games can do and films, books, etc just can't).

 

[octafish]

It's because you didn't play System Shock 2

Damn ninjas...

REMEMBER CITADEL!

 

[Trolldor]

Bioshock's "twist" is a hell of a lot older than probably your family name Drifter.

Bioshock's twist was just really well crafted.

 

[Blind Sight]

It's because you didn't play System Shock 2

My god, don't remind me, as soon as I heard "H-H-H-HACKER" when I was going into the office I literally thought:

Spoiler

NO FUCKING WAY, SHODAN'S BACK? I KILLED THAT ***** IN THE FIRST GAME, I KILLED HER GOOD!

 

[RedRussian]

Because it was an awesome surprise mindfuck?

 

[Fish Sauce]

Ok, so up until that point the game was largely critical of Andrew Ryan's philosophy, which is based off Ayn Rand's Objectivism and rational egoism. Throughout the first half of the game Ryan's philosophy is seen as somewhat native, especially with Fontaine attempting to destablize his power base.

However, as Ryan is staring down his assassin he says a simple line: "A man chooses, a slave obeys." This is a fundamental element of Objectivism, that a strong individual chooses his role, while a weak one obeys the commands of others

It's more than that. Ryan stands against his assassin as every bit of a Objectivist he's been made to be, choosing to face his death, well, like a man, with every connotation of that phrase intended. But in saying that a man chooses, a slave obeys, guess which one you are? Jack's been ordered to do all of these things, and obeyed, but so have you as the player. How many games have you played where you did all of the things that you were asked? Man or slave, which were you being?

That one scene neatly critiques one of the central paradigms of video game design, where you do what you're told. There may be a narrative, objectives, or choices of how you wish to complete your quests or missions, but ultimately your choice is only to do them, or not. If not, you lose, or you can't continue playing. At every step, when someone has asked you in the game to complete a task, you've done it, probably without much hesitation, because if not, you'd have to stop playing. In a sense, it wouldn't make a difference whether Jack was brainwashed or not: you'd still do everything the game asked of you to keep going.

 

[Discord]

It was the story and how it was told. Too many games you kinda got the feeling that the guy helping you could betray you or the story of a game has been told so many times you know how it will end.

But Bioshock had a fresh setting, deep story and it was wonderfully Executed. Just like Rapture its self; every little turn and level Story or Gameplay was an adventure.