Why was the Bioshock plot twist such a big deal?

[Blind Sight]

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.

Excellent point, I completely forgot about the audience-character connection, brilliant post.

 

[Captain Epic]

Everything about the whole sequence was brilliant. Unlike most "twists" you really don't see it coming.

 

[MercurySteam]

So why was everybody so blown away

Did you even watch the scene?


I mean, just wow.

 

[Hoopybees]

*Spoilers* First, by the way, can anyone tell me how one makes that expanding spoilers box thingy? I've been a member of this forum for months and I've seen no explanation of that feature anywhere.

Anyway. I think that it also kind of helps that the character of Atlas is so utterly believable. After the bit where he claims his family where killed he sounds genuinely upset. Add to that the fact that an Irish accent accent is inherintly friendly sounding. Though god, make sure it's a republic of Ireland accent not a Northern Ireland accent, the big difference being that one makes everything potatoes and sunshine and the other makes absolutely everything sound like a threat.

 

[Silva]

To be honest, I was one of those who saw the twist coming. There were little hints and just the whole linear structure of the game felt very like a mouse in a maze. I'm familiar with sci-fi cliches and it is a bit of one to suddenly discover you're a robot or otherwise lack free will, so I found it predictable.

Still, it was a well executed twist and it was an interesting development of the deeper themes behind the game's plot. The way the phrase "would you kindly" was slipped in so discreetly made it much more memorable when you see that plastered all over the wall before it's revealed what was done to you.

So I believe that from the perspective of good design it is worthy of praise as twists go.

 

[higgs20]

if it turned out every decision you had made was the result of someone playing with your brain i think it would be a pretty big twist in your life.

 

[DarkhoIlow]

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.

Pretty much this.

I never expected that to happen at the end.The plot twist made me want to go through the game faster and get my revenge.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

+++I assume that anyone reading this has already played Bioshock all the way through. So if you don't want anything to be spoiled, stop reading.+++

Because it isn't just some random twist. It literally takes everything about what you thought of the world of Bioshock and turns it on its head. You're some poor random man who happens to stumble upon Rapture? Nope, you're an assassin, or rather a weapon, who's aimed at the creator of Rapture. Atlas is a friendly ally who's trying to help you and his family out of this hellhole? Nope, he's really what will become your greatest enemy and he's been playing you all along. Andrew Ryan is some evil capitalist who's gone too far? Nope, he's just a misunderstood man who was unable to control the forces in Rapture. You've been trying to escape Rapture this whole time? Nope, you've been mind controlled to pave the way of your enemy's victory. "Would you kindly" is simply a friendly phrase used by Atlas alot? Nope, it's your trigger word. From then on out you see everything about Rapture in a different light.

Now would you kindly go back to the internet?

 

[LaMer]

The twist itself wasn't a big deal. It was how brilliantly executed it was that makes it one of the greatest plot twists of all time.

 

[LaMer]

*Spoilers* First, by the way, can anyone tell me how one makes that expanding spoilers box thingy? I've been a member of this forum for months and I've seen no explanation of that feature anywhere.

Yes, I would like to know as well. Let me know if you find out.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

*Spoilers* First, by the way, can anyone tell me how one makes that expanding spoilers box thingy? I've been a member of this forum for months and I've seen no explanation of that feature anywhere.

If you quote somebody who's using a spoiler, you can see how to do it. Alternatively click the spoiler.

Spoiler: Like this!

Simply write [spioler]spelling it correctly o' course[/spioler]

Now if you want your spioler to not simply show 'spioler' on the box then you write it this way: [spioler=yadda yadda]Again, correct spelling works.[/spioler]

 

[stiffy]

"A man chooses, a slave obeys"

even garbled though broken teeth, that sentence sends shivers down my spine

 

[Hoopybees]

Yes, I would like to know as well. Let me know if you find out.

Well. Tada.

*Spoilers* First, by the way, can anyone tell me how one makes that expanding spoilers box thingy? I've been a member of this forum for months and I've seen no explanation of that feature anywhere.

If you quote somebody who's using a spoiler, you can see how to do it. Alternatively click the spoiler.

Spoiler: Like this!

Simply write [spioler]spelling it correctly o' course[/spioler]

Now if you want your spioler to not simply show 'spioler' on the box then you write it this way: [spioler=yadda yadda]Again, correct spelling works.[/spioler]

Thank you kindly!

 

[NaramSuen]

Well, I was so impressed with how they connected it so well due to that they had a 'phrase' to help the main character do what he was involved in.

<spoiler=Spoiler>Would You Kindly? Is the very phrase that brainwashes our main character to do everything he says without realizing it. I felt that was honestly brilliant.

I agree 100%. As soon as I learned that, I was re-evaluating the entire game and couldn't wait to play through again to see how many references I could spot.

 

[Sepiida]

As others have said it wasn't just that it was a brilliant twist (it was) it was that it turned one of the central tenants of game design and turned it on it's head.

Most gamers are used to firing up a game and taking orders from whoever is giving them to us. It's an element of game design that goes back as far as there's been narrative in games, to the point where we no longer think about it any more. We expect it and we don't question it. Bioshock made us stop and realize just what it is were doing. Here we are blindly following the orders of someone we don't know and have never met all because they say they can help us. But can they? No, and more than that they've been controlling us the entire time. To take something that gamers are so used to (guy gives you orders, follow them) and shove it in our face like that made more a truly memorable experience.

 

[jakefongloo]

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.

I don't think subtlety means what you think it means. Or, maybe I don't know what it means... When bullets are flying through the air and explosions are going off, that's and example of activity such as adrenaline neccessary to survive. Where as if you experience adrenaline in expectation of what's coming even though you have no idea what it is and then it happens in a completely different way or doesn't happen at all is subtlety, to me anyway.

Never at any point did that game feel "In your face" Call of Duty is in your face. Bioshock is not. HalfLife has way more grand moments then bioshock. You never shoot down helicopters in bioshock,you never take on 80 foot tall walkers, you never experience explosions at the top of towers... No offense I think you might be a little bias based on fandom.

OT: Despite popular belief, the average crowd can predict a good guy turned villian betrayal twist from a mile a way. So going through about 6 to 8 hours of the game never suspecting once that this guy maynot be all that he's claiming to be is a pretty good set-up.

 

[-Drifter-]

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

Yes they did, yes I have and yes I have. Perhaps you haven't played all the way through Half-Life or Half-Life 2, so I'll sum it up for you:

Spoiler: Wall of text

At the end of Half-Life (the first) the G-Man approaches you after you kill Nihilanth, revealing that you were used in order to weaken Xen and allow the Combine to take control of it, as well as Earth, even stating that "You can be a useful pawn, for those who can control you." Basically, he set the whole experiment up, knowing it would fail, so that this outcome would come about. In Half-Life 2, again near the end, Breen reveals that it was he who bought your contract, and used you to inadvertently weaken the resistance by revealing the location of Eli-Vance. You do wind up killing Breen, but after that th G-Man once again shows up, saying you've performed admirably and that he's received numerous offers for your contract.

 

[wildpeaks]

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).

Exactly my thought as well, I couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[AngelicSven]

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.

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!

Actually,

Spoiler

I ruined the game for myself cause I remember reading an old sci-fi book (or it was a show) where 'Would you kindly' was actually their trigger phrase. I noticed Atlas said it every time he talked to me, by Chapter 3 I figured it out and pretty much when through the motions then on.