BioShocked!

Emtrey, my buddy-ol’-pal slash arch-nemesis slash source of all knowledge, recommended a game to me: BioShock.
It seemed to fit in with all the other interesting horror games that I had ranted about previously, and he was tossing it my way.
So as soon as I got a decent paycheck, I snapped it up.

Let’s get a brief synopsis here.
You’re a guy named Jack in the year 1960. His plane crashes in the Atlantic, and he discovers the entrance to a secret underwater city called Rapture.
Rapture was started shortly after WW2 by a fellow named Andrew Ryan who wanted to make a place where man would be free of political and religious boundaries (thus removing all moral constraints). Great scientists, capitalists, and artists went there, enjoying the freedom, and breakthroughs were made.
One breakthrough discovery was ADAM, something that added rapidly effective stem cells to your system. This is not unlike cancer, only rather than a botched-up undead-cell-system, you have the ability to use things called plasmids (not to be confused with plasmid DNA) and tonics to differentiate the cells into some pretty cool superpowers using alternate DNA sequences.
Like any good science fiction, this game decided to incorporate a little bit of real science into the pretend. Good job. I was able to successfully ignore the magical part.
The plasmids were powered by this stuff called EVE, because biblical names make stuff that much more impressive. The ADAM was harvested from a marine parasite…bonded to little girls. “Little Sisters,” they called them. And it all gets creepier from there.
Overuse of plasmids caused people to get brain damage and go insane. And get violent. All it took was that, coupled with some political turbulence, and the city pretty much killed itself; and now you’re stuck there, learning more about it and trying to stay alive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skVP1Idf6kk
This is a link that features what is arguably the most breathtaking clip in the game. It is the very beginning when your plane crashes, and you discover the entrance to Rapture. As you descend, you view an introductory filmstrip by Ryan, then watch as the great city reveals itself…
I highly recommend it. It also features an excellent piece of the score, composed by Garry Schyman, which added a level of elegance to the game.

As the Game Plays

Let’s talk about gameplay.
What a ride.
Once I got past the crashing bug, which was a bitch, (I had to do this crazy restart-with-default-settings thing that I found on a message board) I really enjoyed it.
First of all, I didn’t find it that difficult. Which for me, is great. Seriously. Pointing arrow? Explicit goals? Shiny, easy-to-spot clues? Clearly labeled rooms and signs along with a construct-as-you-go map? This makes it practically idiot-proof—even for me. Yes, there were many monsters to shoot down. But with ammo and health and EVE readily available in vending machines or on corpses, I felt strangely empowered. Almost…capable.
It was a feeling I’m sure will not last.
But either way, I was quite comfortable and did not need a cheat or walkthrough of any kind. Even better, I was not constantly flooded with a stream of enemies, so I got time to look around at the wonderful scenery.
Which brings me to my next point.
The game developers clearly put a lot of love into this game. The environment was incredible. I’m sad that my computer got in the way all the time with its poor graphics card.
I loved the chilling contrast of the environment: bodies strewn across a ruined corridor, blood and water dripping, lights flickering, all coupled with the distant sound of a gramophone brightly playing some happy little tune like Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top.” Sometimes you would hear advertisements or promotional messages blaring over loudspeakers, in the nostalgic dialogue style (e.g. “What’s bothering you, Mary?”… etc).
It captured an eerie ambience like no other.
Similarly, you might stumble upon audio diaries left by previous residents of Rapture, giving you further insight. It’s elements like these that really flesh out a story and make it more enjoyable, and made this one all the more horrific (in a good way).
The mad plastic surgeon’s patients crucified on surrounding walls. The demented artist’s “sculptures” from corpses presumably covered in some sort of plaster. Coming across disturbing scenery like this made the game exciting and colorful.

I was sad, though, that I got the bad ending. I really thought that because I saved the vast majority of the Little Sisters, I was going to get a happy one. But no. Killing a few children to harvest their genetic material has consequences, I suppose.

Now, afterwards, I digested what experiences I had absorbed from the game. Rapture was clearly a screwed-up place. But we can learn a little something from any situation, can’t we?

What I Learned from Rapture

I thought I’d take a few moments to share some of the things I’d change to avoid this Atlantean catastrophe.

1. It’s great to create a city free from the constraints of earthly politics. However, it’s still a city. Run by people. And although you don’t have moral restrictions down there, try not to bring people who are morally bankrupt. Dr. Suchong, for instance..? I mean, crap like, “Before ADAM, you could no more domesticate a child than a boa constrictor” is nothing you want blurted out by someone in charge of a mind control department. Do we even want there to be a mind control department? Are we all seeing the importance of a bioethics board here? And don’t EVEN get me started on Fontaine.

2. Little Sisters…um…what??? On the BioShock Wiki, it says that female children are the only viable hosts for these parasites. Once again, it’s about the sanctity of human life, here. Did they even try to find a way to generate more ADAM without the slug? Did no-one on Team Batshit find those Little Sisters as creepy as I did? Even if they had only used one child for research, just getting enough ADAM to get started, I can’t imagine any sane group trying the method again. And stealing people’s kids? I don’t think that strategy has ever been in style. Not a great way to start off a utopian city.

3. Who the hell decided to weaponize plasmids and tonics?? Medical cures would be my first choice. Cosmetic needs are completely understandable, too. But when I see something like an ability to hurl jets of flame from my arm available in a vending machine, I am suspicious. Granted, ammo is available in vending machines, as well, but still—what is the market here? Does the general public really have the need to create a swarm of bees to attack their enemies? Or fling lightning bolts like the mighty Zeus? Honestly, I feel like this is a bit of irresponsible merchandising, here.

4. So….did anyone consider the possible effects of plasmids and tonics? Like that whole insanity-from-overuse thing? I imagine someone should have researched that a bit. You know, to prevent the whole “splicer” problem. But maybe the same people in charge of marketing lethal additions to your DNA were in charge of safety tests—that is to say, they completely neglected them. Once again…responsibility. Free market is a wonderful thing, but standards are there for a reason, folks. In this case, the reason crawled on ceilings, screamed obscenities, and sometimes tried to set you on fire.

So.. BioShock? Rockin’ game. Spectacular journey to explore. If you’re looking for something investigatively challenging, it’s not really what you should pick up—I believe the difficulty settings only work on a shooter basis (i.e. increasing the number of enemies, etc).
But I loved the story and setting. It was enjoyable and fun to play.
Just…be suspicious of any artisans, capitalists, or scientists who get this kind of underwater ambition.