Bioshock for me has been one of the more unique game experiences I’ve had in a while. If you have gamed for as long as I have, you’d know that a lot of the games out there use borrowed gameplay mechanics from other games. Now, there is nothing wrong with this – if the gameplay system is tried and tested to be efficient and satisfying, why not, right? You’ll still end up with a pretty solid game. The bad thing is games are becoming more homogenised, and you really don’t experience anything new between different games, aside from the (vaguely) different stories, characters and environments.

So if you come across a game that goes out of its way to give you a wholly unique experience, you know you’ve found something really special. For this reason, Bioshock earns a very special place in my heart, right there beside Psychonauts.

The special quality of Bioshock doesn’t become immediately obvious to you until you’ve played through a significant portion of the game. You feel it, you know it’s there, but you don’t quite know what or why. But before we get to that, let me just make a brief mention of things in the game that I really liked.

Art Direction

Bioshock is a beautiful game. The underwater city of Rapture was built in the ’40s, and so it was designed in the style of Art Deco. Now Art Deco happens to be my favourite architectural style, so it was truly a pleasure to explore Rapture and see it’s magnificent beauty, both inside and out (thanks to windows that you can look out from).

Level Design

I really hate repetitive gameplay, and Bioshock does a good job in eliminating that. The game introduces a new type of splicer everytime you progress to a new level, and those that have already been introduced will also level up, either with greater health or immunity to some of your plasmid attacks. The game therefore gets tougher each time you progress, and even though you can upgrade your weapons and plasmids, you’ll never find yourself in a combat situation that is without any kind of challenge. Also, each level is designed to look and feel completely different from one another – you’ll never feel like you’ve visited a certain place before. All the levels have their own unique themes (e.g. the docks for Neptune’s Bounty), and some levels even have their own special enemies. These enemies are specifically designed to complement the theme, which adds another dimension to the whole feel of the level. My favourite level of the lot? Fort Frolic.

Scare Factor

Bioshock can be extremely creepy. It is incredibly atmospheric, and sometimes, you just don’t feel like entering a room ‘cos it looks too scary. New enemies that you encounter can also startle the controller out of your hands, while picking up a valuable item might trigger something really creepy to occur. Blackouts, anyone? Oh, and don’t open that cupboard. It might be more than just loot in there!

Also, the game employs the use of immersive cut-scenes, in which you are still in control of your character while one is happening. For a survival-horror game like Bioshock, this becomes an extremely effective tool in creating tension and suspense, because you are still in the game, and therefore still feel vulnerable. Also, this type of cut-scene preserves the emotional connection you have with your character, Jack, as it does not severe your control over him, unlike how pre-rendered cut-scenes would. Which leads me to my next point:

The Emotional Connection

This, for me, is what made Bioshock truly special. The best kind of games are those that get you emotionally invested in both the game and the character you are playing. The best kind of games are the ones that make you feel.

You never hear Jack speak (except grunt when injured), and you never see his face, or any other part of him except his hands. So why is it that we feel so much for this character?

Because the game is structured in way that never puts Jack out of your control. He doesn’t speak, or else he’ll be saying things that you did not ask him to say. There aren’t any pre-rendered cut-scenes, or else he’ll be doing things that you did not ask him to do. You have complete control of him, over his actions and his choices. In other words, you are Jack. And the fact that his face is never revealed to you strengthens the illusion that you are really and truly Jack.

Of course, Jack isn’t the only character in the game apart from those crazy, feral splicers. There are the Little Sisters and their Big Daddy friends, and plot-centric characters like Tenenbaum and Atlas, all of whom are intrinsic to the whole emotional experience.

The thing I liked best about the plot-centric characters is that you don’t meet them face to face. Instead, they communicate with you through radio transmissions. Although this might seem a little less intimate than a face-to-face, it is in fact a whole lot more. You actually start to develop a connection with these people as they guide you through the corridors of Rapture, while at the same time telling you about their past and their struggles. Also, they respond immediately to your actions, making it feel like your actions have some weight and consequence in the whole scheme of things.

The biggest choice you have to make in the game would be whether to play as a badass and kill the Little Sisters and harvest all their ADAM (currency used to buy genetic power-ups), or rescue them and only retrieve some ADAM. Now, here the choice seems pretty obvious, but there’s a catch – the Little Sisters are in fact harmless little girls of about 5 years, and they are protected by not-so-harmless Big Daddies. The pair is not hostile to the player, and in order to get the ADAM from the Little Sister, the player has to provoke the Big Daddy into combat and dispatch him.

If you’re a normal person with a conscience, it can be really hard at first to attack the Big Daddy. Although he’s a hulking mass of metal and weaponry, he’s a bodyguard first, and it’s really very sweet to see the little things he does for the Little Sister. He’d help push her up into the vent that’s too high for her to climb into, and if she’s in between you and him once combat has initiated, he’d actually pick her up and put her behind him. I know. Awwwwwww. But you have to get to the Little Sister to progress, and it’s inevitable that you kill one (or like 12) of the Big Daddies. Once you kill him, though, you’ll find the Little Sister by his side, crying, and begging him to get up. At this point, even if you had the initial intention of harvesting her, you’d be so heartbroken at the sight of her crying that you’ll end up saving her.

She’ll thank you, and run away towards a vent. If one is close by, you’ll see her struggling to climb into the vent without Big Daddy there. She eventually gets in, but it’s still heartbreaking to watch.

The point I’m making here is that the Little Sister and Big Daddy are characters that are developed so well, with a relationship dynamic that’s fleshed out so realistically, that the act of saving her (if you save her, that is) ends up being a choice that you honestly, genuinely make from the bottom of your heart. And you’ll sympathise so much with the Big Daddy that killing one ends up being an equally heartbreaking emotional process too.

The End

Depending on your choices, you’ll be treated to one of three cutscenes at the end of the game. Mine was (obviously) the good ending, and it was beautiful, poetic, and emotionally satisfying. I hope this won’t be too much of an overkill, but this is by far the best game ending I have seen, as far as cinematic endings go.

[*Spoiler] And I am glad that they continued with the image of “the hands”, because I think the underlying message of that motif makes up the core part of what Bioshock was truly about – love.

9.5/10 for a truly beautiful game. Thank you Irrational for the wonderful experience.