As I booted up my Steam account on my computer, I saw that I received a complimentary copy of Bioshock: Remastered. I booted it up, and a flood of memories entered my mind.
Synopsis
BioShock was a game released in 2006, and it took the gaming community by storm. It talks about how a man named Jack crash lands near a lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic. He then travels to the underwater city of Rapture, created by a single man: Andrew Ryan. He escaped the surface, claiming that he wanted to create a place where “…the scientists are not bound by petty morality, where the great are not constrained by the small.” The city soon fell into madness as a “miracle drug” named ADAM turned neighbors against neighbors. The city was soon populated by insane “splicers”, people who lost their minds after years of ADAM abuse. Hulking Big Daddies walk the abandoned halls and protect the fragile Little Sisters, little girls who were implanted with ADAM-producing slugs.
So, based on this little background, why was this game such a runaway success? Why did it get anything above an A? Why is BioShock still appreciated, even 10 years after its debut?
1. The Story
I think this goes without saying that BioShock had one of the most amazing stories ever written in a video game. As you walk the halls of Rapture, you witness the decline of Rapture through audio diaries scattered throughout the city. You hear the chief surgeon going insane, talking about how “Aphrodite walks the halls” and how people are too “symmetrical”. You hear the screams of Rapture’s citizens, as they are murdered by other citizens. It’s these actions that portray Rapture’s decline and eventual, and the player gets invested into the story.
2. The Combat
The combat is what makes BioShock, BioShock. You have your normal firearms, such as pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and more. But, you can modify your genetic code in order to do superhuman things. Want to light someone on fire with the snap of a finger? Check. Want to hatch a swarm of bees from your arm and swarm enemies with them? Check. Want to freeze somebody and smash them into a million pieces? Check. The combat is varied so that no two players will have the same BioShock experience.
3. The Choices
Throughout Rapture, you encounter a denizen of the city: the Little Sister. These little girls hold the key to Rapture: ADAM. But in order to obtain the ADAM, you must kill the Big Daddy, and then get the ADAM from the Little Sister. You have two choices: harvest the slug from the girl and get ADAM (killing her in the process) or saving her from her Littler Sister self and get less ADAM. Your morality comes in play here: ADAM or Humanity? Which one do you choose?
