19 years. It has been 19 years since this game was released. And my god, it's still as beautiful as ever. Bioshock is one of those games that I believe almost everyone should experience to a degree. Be it watching the game or playing it, I believe you should engage with it.
Obviously, the first aspect I have to talk about is the gameplay. And I'd say it is fine. I don't hate it, but I could take it or leave it to be honest with you. The guns feel kind of terrible to use sometimes, with the only weapon I loved using being actually the starter wrench. It's a shame that the only upgrades it gets are through the modifications to yourself. But the plasmids are pretty good. I think they are very useful and I feel very smart having the correct one on for different situations. I will say, I did end up using the first plasmid, electricity, the most. Ironic how you could just finish the whole game with the wrench and electricity plasmid imo.
The enemies are pretty ok. I'd say the normal grunt level enemies are pretty engaging to have a one on one battle with. It's fun to just dodge them and then wack em with my wrench. I also had the modification that made it so that I gained health when I hit an enemy which carried me so hard. The Big Daddies are ok. Most of the time you might struggle against the little guys to save your ammo for the Big Daddies to save the Little Sisters. But I never really had that much of an ammo trouble. I think I might have accidentally over saved my ammo and made the experience more painful for myself.
The robots are fine, and I also enjoyed the hacking parts of the game. Though, I will say that some of them are genuine bs. And, I also didn't know freezing made it easier to do them, but that does make sense. It's a shame I learnt that through the menu tips. But tbf, I don't think I ever bought the freeze plasmid. I just used the flamethrower on the freezing mode when I needed it. But it's nice to see this level of detail put into the game. I will say, sometimes the electricity just doesn't stun at all. Which also happens with the electric bucks. And I must say, that sucks. I wish it was more consistent.
The mini-bosses were ok. I'd say they are just more tankier versions of splicers. But the main boss at the end of the game, total pushover. It was probably one of the easier final bosses within a game. I wish it was a bit more refined but I don't think it brings down the experience to the point that it ruins anything for me.
Next, the world building. And my god, Rapture is beautiful, and you can see how it was beautiful. Everywhere you go you can see a distinct story being told. And if you are lucky, the game will also give you a tape about what happened within that area. I have heard criticism about these tapes before, and I personally disagree. I think these tapes are pretty ok, I could see how being in a utopia might drive someone to tape down their own thoughts because they feel important. Or some level of isolation might lead them to record tapes to pass the time by listening to them back. I get these feelings that might happen. Hell, it happens as we speak. There are countless people out there making blogs, posting stories, taking pictures to share or look back on. It isn't that immersion breaking to assume a place like Rapture having people tape their thoughts to have some semblance of importance to themselves.
I won't bash the nail with my hammer for the millionth time, everyone knows by now that the Little Sister saving thing is just the way to go. There isn't even any proper level of difference between saving and not saving them. So instead, we will talk about what I love the second most behind the world building, the story.
Spoilers.
Bioshock has one of those stories where even the most mundane thing like the start of the game makes sense. Most games have you play as a character who can't speak and does what they are told simply because you have no other choice. What the character is like never matters in these equations. It's one of the few complaints I ever had with og Dead Space. Isaac Clarke felt like he was being pushed around by everyone, just being told what to do without ever talking back. But BioShock's plot twist just masterfully explains all that inconsistent feeling away. I wouldn't have complained about this btw. It feels like within the industry we have gotten more sanitized to the idea of the main character having to do something dumb or unlikely just to get the ball rolling, to the point we never stopped to question it. The phrase "Would you kindly?" is such a gentle phrase said by people that instead of batting an eye at it, you appreciate it more. It's way more subtle than what Ruiner did with the whole puppy thing, and is honestly pretty genius. I will say, those flashback things where they rushed through all the times Fontaine said "Would you kindly?" was a bit of a tension breaker. I would have liked it more if they respected my intelligence a bit more, but it's fine.
But this theme of choosing and obeying is done so well. Rapture is a place where Ryan tried to make a utopia where everyone chooses, everyone does what they please. But the thing is, that was never possible in the first place. And it shows. If you want to make a civilization, you need someone or thing to have total control. You can't let everyone choose and assume it'll all workout. Someone will eventually become one of the stronger among them and become the authority. And it becomes obvious when you explore the Rapture more, some places are less extravagant than the others. Cause no matter how you shape a society, there will be that foundation of the poor, the weak and the working class. And when Fontaine was at the top, he realized that he can't reach Ryan from the top, so he rose the bottom tier up. He made them riot in the name of Atlas. He raised the floor higher to reach Ryan, and it worked. He got what he wanted in the end, despite it being brief.
And at the end, Ryan is a human, just like you who you are the son of. At least, that's depending on what you chose. You see, Ryan knew his end was coming no matter how much he pushed, so he chose how and when he died. Even the act of killing Ryan wasn't within our own volition, it was his. But, what makes us human was the one thing that were given to us. The choice to save the Little Sisters in my opinion is the way of this game asking to us if we are a slave or a human. Fontaine, even though he doesn't force our hand, still told us to kill them. And that is the true test of the players humanity. This would have been more dramatic if it wasn't the easiest choice of all time, but we can pretend. So if you chose to harvest them, you are truly a slave to Fontaine, even if he didn't have to force your hand.
This is the point where I'd like to say that I wish Bioshock had another ending other than the 2 we had. The good ending was fine, but the bad ending was bad. I'd have liked it more if we truly became a slave to Fontaine if we had harvested the Little Sisters, symbolizing that Fontaine has total control over us, even without the keywords. That we obeyed him from our own volition. Instead, we got one where we were launching nukes out. I think it's a bit of a ♥♥♥♥ way to end the game, and the good ending is more entertaining to have.
Now, a few complaints. One, I think some parts of the game is deliberate padding, and I dislike them. It's genuinely really hard to enjoy my time when I feel like my mind is melting from some of the more sluggish quests given out to me. And I wish there were actual fishes you could see out the windows, like whales or smthn. But, other than that, I think Bioshock is a must experience game.
