Yesterday we talked about something old; today we’re going to talk about something (relatively) new.
The first ‘BioShock’ game was released in North America in August of 2007. The horror-themed, action-adventure game takes place in the underwater city of Rapture, which is gradually revealed to have been a dystopian society. The main character, Jack, arrives in Rapture when he becomes the sole survivor of a plane crash and discovers the entrance to the city. A civil war destroyed much of the city, and now Jack must fight for his life against the remnants of that war, specifically the ‘Splicers’, who were once citizens of the city and are now creatures who became addicted to the genetic material known as ADAM. This genetic material allows humans to biologically modify their own bodies, giving themselves any number of powers and enhancements, and Jack must follow suit if he wants to have any hope of surviving the city.
Of course, it’s not all just about fighting the Splicers. Jack also has to deal with the many traps and pitfalls laid out by Andrew Ryan, the city’s founder. In addition to that, the city is filled with creepy little girls called ‘Little Sisters’, and Jack must choose between killing them to extract the ADAM in their bodies, and using his skills to kill the ‘sea slugs’ inside them in order to revert them to normal girls; a decision made more difficult by the fact that the Little Sisters are protected by metal monstrosities called ‘Big Daddies’.
There were three BioShock games in total, but I only actually played the first one. That said, I can say without hesitance that the original game is absolutely worth playing. The plot was extremely different and refreshing, especially amongst a sea of games that are simply clones of their predecessors. The atmosphere of the game was also quite amazing; it had all the creepiness and tension of a horror survival, and the quick-thinking and excitement of an action-adventure. It was easy to get entranced in just listening to the story unfold, and the game-play itself was fun and unique. All in all, it’s just really a game worth playing, if for no other reason than to experience the beautifully crafted story.
Now, as I said, the first installment is the only BioShock game that I played, but there are two others: BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite. The second installment takes place once more in the underwater city of Rapture, but the third takes the game up into the sky, to a city called Columbia, which is suspended in the air. I can’t say a great deal about this game, since again, I never played it, but my husband tells me that it’s absolutely worth playing for many of the same reasons as the first installment, and that seeing the ending of this particular game was one of the most mind-blowing story-telling experiences of his life. I guess I’m really going to have to get around to playing it one of these days, wouldn’t you think?
Have you ever played any of the BioShock games? Which one was your favorite? Do you recommend them? Please share!
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Have not played BioShock simply because I sadly haven’t played many games at all in the last few years. PS2 and GameCube were my last systems that got any serious play. I really think I would like it, though…
I’m certain you would. ^_^ Have you been away from gaming because you’ve been busy? Or just haven’t been feeling it for a while? I have a hard time finding time myself, because when I do play I want to play for hours, which I can’t really afford. @_@
I have never played Bioshock – basically I suck at most modern computer games. I just tend to watch my husband play occasionally and offer sage advice on why he’s dying 😉 The only game I play is Wolfenstein (the original – with unofficial add-ons), that I can manage.
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Haha, I do the same thing with my husband sometimes. You should try some other games sometimes though! I’m quite awful at some genres myself, but there are so many that there’s bound to be something you’d enjoy…maybe you’ll even find one through my posts this month! 😀
My wife and I often will have just one of us play and the other watch, which with story-based games can be great. We did this with Bioshock so you would probably enjoy it! However, the horror aspect is definitely there, and we preferred to play when the lights were on or the sun out… Lots of jumping out of our skin!
I have never played bioshock myself I tend to be more on the side of the cute and cuddly games but I have had lots of friends that have played it and they loved it. I am definitely a geek girl my B would have been Battlefront for Star Wars 🙂 great post though and very fun. Come see us at fangirlnextdoor.com we are talking geek characters!
Amazingly, I never played Battlefront (I say amazingly because I’m a huge Star Wars nerd), but that would have made a good entry too!
I took a quick glance at the site (I’m heading to bed atm) and I’ll definitely be stopping back in tomorrow! The first two characters you picked are awesome! XD
haven’t played this one. i get all my video game knowledge from my brother and friends and they haven’t talked about any version of this game.
I’m shocked! It really is quite an amazing game. It’s a twist on first-person shooters, and it has an awesome story. You should all play it sometime! lol
True confession: we got a copy of Bioshock for Christmas, but just haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. *hangs nerd head in shame*
Gah! That’s it, you’re going to go play that game RIGHT NOW. *points threateningly*
Y’know, the most interesting thing to me about the first Bioshock was how it dawns on you that you’ve become more of a monster than the things you’re fighting. Sure, it made for kind of a broken game, mechanics wise, but when that moment hits you as you’re beating your way through dozens of poor deformed sods with nothing more than a wrench and your magi-mutant powers, and you go “whoa, I’m way more f-ed up than any of these guys that I’m killing like ants…”: it is a priceless moment in gaming.
Yeah, I loved that idea of you gradually becoming just as psychotic as your enemies and eventually becoming a monster in the end. It shows that they really put some thought into how a person would react to slowly gaining all these powers.
I’ve played Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite. Strongly recommend both. Infinite has some problem to mix the gameplay and the story they wanna tell. But the game is still amazing, the last 30 minutes are unforgettable, a really achievement for the last gen.
That’s what my husband says too. In fact, it nearly killed him not to spill all the beans to me because he was so excitable after he finished the game. lol
Hopefully he hasn’t spilled all the beans – definitely a great game! I wrote a post on five reasons I love the game, with minimal spoilers: https://comparativegeeks.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/five-great-parts-of-bioshock-infinite/
He didn’t spill the beans. ^_^ He struggled to try to explain why it was so mind-blowing without actually telling me anything. lol
He’s been bugging me to play through some of our PS3 games, actually, so maybe I’ll play that one soon.
Totally agree – great game that had some gameplay spikes. One of the oddest is that final battle – as you’re using mechanics you’ve never had to deal with before (like defending a location) and thus you actually get penalized for doing the sorts of things that you could for the rest of the game – like using the rail at the end? You can go flying away from the battle and be gone so long that it’s auto-lose!
But then you get the ending sequence, and yes, totally worth it 😀