From its opening moments, Bioshock is gripping. After your commercial flight crashes in the Atlantic, the only thing in the players view is a lone lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. Realizing you are the sole survivor, the lone lighthouse is your only guide. You have no choice but swim towards it.
Upon entering, a diegetic score of 1960s jazz begins to play. As the path illuminates in front of you to reveal a statue and a quote. ‘No Gods or Kings. Only Man.’ – Andrew Ryan.
You head deeper in, eager to find the source of the music, the linear path downwards leads to a submarine. Video-game logic applies, of course you ride the vehicle. The music cuts out as you begin to descend deeper and deeper into the ocean, before a presentation by the earlier mentioned Andrew Ryan welcomes you to your location. A huge, sprawling underwater city reveals itself to you. This is Rapture, and it’s breath-taking. Very few games have an opening that sticks with you quite like Bioshock’s does.
Everybody’s gone to the rapture
Originally released in 2007 by 2K games, Bioshock’s Rapture is now one of the most iconic videogame locations of all time, and for good reason. Visually the city is beautiful, blending 60’s architecture with steampunk elements. Oh, and it’s huge. The entire game takes place here as you slowly unravel the city layer by later, or use plasmids to reach new areas.
Rapture is built at the bottom of the ocean, hidden from society, and it’s that disconnect from the real world that gives Rapture a sort of otherworldly beauty. Especially with its denizens who have so clearly lost the plot. The fictional city manages to stay intriguing, and threatening until the very end of the game.
Speaking of Rapture’s citizens, the brilliant creation of the Big Daddy’s play no small role in Bioshock’s success. With their outstanding visual design based off of old scuba diving uniforms, the threat of a Big Daddy lurking around every corner leaves no trip to Rapture without tension. You can’t mention the Big Daddy’s without also talking about those they protect. Each Little Sister you come across offers you a choice- to harvest them or to save. Rapture is a hell- and you may need the powerful ADAM the Sisters hold to survive it. But is it worth becoming a monster yourself?
The world’s gone mad
Image Credit: 2K Games
Of course, you can’t talk about Rapture without mentioning the philosophy that built it. Andrew Ryan created Rapture after finding himself dissatisfied with both communism and capitalism. And instead opted to create his own hidden society where ‘great people’ would no longer be dragged down by those surrounding them. The only people allowed into Rapture were those Andrew Ryan himself deemed as a great pick. As you’d expect, a society built off of those values isn’t built to last. Mixing that with drugs of the future and mad scientists with no morals is a recipe for disaster.
By the time you reach Rapture it’s already at the peak of its decline. And you get the fun job of picking up video diaries as you explore, slowly piecing together the relationships and politics of Rapture that lead to its collapse. It’s very fun, and a lot of the time the video dairies you listen to will be relevant to the area / people you are currently dealing with. Though a lot of them add to the creepy atmosphere as you traverse Rapture’s many halls. A lot of Bioshock’s story plays out before the player arrives, but they manage to make it enjoyable to learn what played out.
Despite it being an old game by now I don’t want to get too into spoiler territory regarding Bioshock. It’s a really fantastic game. The gunplay mixed with magical abilities is great. I have way too much fun with the little hacking mini-game, and the story includes a great deconstruction of linear narratives in videogames with other twists along the way. All that with the incredible set dressing of Rapture makes for a wild ride and one every horror fan should play at least once. Would you kindly?
Yearning for more
While writing this article, I treated myself by replaying the first couple hours of Bioshock, and all I really accomplished was upsetting myself once again that this franchise hasn’t received a new instalment since 2013. There have been rumours of a Bioshock 4 in development for a few years. But with nothing officially announced all we can do is wait.
Bioshock is incredible, as is Bioshock 2 which also takes place in Rapture. And while I haven’t revisited it in quite some time, I hold a lot of personal love for the Columbia of Bioshock Infinite as well. When Bioshock 4 is inevitably announced I look forward to seeing a new dystopian setting. Though, I guess I wouldn’t complain too much if they take me back to Rapture.
Featured Image Credit: 2K Games
Third year Journalism student passionate about video-games.
