BioShock
Starting off with the original, BioShock took players to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, inspired by Ayn Rand’s Atlus Shrugged novel. Taking place in 1960, players assume the role of Jack as they’re guided through the now-ruined city by a man named Atlas on the other end of a radio. As the story unfolded, we came face-to-face with the incredibly intimidating Big Daddy’s, Little Sisters, and all other manner of crazy inhabitants.
The original BioShock managed to create an air of atmosphere and tension that very few games can equal. While the sequel and Infinite both brought something new to the table, it was this unnerving quiet amidst the wreckage of Rapture that made exploring it an incredibly immersive experience. The way that Big Daddy’s would go about their business up until you got involved in their business, and the shadows of crazed civilians sprawled across the walls as we crept around corners.
With very moral-focused choices, additional lore of the world coming in the form of audio tapes, and a whole host of interesting weapons and plasmids at your disposal, BioShock is one of the best survival horror games out there, even when blending it with FPS mechanics.
BioShock 2
BioShock 2 saw players return to the depths of Rapture, albeit with a bit of a twist. The sequel actually takes place both 10 years before and eight years after the first game. Rather than simply wandering around in your fabric clothing with little to help protect you from the dangers that lurk around every corner, BioShock 2 threw you into a Big Daddy suit as Subject Delta- one of the very first Big Daddy test subjects who was abandoned by its creator. The sequel had players exploring Rapture as they learned the origins of the Subject Delta and fought off the crazed cult of psychopaths that Dr. Sofia Lamb created after the events of the first game.
Despite being provided with a much more powerful arsenal of weapons and a stronger suit, BioShock 2 did a great job of still making you feel vulnerable and made sure you were making good use of Subject Delta’s suit. While it may not have captured the same creepy undertones as its predecessor, BioShock 2 was a welcome return to Rapture for many fans. It brought a host of refinements and tweaks to the hacking mechanics and the way weapons and plasmids work over the first game, too.
BioShock Infinite
BioShock Infinite saw the series emerge from the watery depths of its predecessors and launch into the skies and the city of Columbia. Players assumed the role of Booker DeWitt, who has been sent to the city in the sky on a rescue mission. Booker must find Elizabeth, a young girl who has been imprisoned here since she was a child. However, even after finding her, just like its predecessors, there’s a little more to it than meets the eye.
Infinite was a big transition for the series and it paid off in some ways but not quite so much in others. While the city of Columbia was certainly exciting to explore and a bright, colorful change from the darker tones of Rapture, in doing so it lost much of the horror atmosphere that was synonymous with the series and had made it so special. Gameplay, therefore, became much more FPS-focused than the earlier titles, upsetting some hardcore fans of the series in the process. While the story was magnificent and certainly maintained that BioShock magic at the end, things all seemed to slouch a bit in the middle, leading to a game that really dragged on a little bit longer than it needed to. Infinite was a different and interesting direction for the series, but in doing so it moved away a little too much from its roots.
The Best of the Best
While each game brings its own unique take to the series and everything that is associated with it, you simply cannot beat the original for the most authentic BioShock experience. BioShock’s Rapture was brought to life by incredible environmental effects (which will only look better in the Collection), its great story and huge amount of lore, and memorable characters. It’s one of the few games that you’ll play at night on your own and feel a real sense of excitement shrouded in discomfort as you grip your controller ready to cave someone’s head in with a wrench. Oh, and the gameplay is pretty darn good too!
While BioShock 2 may have helped to refine some of the systems at the heart of the original, returning to Rapture had lost a little bit of its magic. We’d already seen many of the places it had shown us, and the story wasn’t quite as captivating and satisfying as fans would have liked. Nonetheless, throwing players into the suit of Subject Delta was a little unexpected and was a great way to bring about a sequel in its own right.
Infinite’s shortcomings came in its pacing and settings. Dropping a middle chunk of the game would quite literally have no difference on how the story played out, with a lot of this being fetch quests and filler for the real interesting meat that comes at the beginning and end. Moving away from Rapture was a bold move and while it certainly paid off and made exploring this world interesting, the brighter and less sinister setting led to a large shift from the series’ horror roots to something that felt a lot like an FPS title.
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