This is a script for a video review

A Visual Critique of Bioshock (2007)

Would You Kindly?

An Example of Artistic Story-Telling through Interactive Medium

Until 2007 not many games had experimented with story-telling in a way outside of
cutscenes, with a few exceptions like Portal and Half-life. Until the release of 2007s
Bioshock, nothing had broken the conventions of telling a cinematic story through
cutscenes nor questioning video game mechanics. Bioshock was not revolutionary
in that it created new story-telling mechanics, but rather in its execution of
combining different elements specifically for an experience that cannot be had
outside of video games.
Visually, Bioshock looks great and at the time of release its graphical fidelity was
top of the line, but even though 8 years have passed and better looking games
have been released, the style of Bioshock has helped it age gracefully.
Bioshocks setting is the fictional underwater utopia known as Rapture and while
being underwater would be enough, the city is filled with neon lights and spotlights
to give the city a real sense of being alive. More than just illuminating the city, lights
also serve as a beacon to help guide the player through the murky watery depths.
The architecture of Rapture is reminiscent of Art Deco, inspired by real live buildings
and statues like the Rockefeller Center and the GE buildings Statue of Atlas which
also helped to decide on the post Great Depression setting of the game.
The setting is further accentuated by the quality of audio recordings within the
game, advertisements within, and the decorations of the buildings. Menus have old
style cashier sounds, vocal recordings sounds as if being processed through an old
tube radio and letter fonts are that of old advertisements.
These elements of design help to create a consistent feel for the setting and
environment, but this is an illusion that could easily be broken by interaction.
Bioshock puts players in the shoes of Jack the protagonist, but keeps the player in
those shoes. The player never sees anything other than the two hands of Jack,
never any reflections nor any scenes that switch the perspective outside of Jack,
instead everything happens and is seen through both Jack and the players eyes.
These choices help create a connection between both player and the game, and
Jacks hands become and extension rather than a tool in gameplay. It soon becomes
apparent that the games characters are talking to both Jack and the player
respectively, further solidifying the illusion.

Video Game mechanics are important for creating the experience, but that
experience is pointless without an interesting story to convey.
Bioshock begins when Jack, as the lone survivor of a plane crash in the Atlantic
Ocean, finds a lighthouse that leads him to the underwater city of Rapture. Jack is
then led to safety over a radio by Atlas, but even in the safety of his directions, the
city of Rapture has fallen to poor conditions. Through radio conversations the player
learns that Andrew Ryan, creator of Rapture, has kidnapped Atlas family and
through radio direction rescue them and stop Ryan.
These conversations, radio recordings that are found through exploration, and visual
design show that Ryan had created Rapture as a utopia to allow the progress and
expansion of art and science. Ryan believed that a man should be rewarded for his
work, and wants to escape from religion, communism and altruism, believing that
the ends can justify the means. Utopia became dystopia with the discovery of
ADAM, a substance that allows users to gain superpowers at the cost of heavy
addiction.
The addiction of ADAM created a social class shift and a civil war was started with
Atlas as the voice for the lower working class. Ryan defended himself with an army
of splicers, mutated and deranged humans. In the end of the game it is revealed
that Jack is the illegitimate son of Ryan, stolen by gangster Frank Fontaine at birth
and genetically modified to age quickly and to follow orders via the phrase Would
You Kindly, a phrase constantly used by Atlas in his directions.
Jack is forced to kill Ryan when Ryan himself orders him to kill and Jack must then
defeat Atlas, who is revealed to be Fontaine. The ending is split into two depending
on decisions by the player, but the canonical ending to lead up to the sequels is
what is called the Good Ending.
Two elements of the game that challenge the players are the Little Sisters and Big
Daddies, as well the phrase Would You Kindly. The little sisters can be killed and
harvested for ADAM, but the player can choose to take a high road and let them live
while sacrificing a source for upgrading. This moral dilemma can dictate the
difficulty of the game and its the little sisters that dictate the ending of game. The
little sisters can grow to live full lives in the outside world, but if even one is
harvested then the world is doomed by Jack having become a ruler of the splicers.
The big daddys serve as walking boss characters that protect the sisters.
Would You Kindly seems like a typical trigger like one would see in any spy movie,
but the idea that the player and Jack are being forced to do anything is a play on
video game mechanics as a whole. For many years players have been told to Press
Start to start the game, to Press A to continue the story, or to Press X to kill,
but Bioshock brings a twist that we, as players, are not in control of our actions,
instead we are slaves to the commands given to us.
Bioshock made gamers and critics question and speculate as to what can be
achieved in video games such as portraying a story with complex themes behind it,
questioning the morality of collecting power ups and even as to how much we are in
control of our avatars. The story telling and theming of Bioshock is done so fluidly

that players are completely thrown into the world, from the visuals, sound design
and even technical menus and sound effects.
Because of these elements Bioshock has cemented itself as a staple in storytelling,
as well as the next step in video game presentation. If you have a Playstation 3,
Xbox 360, or Windows PC, then I highly recommend that you engage on this
journey, because no amount of words will be able to express what this game does in
action. Would you kindly consider this a piece of art?