Many games fade quickly into oblivion, but that’s not the case with Bioshock, even though it’s set in the depths of the ocean. He knew how to mark his time, as well as the spirits in a lasting way with his memorable box: a glaucous little girl equipped with a syringe, accompanied by an enormous diver armed with a gimlet. This may have served as the inspiration for other similar characters since, such as Annie from League of Legends. But it’s only one element among many, in a game that has aged well, at least in terms of gameplay.
Welcome to Rapture
BioShock’s first name begins with a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic. After reaching an isolated lighthouse by swimming, we discover a bathysphere there that takes us to the depths of the ocean, and to a city with a striking appearance: Rapture. If at first glance, it looks like the New York of the heyday built on the ocean floor, the situation inside is much less encouraging. During our exploration of this vast city, designed by a billionaire as a utopian society, with a mixture of art deco visuals specific to the 60s (during which the game takes place), we quickly fall into very greasy steampunk/dieselpunk. Indeed, the addition of special powers, the plasmics, obtained thanks to the Adam, a concoction made from sea slug DNA, had many undesirable side effects, and the population descended into madness, violence and anarchy.
Break to Rapture
When you set foot in the city, it is almost completely empty. What’s left of the population has been transformed into berserk influenced by pheromones by the local dictator, who does not welcome your intrusion into his home. We must then face them with a varied arsenal, as in any good FPS. But we also quickly inject Adam in order to unlock powers as exotic as they are formidable, such as killer wasp projections, which offers a little variety, and quite pleasant fights. But of course, what we especially remember are the strange little girls with a sickly appearance, the little sisters, who roam the ruins in order to extract the fluids from the corpses. Harmless, they are nevertheless protected by real traveling bosses, the Big Daddies, who do not hesitate to drill new holes in players who approach too close. BioShock’s main story, and the two possible endings, depend on what happens to them. After a difficult fight to eliminate the Big Daddy, it is possible to literally kill the little sister in order to extract the DNA, and thus acquire maximum power, which gives a particularly dark end to the adventure. The alternative is to save all the little sisters, without sacrificing any, so that you can evacuate the city with them and lead an idyllic life, at least until BioShock 2, since that is the canonical ending.
The consequences and the future of the license
The second title, BioShock 2 was released in 2010, with fairly similar graphics, gameplay and story, since the adventure still takes place in Rapture, and overall it scored much less than its predecessor, due to lack of innovation. And once again, it’s three years after the sequel arrived, with Bioshock Infinite. Even if the original concept is preserved, with special powers and a pseudo-utopian city gone wrong, the environment changes diametrically: from the darkness of the seabed, we pass to the clouds of the American skies. This time, we explore Colombia, a floating city in 1912, and the game has some unexpected surprises on the theme of the little girl and the Big Daddy.
At the moment, 2K Games has not yet made official BioShock 4, although there are many rumors about it. The game was expected for 2022, but a 2023 release seems much more likely now. Netflix has also announced an adaptation of the license in film format, but there is no release date either. All that remains is to be patient, or to restart a game.
Discover Bioshock in 2022
Whether to discover or rediscover the license, know that a quality remaster of BioShock was released in 2016, you can find it on Steam (among others), which allows you to play it in good conditions and with graphics. which do not sting the eyes. To celebrate its anniversary, the game is currently on sale at –75% until August 22, at €4.99, it’s a great deal. You can also get your hands on BioShock: The Collection, with all three games and all their DLC for only €11.99 (-80%). It is available on Playstation and Xbox consoles, but without necessarily being on sale.
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