I played Bioshock on my 2012 minecraft laptop all the way back in 2017. If I had to guess, it was at the lowest settings with a 4:3 aspect ratio to save frames. Still I completed the game and I remember it left an incredible impression on me. So much so that the very first game I played on my current PC in 2018 was Bioshock 2 Remaster, quickly followed by Bioshock Infinite. It wasn't until a spur of the moment decision that I played the original again, almost 10 years after I first beat it. I feel like 2026 has been a gaming Renaissance for me and I wanted to include Bioshock in the party.
Nothing about this review will even be original in the slightest. Bioshock is one of the most glazed games in history and for great reason. It takes perhaps gaming's best setting and tells a story rich in political and social critique.
[h2]Rapture[/h2]
The city of Rapture is itself a character. A city where laissez faire capitalism is taken to its most logical conclusion. Andrew Ryan built Rapture for the scientist, the engineer, and the artist who felt that the world on the surface capped their creative potential. It brought some of the world's brightest minds under the sea and what does their genius have to show for it — only absolute chaos.
The first half is a series of cleverly done vignettes that explore each pillar of knowledge. The crazed doctor in the medical bay has turned his profession into an art where his plastic surgery leaves patients unrecognizable. The artist Cohen's magnum opus is to show his subjects dead and lifeless. Without meaningful guardrails, each industry falls into chaos. In their search for human perfection, scientists inadvertently create monsters manifested in the creation of ADAM. This substance essentially gives humans superpowers, but its use is incredibly addictive. The whole city becomes hooked on it, making the supply of ADAM just as important as oil or water. This leads to factions and violence in order to secure it.
[h2]Andrew Ryan[/h2]
No character manifests the ideals of Rapture like its founder, Andrew Ryan. While he claims unfettered capitalism and development, the city lives and dies by his whims. He alone dictates how far Rapture will fall into madness.
There is an interesting audio log in Arcadia that illuminates his perspective on altruism. Ryan had a large swath of land on the surface that environmental advocates wanted to turn into a federal park. Instead he wanted to keep it as a private estate and would rather burn it to the ground than let anyone have it for free. Fundamentally, Ryan was against handouts. The Earth, freedoms, or even life are not rights guaranteed to anyone. It is an interesting perspective that feels stupid at first until you realize how many people in power actually feel this way. For Ryan, power is freedom, and without power, you live in slavery.
His famous quote "A man chooses, a slave obeys" exemplifies this perfectly. We have been placed in a society so far removed from the fruits of our labor that we are unable to grow our own food or build sustainable lives. Amazon decides what we watch and Walmart decides what we eat. A healthcare provider decides whether we live or die. But Rapture doesn't remove companies like Amazon or Walmart, it follows them to their logical conclusion, in which they create addictive substances to keep people reliant on them.
[h2]Setting and Atmosphere[/h2]
Rapture is just a rich and incredible setting. Dark and grimy in a neo noir setting with golden era art deco, reminiscent of an underwater Great Gatsby. Each location has so much personality around every corner and is rich with secrets and environmental storytelling. I'm a sucker for a random skeleton couple in a bed where you piece together a backstory for them. The lore is further fleshed out through incredibly acted audio logs. Never has a game made me so excited to find a collectible. The voice acting in general is just perfect. Whoever voiced Andrew Ryan, Atlas, Tenenbaum, Suchong, and Fontaine deserves so much respect. Great 30s and 40s tunes set the vibe very well too.
[h2]Characters[/h2]
Tenenbaum in particular has an interesting arc. She and Suchong discover ADAM and create the Little Sisters, both abominations that destroy Rapture. While Suchong dies never having seen the error of his ways, Tenenbaum attempts redemption and helps you and the remaining Little Sisters.
[h2]Gameplay[/h2]
For a game made in 2007 it holds up incredibly well. Gunplay can feel basic at times and enemy variety is lacking. Big Daddy fights boil down to hugging a corner and throwing out pot shots. But certain guns like the crossbow provide satisfying one shot kills that keep the pace fluid. The real fun is in exploration. Checking every nook and cranny for a false wall or a code to get into a locked door. The plasmids are the weakest in the series, getting significantly better in Bioshock 2 and Infinite. One aspect that frustrated me was the last level. You escort a Little Sister and I swear every time you run into her your character will completely stop. When you're getting chased by a Big Daddy and she halts your progress it is genuinely frustrating. Still it's relatively short and didn't kill the experience for me.
[h2]Final Thoughts[/h2]
Ultimately this game is a triumph. The twists and turns shocked me when I was 17 and I was still caught off guard more than once replaying it 9 years later. I didn't talk much about the story, but I want you all to go out and experience this masterpiece.
[b]9.5/10[/b]
