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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
 Posted - 12/21/2007 : 22:25:18
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What would you get if you crossed the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand with the horror stylings of Stephen King and Kafka? Well, probably something rather like 2K Game's new first-person-shooter Bioshock*. Imagine a Libertarian paradise driven mad by isolation and excess, whose citizens have turned themselves into insane mutants with superpowers and you begin to get an idea of what this truly unique experience is all about.
As the game opens circa 1960, you are the last survivor of a plane crash. You surface in the open ocean surrounded by still-flaming wreckage, then make your way to a mysterious lighthouse. Inside, lights flicker on one-by-one, illuminating an enormous statue of a grimacing man named Andrew Ryan. He lords over a banner reading “No Gods or Kings, Only Man.” Soothing Big Band music crackles out of an antiquated sound system as you descend elegant marble steps. You arrive at a brass submersible carriage furnished with red velvet cushions suspended over an opening of seawater. Finding no alternatives, you step in and flip a lever. The door of the “Bathysphere,” as it is called, closes and seals.
You descend as if riding inside a watery elevator. Peering out through the window, you watch as art deco sculptures and marble fathom markers slip past. It is apparent that no expense was spared in construction. Whatever this place is, it took a hell of a lot of money to build. A screen drops down, blocking the window, and a grainy slide show is projected onto it. A man, identifying himself as Andrew Ryan, begins by asking a question: “Is a Man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? No says the man in Washington, it belongs to the poor. No says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to God. No says the man in Moscow, it belongs to everyone. I rejected those ideas, instead I chose the impossible. I choose...Rapture!” The screen rises again to reveal a magnificent underwater city. Skyscrapers bejeweled with neon signs rise from the sea floor like stalactites. Fish flutter across the wide “streets” like flocks of birds. Even an enormous blue whale drifts dreamlike up the main thoroughfare like some serene parade float. It is, in short, a vision of an underwater Utopia. Then, right before the sub docks, a series of neon signs turn on in sequence, welcoming you to this new and exciting experiment. At the very last moment, the final underwater signs sparks, then flickers and goes out. Part of you thinks it odd that the sign should malfunction just as you pass, but this entrance appears little used, so perhaps maintenance hasn't been quite up to date. You dismiss the accident as bound to happen occasionally. Light bulbs need to be replaced all the time, after all, even on dry land. And think how much harder it must be to keep things pristine underwater. I'm sure they'll fix it in short order, you assure yourself. Little could you know that that fizzled sign was an ominous omen of things to come. This perfect utopia was broken, and you are about to step into a nightmare.
Playing out as a sort of alternate history, the technology of the Rapture closely resembles the world it left a few decades ago, heavily reminiscent of 1940s America. Built upon Ryan's black-and-white ethos that anything which limits mankind's ingenuity is evil, Rapture was a city freed from any and all ethical constraints. Many of the moral questions which our current society is grappling with were either ignored or vilified in Rapture. People were free to pursue their personal professions with no government oversight or rules. Gun control was non-existent, with firearms and ammo purchasable in ubiquitous vending machines. Plastic surgeons, extolling the virtues of a substance called “ADAM”—which made rewritin
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
Edited by - H. Humbert on 12/22/2007 00:25:40
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 12/21/2007 : 23:38:46 [Permalink]
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Wonderfully well-written and accurate review of Bioshock, H.H.. I have it. Outstanding game. The huge amount of loving work done on it is obvious.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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pleco
SFN Addict
USA
2998 Posts |
Posted - 12/22/2007 : 09:20:02 [Permalink]
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| I'm playing the game now - it is quite well done. The atmospherics are fantastic. Reminds me of The Fountainhead as I play it. Great review. |
by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart. |
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2007 : 19:40:47 [Permalink]
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Thanks for the kind words, fellas.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 12/25/2007 : 21:41:43 [Permalink]
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Nice write-up!
Have been thinking about playing this game, and now you have convinced me.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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emsby
Skeptic Friend
76 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2007 : 11:37:04 [Permalink]
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I actually purchased this game for Humbert (we share an abode), and have found myself completely engrossed in it. It's a stunning experience. I highly recommend it as well.
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Tongue-tied and twisted, just an earthbound misfit, I. |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2007 : 12:18:28 [Permalink]
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Might grab this tonight, along with Unreal Tournament 3. Have a couple of giftcards lying around begging to be used before they expire and become charitable donations to whatever piratical company issued them.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Discover the underwater dystopia of Bioshock
