I respect your opinion but I completely disagree with it. The story itself is philosophical in nature and attempts to address, rather critically, the policy of Objectivism (Ayn Rand - Anthem, Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, etc.).
A man, Andrew Ryan (see what they did there?), in order to get away from government regulations and societal hindrances like ethics, morality, and religion, builds a city beneath the Atlantic Ocean and invites the world's most intelligent people to join him. Due to the nature of this free market society, people are allowed to live their lives in any way they see fit - this causes the hard sciences to advance rapidly as scientists no longer have to worry about standard practices, testing regulations, government oversight, and so fourth.
During this rapid progression, the discovery of a sea slug that has restorative attributes leads to the development of Adam. Adam essentially re-writes genetic code allowing scientists to cure human ailments like disfigurement and paraplegia. As more scientists begin working with Adam, the demand and market for it continues to grow leading to the development of tonics and plasmids - which allow citizens to become, in their own way, superhuman (increased mental awareness, super strength, etc.).
And here's where the story takes off....
While these scientific advancements continue, income disparity continues to increase between the rich and the poor (blue collar workers still exist here) driving a market for cheap (and foreign) goods. As a consequence, Ryan begins increasing security measures to prevent unauthorized materials from getting into the city; ironically undermining his free market principles. Eventually, this leads to a black market controlled by a ruthless businessman (Frank Fontaine). Using his wealth and status, Fontaine begins pouring his money into the burgeoning genetics field, homes for the poor, and Little Sister orphanages. Fontaine becomes a "man of the people" all the while being the primary supplier of Adam and plasmids. As Adam becomes more widely available, almost all citizens of Rapture are splicing. The only problem with this is that splicing is extremely addictive and eventually destroys the user's brain.
As Fontaine becomes more powerful, more citizens become enamored with him and his "working class" mentality. Eventually, Ryan, who never bothered investing in genetics, realizes that his status is weakening and, with the help of the police, initiates raids on Fontaine properties. Ryan, who does not believe in government control, begins seizing and nationalizing Fontaine assets and properties. Ultimately, Ryan conducts a raid that ends in the death of Fontaine.
After Fontaine's death, a man by the name of Atlas begins picketing the actions of Ryan. While resistance builds, Ryan becomes more tyrannical and begins executing resistance members. This culminates in a civil war that occurs just prior to the arrival of the protagonist.
There is much more to the story than that, and I won't spoil the ending for you, but this should give you an idea of how complex and interesting the story is. Please keep in mind that I haven't outlined what the Little Sisters and Big Daddies are, why they're there, who you are, and how you got there, or any of the secondary characters - which are all *beep* stellar.
I find it interesting that you were able to get into Deus Ex:HR and not Bioshock. The true meat of the story in Deus Ex is actually obtained through journal entries, news articles, and hacked computers. That's not to say that it's not great, I also loved that game, but a lot of the story, background, and atmosphere is not given to you through cutscenes - you have to look for it (this is similar to Bioshock).
Anyway, if the game is not for you, it's not for you; no harm, no foul. But I think you need to look at Bioshock more as an interactive experience than as a videogame. Hope that makes sense.
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stardama69
12 years ago
That's a great narrative, and it would make me eager to play if I didn't know about the game.
Unfortunately, this is merely a background.
While I was playing Bioshock, I never, ever (except during the beautiful introductory ride in the submarine) came to feel, yet alone understand, either 1)This awesome context or 2)A specific narrative flow. Thanks to wikia, I know how it ends, but it seemed nothing special : villain Foutaine is defeated, hero rules over Rapture or get back to the surface..
I was very invested in the game itself, so I'm pretty sure I didn't miss anything by not paying attention or stuff like that. Actually it stroke me as a shame that the actual world was already devastated : witnessing the progressive downfall of Rapture (in a way not unlike Deus Ex's, where gradual chaos becomes the norm) would have constitued a much stronger narrative imo.
" The true meat of the story in Deus Ex is actually obtained through journal entries, news articles, and hacked computers. That's not to say that it's not great, I also loved that game, but a lot of the story, background, and atmosphere is not given to you through cutscenes - you have to look for it (this is similar to Bioshock)." That's where you are wrong imo (no offence). DEHR offers frequent, extremely immersive and powerful cut-scenes which put in scene a graspable scheme of conspiracies, shadowy characters and a latent, decisive evolution of society which I found particularly jaw-dropping. Of course, you also get to see that in E-mails and books, but it's rather secondary : the main way of storytelling is dynamic missions (with real-time conversations between Jensen and other relatives, which works just as well to highlight you the things you might miss when proceeding through the levels) and those cut-scenes. In Bioshock, I was just strolling through places killing everything that moved - for no reason other than 'splicers' are evil and everywhere - , listening to Atlas and Tenenbaum who gave me vague orders or advices, and picking up the audiotapes I quickly lost interest in as I said in a previous post.
Thanks a lot anyway for the pleasant discussion ! VG boards are usually deserted, it's nice to find people actually answering posts on them.
"I don't care what you believe in, just believe in something ! No matter what..."
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icecreamtruck_driver
12 years ago
Hm. The ending isn't that straightforward; the twist, I thought, was fantastic. I get it though, scavenging for audio logs can get tedious if you're not fully invested in the story. Without interest in the story, Bioshock can appear to be a bit lackluster in comparison to other first-person shooters. I will say that the gameplay in Bioshock 2 is a huge improvement over the first game, so you may want to give it a shot sometime if you're interested in the plasmid mechanics. You can probably pick it up used for ten bucks.
Maybe I enjoyed the journal and log entries in Deus Ex more than you did. For instance, a lot of the text that can be found within the game is optional but you're rewarded with context about the world for your effort. I particularly like the entries at PICUS regarding the various ways to "tactfully report" the news.
One more thing: Have you heard of Bioshock Infinite? It's a new entry in the series that is unrelated to the past two games. The game takes place in 1910's in a floating city called Columbia. More information can be found here: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/
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stardama69
12 years ago
Yeah, heard of BI. Might be cool, might refresh the franchise, as opposed to B2 which did not.
Ho, I enjoys the journal and log entries in DEHR immensively. In each level I pick up as many E-books and pocket secretaries as possible and hack into every computer. There are a lot of situations like the one you described, it all helps to make the world feels more 'alive' (compensates for the relative staticness of the outside environments, bunches of people standing still and doing nothing).
"I don't care what you believe in, just believe in something ! No matter what..."
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