I finished Bioshock. Or it finished me, I'm not sure yet.
I feel...scathed...not by the moral choices in the game itself, but by the game, mentally scarred by what I felt could have been a game that was on the cusp of greatness, but that let me down just as I was about to pass through the pearly gates. It's like I was about to sneeze but Bioshock wouldn't let me.
This hilarious video review by The Escapist sums it up nicely.
Or this YouTube video.
Some aspects discussed in this post on Save The Robot by Chris Dahlen.
The 'moral choice', and the almost fascinating exploration of control in video games are touched on in the game, and noted in the above commentaries. It's too bad that these could not have been extrapolated on, especially the control aspect. Or free markets, utopian creation, runaway genetic engineering. But it appears that the machinations of capitalism in the game industry held sway and the last third of the game feels rushed, like they just stopped in order to ship the game. Irony, or not?
So close, and yet, so far. Maybe next time?
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6 comments:
Yeah, I loved that Escapist review as well. Isn't his show something! Your perspective on the game is a welcome relief from all of the puffery going on. I've avoided playing it right off the bat, but I'm sure to get pulled in soon. I'll keep your thoughts in mind as I make my "moral choices" (wasn't there a game from sf writer Harlan Ellison called "I have no mouth and I must scream" that had all kinds of moral choice issues as well?
Ricky
Hmmm...I remember the story, but not the video game with that name.
Here ya go, thanks to Google:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream_(computer_game)
Thx
God I cracked up on that Youtube one where you hear the voiceover of the AI and just see the guys run straight over at you. The whole game felt like that more or less.
And yeah I Have No Mouth I Must Scream is pretty tight, definitely one of the darkest games I've played. Multiple endings too and as a bonus Harlan Ellison himself voices the antagonist.
There's a few things that are good in the game, but a lot is so run of the mill.
How exactly did I miss that Ellison game. Let's see, what was I doing in '95. Oh yah, school.
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