Bioshock - The End

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?