Bioshock | The Completionist

yes you hey everyone and welcome back to another episode of the completions there are countless novels that explore utopian societies and a lot of those novels have been adapted to films so today I thought why not take a look at a game it's all about utopia's gone wrong Bioshock back in the mid 2000s irrational games had already developed several games since the creation of the studio in 1997 including the critically acclaimed System Shock 2 but it wasn't until lead developer Kevin Levine made the choice to create a title that followed the design tenets of the original System Shock series that the studio would see massive financial success by focusing on strong gameplay and presenting a compelling narrative that pulls influence from things like Art Deco architecture Orwellian literature and objectives philosophy irrational games created one of the most universally praised video games of all time Bioshock has gone on to win countless awards since its release but even more impressively it's earned the right to undeniably be referred to as a piece of art and just as a warning the game isn't scary per se but you may see some disturbing imagery throughout this review no jump scares though I promise I swear a Superdog swear if we get pinky swear right now through the screen I would Oh Bioshock takes place in the Year 1960 but not our 1960 a utopian timeline if you will in this reality an eccentric business magnate named Andrew Ryan has grown disenfranchised with the way the world's governments play ball so he built his own undersea utopia known as rapture where he's free to run things as he sees fit as a haven for the elite an exceptional free from silly things like morality and altruism rapture grew into an epicenter of you know baited scientific and artistic progress it's like an old issue of what if or an episode of Tales from the Crypt all right I'm an adult and that Muppet a Skelton right there is still terrifying to me all these years later at least five of you out there are still terrified of it don't deny it it's okay we're a support group we're a team Raptors piece was put on pause that sentence raptures piece was put on pause when the political skirmishes between the haves and have-nots led by Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine respectively RuPt it into an all-out war after Fontaine's death in battle and the rise of man named Atlas as the new leader of raptures lower class the underwater civil war only escalated further when Atlas staged one last desperate attack on Ryan's forces it was the city of Rapture itself that paid the price the vast majority of the city and citizens were left broken and decimated with a stubborn Andrew Ryan refusing to relinquish control of his failure of a utopia and that's where we the players come in in Bioshock we assume the role of Jack a passenger aboard a plane that crashes into the Atlantic Ocean near the entrance of rapture poor Jack barely avoids drowning only to find himself caught in the middle of an ongoing personal war between Andrew Ryan and Atlas Jack stumbles onto a shortwave radio which puts him into direct contact with Atlas himself who explained that he's not leaving rapture until he can rescue his wife and child who are lost somewhere in the city agreeing to help locate Atlas's family Jack sits out to stop Andrew Ryan and escape from the hell that rapture has become but with all sorts of genetically enhanced crazies crawling around every corridor surviving is not going to be easy as an outsider looking in the dystopian setup of Bioshock is wonderful however the story from our protagonist side is somewhat generic but the world and atmosphere around us is what pulls us in similar to games like Arkham Asylum we get this vibe that everyone is out to kill us especially since we're in a world that is brand new not only to us but to Jack our protagonists think about it this way when was the last time you saw a character named Jack go underwater to start his journey what oh come on spoilers really you've had plenty of years to watch these movies here's a spoiler there's a third and a fourth and a fifth one on the way Bioshock isn't a game that's afraid to present its themes prominently but rather than have its characters discuss these themes over and over again via cutscenes there instead subtly reflected in the characters actions and the very setting of rapture itself first off this game is visually striking the luxurious and exuberant Art Deco atmospheres clashes wonderfully with raptures festering and broken-down state it looks like what Batman the Animated Series Gotham City would look like if the Dark Knight wasn't around to protect it it also looks simultaneously cartoonish and foreboding the juxtaposition of the aesthetically pleasing and jarring provides a unique experience for the player just when you've been immersed in some of the glitz of your areas of rapture long enough to drop your guard the game is bound to throw something utterly messed up at your way which is kind of what the back story of Bioshock is all about the it equal promises of yesterday being side by side with the failures of today and to top it all off it's one of the few ps3 games to actually run at a full 1080p these themes are ever present in bioshock's audio design as well the many audio Diaries that you come across in the game helped to reveal what the world of rapture and its citizens were like before its fateful fall I come out one more time and find you rolling out there amongst my hives I'm grabbing my shotgun opting to build its world with these tapes the game allows the player to remain in control of their character even as the plot develops around them the licensed music in the game is truly astounding it lends an air of authenticity to the world of Bioshock by reinforcing the reality of the post-world War 2 era not only that but it also furthers the theme of the past beauty existing alongside the beasts of the present there's something so haunting about blowing people away while crooners from the 1950s sing in the background mr. big Bioshock uses its entire suite of audio-visual tools to meticulously present its themes and content over time allowing the player to piece things together for themselves instead of actually showing the war that brought rapture to ruin the game begins its story at the point when the dust has already settled and the player is left to slowly recreate events in their head based on observable evidence it's like a Jurassic Park movie where a team of operatives enter the park weeks after it's been taken over by dinosaurs with evidence of the massacre everywhere in sight what oh oh oh yeah you were expecting Jurassic Park footage on the screen weren't you look I'll pick my fights where I can in terms of copyright battles but I want you to think carefully about everything I just said and apply it to this clip instead I got a job today I got a job today with regard to gameplay bioshock has a lot to offer combat puzzles RPG elements and add just a pinch of stealth to make this game as rich as a tuxedo cheese cake although players will start the game with a mere wrench as their only means of self defense they'll eventually gain access to an entire arsenal of firearms including a shotgun a revolver and a tommy gun Merry Christmas you filthy animal but what sets bioshock's Kombat apart from a lot of other FPSs is the plasmid system see in the world of Bioshock rapture scientists discovered a species of sea slugs that produce a substance known as Adam which has the potential to alter an organisms genetic makeup when processed into special serums known as plasmids the atom can be utilized for control mutation basically what that humbo jumbo means is that in Bioshock there are potions lying around that give you a different superpower of x-men like proportions with traditional fare like pyrokinesis and slinging electricity the game also offers a lot more unique powers you can summon insects to do your bidding not the Bears in range enemies to fight other enemies and even create a Total Recall hologram to distract the baddies see you at the party Hector in addition to these plasmids Bioshock also allows players to customize themselves further with the use of tonics equippable items that provide passive buffs puzzles play a big role in bioshock with the main one being the pipe flow puzzle you guys know those pipe flow puzzles right they're pretty common nowadays in order to complete the puzzle the player must rearrange different tiles that represent various kinds of pipes in order to direct a stream of water from one end of the grid to another it's pretty simple and you're gonna be seeing this puzzle very often than not let's say you want to take down the enemy turret and want it to fight on your side then get ready for a pipe puzzle or maybe you come across a vending machine but the prices are way too steep then here comes a pipe puzzle to get a hefty discount on these items but hey don't get me wrong these pipe puzzles don't get old or stale many of them are completely optional and as the game progresses the puzzle scaling difficulty keeps them challenging and fresh the game also presents a few environmental challenges such as natural barriers that can only be crossed when the player acquires a certain weapon or ability in addition certain rooms in rapture are rigged with electric wires requiring careful thinking and navigation on the players part and if the player has the rights to the mobility is equipped entire fights can be completely subverted or avoided by making use of bioshock's of stealthier powers and just when you thought Bioshock had run mechanics the game throws a neat photo mode at you once you acquire the research camera in game you can take photos of enemies you encounter the better your shot the better your score and the more combat bonuses you'll get when fighting that specific type of enemy in the future speaking of enemy types the main batteries that you'll be dealing with in BioShock are the splicers you know the one sane citizens of rapture that have been genetically augmented and psychologically twisted to become completely loyal to Alexander Ryan these dudes come in all kinds of flavours some rush you down with melee weapons others shoot at you from afar while others still wield the same badass plasmid powers that you do identifying what kind of supplies you're dealing with and quickly selecting the right tools for the job are the best ways to stay alive but the most iconic enemies of Bioshock and probably the most iconic figure of the entire Bioshock franchise are undoubtedly the little sisters and the big daddies the former are young girls who've been genetically altered against their will to seek out and collect atom from the enemy corpses lying around rapture a sweet baby girl yay cheerful the big daddies are guys who are surgically grafted into their diving suits and psychologically compelled to protect little sisters at all costs Big Daddy's will take a ton of damage before they go down but when they do the player is then faced with the choice you can't completely drain the atom from the little sister resulting in her death or you can bust a rogue from the x-men and only drain half of her atom sparing her life cuz you're a nice guy right hopefully hopefully you're nice I hope you're nice considering that you need Adam in order to level up your abilities choosing to drain less if it means that you're going to be less powerful in the long run not to mention the fact that it's super disturbing when you choose to harvest a little sister I'm sure it's much nicer looking when you choose to save them Oh God see there we go choice is another keyword when it comes to bioshock's gameplay do you go with a more offensive plasmid set or one that allows for sneakier play do you invest the time into hacking the devices you disable or do you pay your way to power using the money you've collected simply put in bioshock there are no wrong answers the game allows you to play the way that you want to giving the player freedom in a sense of diversity line up phone to a thousand degrees warning fire breath the story of Bioshock isn't without its fair share of soap opera plot twists when Jack finally reaches Andrew Ryan's personal office Ryan reveals that he is actually Jack's father that but honestly I did not see that one coming and just seemed a little out of place but hey I'm now more invested it turns out that this fact is true and that Jack was stolen away as an infant by Ryan's old rival Frank Fontaine after playing a round of golf on old man Ryan's face things start to get real in Tru McDonald Miller fashion Jack's old radio pal Atlas who's been guiding Jack through the entire game reveals himself to be Frank Fontaine himself oh wait no hold on it gets better Fontaine also reveals that when he stole baby Jack years ago he implanted post hypnotic suggestions into the child so that Jack would be forced to obey Fontaine's every command when Jack eventually rids himself a Fontaine's influence he takes the fight directly to the big bat himself who's now juiced up on Adam like a venom aided Bane all things considered the final boss fight is pretty damn easy the battle follows a simple pattern of draining Fontaine and when he's hooked up to his atom injection machine until he confronts you directly do enough damage and Fantine will hop back into his big-boy platform wash rinse repeat wash rinse repeat sure Fontaine we have a lot of health and abilities and he may even throw a bunch of ads at you to draw fire but ultimately the fight is a bit of a cakewalk if you've leveled yourself up enough over the course of the game once defeated Fontaine will begin to berate you which distracts him from the gang of little sisters who are preparing to jump him you go girls after stabbing him to death with their trademark needles the fate of the little sisters is ultimately determined by how the player chose to deal with the little girlies throughout the game if you chose to fully harvest at least one little sister you're treated to a cut steel it depicts a group of splicers emerging from the deep to attack a submarine crew and hijack a nuclear warhead for the now seemingly corrupt jack but if you chose to spare every last little sister the ending depicts Jack escaping from rapture with a small group of these girls they grow up and go on to lead full happy lives ultimately surrounding an elderly jack on his death in love it's a game over moment brought to you by a hallmark but I think I know a family although it doesn't have any unlockables or bonuses for completing the game per se the ps3 version of Bioshock does have some nifty DLC challenge rooms these three challenge maps exist outside of the main Bioshock narrative and serve as a way to offer even more of bioshock's main gameplay mechanics the first two rooms are puzzle focused with one challenging the player to take out the Big Daddy with virtually no weaponry while the other involves rescuing a little sister who's trapped atop a ferris wheel by using various sources of electricity lastly the combat room is actually a series of 9 rooms with enemies of escalating toughness although this DLC might be light on content what is provided is clever fun and it really pushes the player to think critically about the skills they developed while playing the main Bioshock game if you think you're a master of Bioshock then these challenges might be a surprise for you Bioshock provides enough narrative and challenge to make it a memorable title while it started out with a simplistic plot it ended up being a thrill ride in the end one that I don't regret taking I will say that having a completionists mindset for this game can be quite taxing Bioshock while critically acclaimed for its prowess of the difficult and the strange tended to be a tiny bit of a completion it's nightmare getting certain achievements by not doing certain things in the run proves to be a big pain in the ass several playthroughs be damned Bioshock asks for you to do a lot to complete it and with no endgame in sight for doing so and feels a bit empty but hey so does the world of rapture metaphor my the only one that really liked all three pirate movies the fourth one's like alright but I really enjoyed all three as a trilogy I can talk about those four days Bioshock is an unforgettable one beautiful game that's more than earned its place in the history and it's placed in the hearts of gamers everywhere it provides an experience that's utterly fun and one that holds up to this day its story is engrossing and pre-dam thought-provoking whether you're enjoying the game for its wonderful aesthetics its deep or solid gameplay or its intriguing themes Bioshock is sure to please just about anyone who picks it up and tries it except for completionists that you're going for that full 100% completeness aspect be prepared for a long long haul so with that in mind I get this game my completionist rating of finish it hey thanks for watching the video I hope you're still here if you're still here give me a high-five give me a handshake give me a doughnut just give me things because I'm asking for it if you liked today's video do us a favor give up like and thumbs up and a comment and all that crap and giggity-giggity shoo - wag click that video in the bottom left hand corner if you want to see some more completionist goodness or you can click on the right for something that's also related to completionist goodness cuz maybe you want more completionists in your life I know I do I think I just lied to myself like if you cry every time that's all time we've got for today guys so please as always let us talk about today's episode somewhere on the internet if you want some more Bioshock goodness we have an original article about the game available for you to read right now for free over at that one video gamer comm we're getting ready to relaunch the site in the 2.0 phase with comment integrations and articles very similar to IGN we're trying to build the community over at that one video gamer comm and it's going to kind of encompass everything patreon the twitch streams articles community we're trying to really unison you to size you unite everything under one umbrella over at that one video gamer comm if you guys are a fan of me a fan of the community you want to be a part of it get ready for some big changes and again thank you for all the support for all these years of making all these videos now if you excuse me here's another Jack reference that we're going to throw at you it can be any kind of Jack mark it be Captain Jack both the pirate and the DJ it can be Jack Skellington I don't know mark is always one that hits this part so whenever you got mark the guy you really gotta watch out for candle jack candle dad how did he get yeah that's a good for you can't not unless you say his name out loud so don't say his name okay okay he buzzed we did save me now Wow Oh maybe he didn't hear it hello boys I'm gonna need more room scream

Channel: The Completionist

Views: 1,145,344

Keywords: Completionist, Thatonevideogamer, BioShock (Video Game), биошок, bioshock 1 what if did not go to light hows

Id: F8b5gZLExyA

Length: 20min 25sec (1225 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 26 2015

Reddit Comments

[u/Bongzillaz]

This is probably one of the finest games of that generation and it still reminds me of the aggravating achievements they had put into the game. To get "Brass Balls" you have to beat the entire game without dying once. Between keeping all your health kits stocked to prevent dying you also have to abuse the hell out of quick saves, its probably the completionist's nightmares Jirard mentions in the video. Also photographing every damn thing in the game 50 times is annoying.

[u/xarel1375]

I really enjoyed this episode. It is also very funny that he talked about the Pirates trilogy during this. The last one came out around the time of this game I think.

BioShock is one of my favorite games of all time. It is my favorite FPS, and the various quotes by Andrew Ryan, "A man chooses. A slave obeys." resonate with me.

All in all, good episode Jirard

[u/MoonSpirit25]

This is one of my favorite games of all time, partly because of the Ayn Rand philosophy that has influenced me in life. I made a review on this, but Jirard definitely nailed this review a little better than me.

I'm kind of laughing that he replaced all his Titanic jokes for Pirates of the Caribbean, all because of James Horner's death.

[u/[deleted]]

I absolutely love this game. The first time playing it was so chilling. I chose to do it in the dark with my headphones on. Very haunting experience, totally recommend it. This review makes me wanna bust it out again.

[u/[deleted]]

I love bio shock so much, your review of it is so good thx for the great content

[u/[deleted]]

Just a couple things, he said Kevin Levine and Alexander Ryan. I'm sure he knows these are both wrong, but I just wanted to point it out.