The Levels of BioShock Ranked from Worst to Best

hey everyone I'm Jack and I'm Alex and in today's video we'll be going over the levels of Bioshock from worst to best Bioshock has been a favorite of Alex and I since I can honestly remember and after countless playthroughs we finally smartened up and decided on covering it the nine levels within are for the most part incredibly diverse in structure thematic elements and characters and because of this this was a very difficult list to decide on so how do the levels of Bioshock compare I I feel like I'm forgetting something oh our patrons lest I forget our lovely patrons who voted on Bioshock as the bonly video if you want to have a direct say in the content we make subscribe from the link in the description we appreciate you all and without further Ado let's get into the ranking number nine Apollo Square Bioshock is at its best when it's got you running around a visually striking environment and inter interacting with the setting in interesting ways coming across memorable characters Apollo square has you slouching through a creatively Barren slum where the most noteworthy occurrence is being serated by Frank fontaine's jering Health lowering Sleeper Agent codes it wasn't nearly as frustrating as I remembered because the health decrease is pretty negligible but it never feels good having your max Health lowered in any game looking at you Demon Souls you sack of [ __ ] this level as Jack and I both independently noted feels like Olympus Heights but worse and I'm not talking about it in the literal in-game sense just because the residents of Apollo Square were suffering in squalor doesn't mean I should have to join in the fun but here we are you can mask shitty gameplay with cool set pieces or interesting characters in a game like this and it'll go over better than it does in most other genres but they just left Apollo Square high and dry with no hope for Escaping The Bottom seed aesthetically it's as mind-numbing as the game's morality system you've spent about 80% of the game wandering through underwater cities man-made forests and enormous power stations what on Earth were they thinking chasing that stuff with this generic City Escape following those up with this is like being served a five course Michelin starred meal and then capping it off with a plate of spam and hard attack if I wanted to look at something like this I'd drive into DC and walk 10 minutes in any direction away from Capitol Hill as for the characters you've already met everyone of importance in the game by now so it's just the same old same old Fontaine is a lot less Charisma than Atlas and I don't just mean it in the sense that he's a jackass he's repetitive and droning in every scene after the one where he betrays you in Rapture central control all in all the level is passable thanks to bioshock's generous fun based gameplay but this is the game at its most Bare Bones and relentlessly uninteresting I can think of about eight places I'd rather be than here getting my phone blown up by Fontaine begging for a second data point Prometheus number eight welcome to Rapture maybe we're lowballing welcome to Rapture because we've both played through this game countless times and it's lost its intriguingly haunting charm but unfortunately by the nature of General game design the introduction is the slowest and simplest level BioShock has to offer writing this segment is very difficult for me because on the one hand I'd argue this is the most compelling beginning to a game ever but I've also played it so many times that I can pretty much do a frame by frame rerun of the entire cut scene in my head at any given time that isn't to say I don't enjoy this though the mystery of the plane crash and the beauty of the exterior of rapture does muster up Intrigue no matter how many times you see it so what are my thoughts I don't really know welcome to Rapture is very much a business cycle of experiences in my mind you first crash land off a plane into the ocean and miraculously float your way into a Babylonian esque underwater society which is great however anything not exclusively Story related is where welcome to Rapture falls short it isn't very visually distinguishable once you were inside the city and to reiterate during this run through anything not related to World establishment felt surprisingly forgettable once again this isn't me dismissing this for what it is it's still pretty much a spotless introduction on all fronts and ex in what it sets out to do is it basic yes is it also an introduction yes this is getting redundant so hopefully I've gotten my point across number seven Olympus Heights instead of rumaging through the Der leaked houses of random crackheads now you get to check out The Cribs of the ultra rich and famous unlike the MTV show however you're just here to steal their [ __ ] or blow their head off or whatever Bioshock takes place in 1960 so I suppose Jack beat Charles Manon to the punch by almost a full decade much like Apollo Square Olympus Heights isn't particularly interesting looking but there's an undeniable nugget of fun in seeing the rooms of everyone you've encountered in the game postmortem or not they say you can tell a lot about a person by their room but it works both ways knowing Fontaine as you do at this point in the game him having six murder turrets in his front yard is about as shocking as a dollar store electrol one blast is to an elite bouncer sander Cohen is still kicking if you didn't give him a dirt nap back at Fort Frolic so you can check on him if you're interested in that or claiming the weapon upgrade machine in his bedroom he's absolutely the most amusing character in the game to me so more of that guy is always welcome it's a short simple level if you know what to do but I was a lot more entertained by it in this last playthrough than I recall being in my middle school playthroughs of the game I regularly see Bioshock in discussion for worst lat game quality heel turns in gaming alongside Dark Souls one and halflife but I really don't think it ever gets awful to the extent that those two do number six Neptune's Bounty Neptune's Bounty is consistently decent from beginning to end a trend I'm sure you've caught on to is that Alex and I rate visual appeal very highly in BioShock but it is also a fair point that there's a definite parallel between environmental creativity and an increased variety within that level's design Neptune's Bounty is the fishing port of rapture and this level maximizes that point in its overall aesthetic and layout I really enjoy how this level invites backtracking and as a scer I highly recommend searching every corpse and looting as much as you can now having a full inventory in the moment makes the higher chances of ammo drops and rare items in the late game almost a useless bonus that said the main problem Neptune's Bounty faces is its lack of story relevancy of course your reasoning for showing up at an abandoned mainly industrial complex is that you were forced to flee the Medical Pavilion obviously disregarding that Atlas has your entire course plotted out but really it feels like more of a dragged out transition between the Pavilion and The Smuggler's Hideout than its own individual entity by Far and Away the main reason I say this is that Neptune's Bounty holds as much story weight as po holds positive Karma all you do is obtain the camera imagine this from Jack's perspective some random guy's been Haring you to save his entrapped family from the clutches of the evil Andrew Ryan and just as you reach the final Sprint of your Marathon he adds on hey uh by the way I know my family's about to die and uh I don't even really know you but I need you to pick up a camera and do what stare at your family screaming in agony as I take a [ __ ] picture I guess so because clearly Jack is prone atlas's simple verbal gestures of kindness and politely does as he's told like a blood hound I'm no Storyteller but each time I play this game I think being sent straight to the Smuggler's hideout with maybe a couple rooms in between might have been an equally solid option I do appreciate the buildup and payoff that comes with the longevity of Neptune's Bounty but once again it's IR relevance to the plot and relevance to game play time which you even feel as you go through it nearly kills the momentum the Medical Pavilion so strongly established now the camera is debatably the single most important tool in the game which isn't necessarily a specific tie into Neptune's Bounty but on the front of Photography which roughly transitions into artistic vision and creativity I also feel like almost everything outside of peaches in the meat locker feels pretty syy and uh [ __ ] it I'll say it once again the overall objective just doesn't feel important more like a Hulu adverb between Eric Andre episodes I really enjoy the final arena for what it's worth and for those of you unaware the wrench along with the camera is an ungodly combination that when properly attuned with combat tonics is genuinely Unstoppable Unstoppable I meant Unstoppable but I cut it short on accident plus plus plus bonus damage that comes with Max research and a beefed up wrench that comes with exploration seriously turns this game into a nifty50 doometernal sort of experience like atomic heart if it didn't play like it was designed by a bunch of monkeys of course we're not done yet and The Smuggler's Hideout is a pretty crazy experience your first time through atlas's family getting blown up like a Liv video right in front of you leaves an incredible dent on your overall quest to take down Ryan and the mini level serves its purpose well while keeping up the feel of Neptune's Bounty all the same number five point Prometheus this level was almost great but unfortunately after the first half it just decided to unhinge its jaw and open wide to guzzle as much piss and [ __ ] as possible the marks of a fantastic level were all there at the start becoming a big daddy that's totally awesome fun end game upgrade that uses the world's unique lore to deliver a memorable objective sounds like a recipe for a satisfying finale and that's what point Prometheus is initially at least going into all of the specialized research labs and slowly building up your cosplay is just the kind of objective that could have lifted some of the lower ranking levels on this list up from the drgs it's also a good time in the sense that you're obscenely powerful at this point with both your guns and plasmids probably being as good as you could hope for even if you choose to save the little sisters like 99% of players the game still Force feeds you more Adam than you could possibly care to spend I don't know why they even bother giving you the choice especially considering there's no trophy or meta incentive to try being an [ __ ] like in some other games do you want $10 for free or $11 if you shoot a 5-year-old in the head a truly heart-rending ethical dilemma I like Bioshock don't get me wrong but I have to admit the story didn't feel nearly as smart or groundbreaking as it did to my 14-year-old self one thing that is consistent between all my playthroughs though is hating the escort Mission part of this level look I'm all for games like this tossing you in combat scenarios in the end game when you've built up a nest egg of resources as you may have seen in my system shock remake video unfortunately the added objective protecting the little sister bungles It All To Hell before this point the level was like a cauldron full of delicious soup but somebody in the kitchen just couldn't resist sprinkling in a fist full of bugs and sawdust to [ __ ] it up when you mess up it's really bizarre how the game plays out also you don't get an instant death or anything which would have been too merciful and convenient instead you need to trudge over to another vent and simply dig up a second disposable little sister to give it another whirl Tenon bomb does acknowledge how weird this is but it's hard to take seriously if you burn through an entire School bus's worth of 5-year-olds to comparatively little Fanfare I don't hate the second half of this level as much as some people do but it's definitely a huge step down that does no favors to its overall placement number four Medical Pavilion as much as I berated welcome to Rapture for losing its luster as you repeat it over and over the the Medical Pavilion has an almost opposite effect even though it's only number four on our list I'd confidently place it among the elites of first levels in gaming in terms of aesthetic and Ambiance it is incredible and on the gameplay and exploration front it is beyond Innovative Bioshock has the feel of a well-made firstperson immersive horror experience at times and the Pinnacle of that aspect of the game comes in the medical Bay this is entirely thanks to Dr Steinman and taken even further by using the creepy doctor Trope over the course of anent ire complex I recommended complete exploration in the Neptune's Bounty segment because it was earlier in the video but here is where it's most obviously a beneficial strategy I don't know if you can get to Dr Diamond before you unlock the shotgun but having both incinerate and the shotgun instead of just the machine gun makes it a rather uninspiring major enemy encounter imagine you fought balder the first time around but with the Blade of Olympus moving on from the good doctor the medical pavilion's strongest characteristic far and away is its environment The Pavilion is is full of off-putting posters and audio logs that give direct insight into Dr steinman's surprisingly modernistic pertinent view on Beauty and the level as a whole is filled with remarkable variety Eternal Flame where you unlock the incinerate plasmid remains one of the most memorable individual rooms in any game ever for me you unlock the plasmine by sliding a rotting corpse which you first think could very well be a living splicer into a creator after it pops back out with a bottle of Sunny D you immediately are put to the test but the creative mind figures out the utility of it ranges from burning oil to canisters and even splicers the Medical Pavilion thrives in its Elemental Simplicity but there's a clear dedication to maximum memorability in every single segment I also really enjoy how the Pavilion unlocks itself through incinerate and telekinesis both being able to test out the plasmids in combat and exploration instead of solely combat which like every single [ __ ] plasmid besides these two are used for left a fantastic Lasting Impression even through all the Stein talk and horror and so on the medical pavilion's most pivotal moment will forever be the little sister I've gone to the dark side of the moon and done a harvest run before you arrest me now and I can confirm there is no point in doing it unless you've got a thing for shame and self Agony I don't really figure how anyone even those with the most blackened Hearts tainted by the most evil of souls can watch this play out and still choose to murder them for marginal personal benefit even disregarding curiosity simply put you're just a [ __ ] up person if you take this route you think checking out Divine Comedy or the WASP Factory gets you on the FBI's watch list think again because the answer is sitting right here in front of you just press square and feel your world melt as you enter the Dominion of mental instability that comes along with the conscious decision to murder a slave child for personal benefit yeah I can say all that cuz I did all that [ __ ] I'm like Rambo if his imprisonment was justified the Medical Pavilion is just a quality level from beginning to end and establishes the pace and feel of Bioshock for the remaining of the Atlas story line number three hesus much like my other favorite missions the clear objective of building a bomb ties this level together with a cool destructive end goal not the least hindered by it also being the level where you kill Andrew Ryan his death speech remains one of the most badass moments in gaming history you beat him to death with a golf club which in most cases would be caused for humiliating Team Fortress toes death and he still comes out on top thanks to that speech staying Stone [ __ ] cold through a prolonged beating of that severity takes a will of iron though he may not be a guy i' want to be in charge of anything within two degrees of connection to my livelihood I got to respect taking death on the chin and bitching your killer like that as a whole this level feels underrated to me I always see our top two talked about but this one seems to place in the middle for people for whatever reason despite in my opinion being of similar quality the environment is awesome the Steam and lava filled industrial Labyrinth full of booby traps and thugs is intense stuff if it weren't like 5 hours deep into the game it could could have maybe even fooled me into thinking I really was at the final level the bomb assembly is done with the guidance of audio logs from past anti-an conspirators who give you the recipe and locations of the components if you've ever cooked a meal with helloof fresh it's sort of like that but for terrorism and they never twist your arm into using sour cream at any point in the process unfortunately hesus is roughly the point where the Game Stops introducing new stuff in the forms of plasmids or enemies so the combat starts to flag a little bit you won't notice it here in a first playthrough because it's still a pretty fun level but there you have a ridiculous amount of atom as I said and nothing interesting to spend it on Beyond upgrades of things you already have or stupid useless [ __ ] nobody would ever use find me the person on Earth who sat down at a gene Bank unequipped electr bolt and decided to put sonic boom in there there is just no way feel free to email video proof of this happening to penox yt@ gmail.com if you ever find any I'm calling [ __ ] it's like a Bigfoot sighting anyways if I wasn't clear earlier this is a strong level the combination of satisfaction and dread do feel when killing Ryan is a hard to replicate or induce feeling so I give the game props on that front number two Arcadia for me Arcadia was the best level in the game it's similar to Neptune's bounty in that it's sort of two levels in one but has much much more story importance and the objective of the level is equally more valid you know number two versus number six I'd argue it's more environmentally appealing and diverse than a number one level and is also a brilliantly comp change in Pace from The Smuggler's Hideout immediately before it but I digress by this point my wrench and camera hack really starts to evolve and you can see it in any given segment in which I engage with splicers two hits three hits dead you also care to notice that I almost instinctively pull out my camera every time I see a splicer turret bot Big Daddy [ __ ] bug plant I don't know whatever it may be because seriously the benefits are incomparable for example did you know that at maximum research level you can hack turrets and security Bots by just pressing Square also you unlock a multitude of useful tonics from research including wrench jockey 2 after the fourth tier of bouncer research which when combined with wrench jockey increases damage by 350% add that with sport boost and Sport boost 2 and it's like going to war with nukes and aircraft carriers against a nation of Stone Age neanderthals it's fairly hard to summarize Arcadia in a couple of sentences because it really is just beaming with personality through and through and there's not one one moment of sudden dullness or over-the-top Extravaganza it's very consistent and the level is so great because it makes you think makes you fight and makes you explore like none other except for one other evidently but it really is in just a different class alongside Fort Frolic for both of us the farmers market is debatably a slight drop from the preceding Arcadia but it's so short and such a minor decrease in quality that stems entirely from tight spacing in my mind that I don't really pay it much negative attention I'm also a huge fan of the almost Tower Defense type segment to close out the level in langford's Labs as well as the beehive and just the whole item discovery objective that is the second half of Arcadia even though hesus also took this route Arcadia's was simply a better variation on it the entire level just feels so alive in that it is literally a living Garden but also the enemy placements and fairly generous number of turrets and cameras that you can use to your advantage the obvious break from the gardens to the living quarters also gives it a secondary level of livelihood and of all the levels in the game this was easily the most enjoyable to shamelessly loot corpses from Arcadia remains to this day one of the great single levels in fps history and will likely stay in that group for the Far Far Future number one fort Frolic Fort Frolic is a center of the Fine Arts run by sander Cohen A demented psychopath gifted in sculpting and musical performance all the best creative minds are a little nutso when you get down to it I suppose how else do you think Jack and I have been crafting all these Masterpiece videos of ours anyways he's got a pretty nice thing going on here slot machines are present at the S of the level for those gambling addicts among you and once you pop into the main plaza you're treated to some groundbreaking Avant guard artwork to gaw at your task as given by self-appointed Mentor Cohen is to find all of his past disciples and kill them so they can be covered in plaster for some reason throughout this man hunt of yours you come face to face with normal enemies the targets themselves and even goons sent by Cohen to kill you during one of his manic schizo rage fits it definitely does not Inspire great confidence in his loyalty to you so the whole time you're probably thinking about how you'll off the big man once he finishes his magnum opus sculpture funnily enough you actually can spare him as I mentioned earlier and it turns out to be to your benefit don't worry you still get the chance to blow his brains out before the game is done just a little later weirdly enough one of the primary goals of this level according to someone who worked on the game was to make the player question whether Cohen deserved to die when his mental state is this screwy I think in that regard they sort of failed because he's so obviously a nut that he's just a danger to everyone else around him save the tear jerkers for a chump dumber than me eat lead the map design feels both expansive and easy to navigate so it avoids the common Pitfall of pacing being brought to a screeching halt by time spent wandering around looking for what the hell you do next this area is pretty light on the lore with little going on story-wise save for the reveal of Jack's prodigious parentage but it gives him the freedom to create a more or less self-contained level based around being fun and memorable similar to Arcadia I cannot fathom anyone placing Fort Frolic lower than like number three on their list it just Leaps and Bounds Beyond to me thank you so much for watching and we hope you enjoyed we'll probably cover the other games in the series at some point in the future so stay tuned for those if you're a fan of this video as always make sure to like subscribe send us video to your entire extended family and subscribe to our patreon and all that stuff anyways that's all for now deuces [Music]

Channel: Cytonox

Views: 2,336

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Id: 8ri9yAFw8kA

Length: 21min 4sec (1264 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 12 2023