Bioshock

My house played through Bioshock last year, but I didn’t post about it here because I played very little of it myself. However I did watch a lot of it and play just enough to get a feel for it. Lots of nice things have been written about Bioshock, most of which it deserves. It's a handsome and sumptuous FPS with a distinct style, a real sense of intent behind its visual design (which could have lapsed into generic steampunk), and a strong sense of horror borne of its unsettling enemies. While its success in exploring the philosophy of Ayn Rand is open to question, the verve of its attempt is not, and we must applaud all attempts by a game to tackle something substantial. In particular, my housemates were impressed by the tension, suspense and raw fear this game generated in them as they played – the equal of any classic horror film.

However, from the perspective of game design, there is a single error that undermines most of the good work: the Vita-Chambers. Player death leads to resurrection at the last Vita-Chamber activated, but all damage done to enemies remains, so that by persistence all obstacles may be overcome. All sense of peril was extinguished for me within an hour, after my first player death. What's the point of a difficulty level? What’s the point of any difficulty or peril at all? Why control my access to ammunition when the Vita-Chamber can fire an endless stream of clones armed with wrenches?

The failing, then, is this: games should always present some method of last resort to progress, and it should be the worst choice available, such that the player never wants to take it. It should guarantee success in some manner, so the player can always advance. Unfortunately, the method of last resort in Bioshock is tedious, and undermines any suspense the game can generate. If you can disregard it, you will enjoy Bioshock: if you can’t, you can’t.