The Amazing Bioshock Intro #bioshockremaster #atmospheric
8#bioshock #water #world #rapture #immersive #game #intro #prologue #fps #atmospheric #atmosphere #underwater #underwaterworld
We begin in 1960, over the mid-Atlantic. A smoking passenger thumbs an old photo to instantly establish us firmly in the past. As with TV’s Mad Men is there anything more jarring to modern audiences than seeing people smoking in places we’d never dream of nowadays? It’s a great trick to tell the player ‘this is set in a different era’.
Within seconds the screen fades to black, passengers scream, and the plane goes down. We come-to underwater and swim for our lives, emerging in a flaming wreckage. As the plane sinks around you, surely the situation is impossible. But what’s that? A lighthouse appears and promises safety. You swim to it, for what choice do you have?
Upon entering, the door slams shut behind you. A trap?
The lights come on and you’re greeted by a stern looking chap and the words “No Gods Or Kings. Only Man.” With the lights and stairs as your guide you are led not up, as you’d normally expect, but down, into the murky depths. You step into a bathysphere submersible and plunge deep underwater, the fathoms counted off.
BioShock generally does a great job of ‘show not tell’ storytelling, imparting a sense of events through its visual scenarios and the ubiquitous audio diaries scattered about (a legal requirement for games of this era). These diaries help build a tapestry of individual lives to reveal the backstory. However as you descend into the deep the game indulges in making you watch a brief Fallout-style public information film to quickly introduce you to the world of Rapture; a society free of authority and built on individuals’ rights over any shared obligation to a community.
In the context this exposition dump works effectively by focusing your attention it means you can’t miss it like you can potentially with the other environmental storytelling that’s there. The idea of Rapture is so crucial to understanding the game that it’s important that you stop and listen for a few seconds. The film is presented by Andrew Ryan, the city’s founder, and so even now the developers are packing in more world-building. The tone of Ryan’s voice tells you everything you need to know about his character.
As Ryan reaches his climax, the music swells and with a directorial flourish worthy of Spielberg, the world of Rapture is revealed; an underwater city of art deco skyscrapers towering from the depths. Giant squid and shoals of fish swim between towers connected by walkways and lit by neon signs. As Andrew Ryan himself describes it; an impossible city.
The hand of the game’s director is heavy here. An underwater Gotham City, Blade Runner’s Los Angeles, A.I: Artificial Intelligence’s Rouge City. All feel like strong influences on the art deco, underwater sci-fi setting. Not since Half Life have I so enjoyed a game taking me on rails through its environment to firmly establish the game’s world. The submerged Manhattan we see in A.I: Artificial Intelligence in particular feels like a key influence visually.
We see hulking engineers in diving suits carrying out repairs (only later do we learn of the Big Daddies’ role). Signs for art galleries, fashion retailers, casinos and cocktail lounges all promise a bustling and thriving city. As our pod begins its final approach it passes through a series of rings that read; “All Good Things – Of This Earth – Flow – Into The City”. Ominously, the word ‘City’ sparks and flickers – nothing to worry about though I’m sure. Throughout all of this we hear snatches of indistinct radio chatter, a plane crash is mentioned but it’s hard to hear more over the haunting string music that accompanies the scene.
The game gives one final pause, slowly raising you up before letting you see the city inside. After seeing the wonders under the sea, you can’t help but be excited to see what lies within.
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