BioShock

I've seen alot of reviews on here that only focus on the negatives of the game. Alot of people are misinformed or are the parents who simply take 2 looks at something and make a decision. So here is a brief rundown of the entirety of the game so that you can make a proper decision from somebody who has done the research and played the game in full. You start as a Character named Jack, whose backstory is never delved into. You are traveling by plane when your plane suddenly and inexplicably crashes into the Atlantic Ocean. Luckily you are the only survivor, and an ominous Lighthouse is nearby. You enter the Lighthouse which is filled with Statues and Propoganda for a City known simply as Rapture. At the bottom of the Lighthouse lies an Autopiloted Submarine-like Pod which flies you through a Fabulous UnderWater Art Deco City while a Man named Andrew Ryan narrates from speakers within the Submarine. Andrew Ryan was sick of all forms of Government and in the 1940s he decided that he would build a hidden city where People would not have to worry about Religion or Politics so that they could be free to focus on themselves and their careers. So he built Rapture to allow a... Rapture. As you enter the City you find out that something has gone horribly wrong. Citizens maul each other for the smalles quantities of a "SuperHero Juice" called ADAM. ADAM is a drug extracted from a Sea Slug and it can manipulate DNA and Spinal Cords to give people special abilities like shooting Lightning out of their Fingers or Telekinesis. There are downsides to using this drug however, including Tumorous Growths and Mental Depravity. Because of this, Citizens or Rapture who abused the drug (which was nearly everybody) have now become insane and bulbous with lesions. You end up using this substance several times (though no effects of Tumors or Lesions ever seem to appear on you) to give yourself superhuman abilities. You take this ADAM by mainstreaming it with a needle into your wrist, which is the closest reference to illegal drugs you will find. You are lead through this City through a walkie-talkie by a man named Atlas who claims that if you help him he will help you. You have to dodge your way pasts hordes of grossly mutated citizens while all the while trying to accomplish these tasks in an Underwater 1940s Dystopia. Now while this involves alot of Violoence, Gore, and Cursing from a menagerie of characters, what people fail to realize is that this Video Game is essentially an Ayn Rand novel in Video Game form. Look into the plot and you will find so much more. The story is educational and teaches players about Government, Laissez Faire Political Systems, even about the processes of Mental Conditioning. And many have said that there are not Positive Messages in this game but I disagree. The biggest one is this; If you help others, others will help you. Depending on how you play the game you get different endings. If you play as a Liberator you are rewarded. If you play as a Savage who will do anything to survive, the ending of the game will portray you as such. I don't think age is a Concern, what matters is that your child should be able to look past the Game aspect of it and try and understand the story. Ask them about what they thought of characters, if what they did was for the good or for the bad. For instance, Was Andrew Ryan right for trying to make a society where people could live in peace, but forcing them to stay there? Was Fontaine right for trying to break the laws because he thought it was justifiable?

I'm quite surprised the viewer failed to mention the underlying themes of the game. Bioshock is unbdoubtably gratuitously violent, but it is not without educational value. While I don't think its necessary healthy for immature players, Bioshock has a convoluted, character driven colorful story depicting a would-be-Randion utopia gone horribly wrong. The game was meant to be a critique of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged, with Andrew Ryan representing Rand's ideas and her character of John Galt. The game explains the political contexts of Marxist revolution and government economic intervention that motivated self-made entrapenur Andrew Ryan to construct a hidden laisezz-faire capitalist utopia for individualists concealed from the "parasitic" societies on the surface which have the power to destroy anything they don't like with nuclear weapons. However, Ryan's philosophy of unfettered markets without regulation runs amok when bio-modification is introduced, leading to the degradation and collapse of his society. Even emergency medical care costs money in Bioshock, and the complete lack of regulation led to the insanity and violent mutation of so-called "Rapture"'s citizens, leaving Ryan a pitiful recluse who violently takes out his anger in vain on his former compatriots. The game leaves much potential intellectual discussion, what brought down Rapture, was it Ryan's (or rather Rand's) laissez-faire egoist philosophy, or was it the irresponsibility of some of its citizens? Is Bioshock an accurate critique of Rand's objectivist philosophy, could something like this happen with the introduction of genetic engineering to madly-consumer driven society? The game also makes references to eugenics. The Reviewer also fails to note the heartwarming ending of the game if the player follows a moral path, an ending where he find's something he never had. I will admit the unecessary and slasher flick level of violence detracts from the positive aspects as it takes attention off the story, and while I'm not the least bit squeamish, I think the game could have been more down to earth with a more realistic level of violence rather than the ridiculously over the top bloodshed it has. Bioshock is an extremely violent and moderately explicit game, but if one is mature enough to wade through it for the story's sake, they can find an intriguing ethical thriller.

This game is great, but it can really scare the sh** out of you. For example, you are walking by and you see a guy shivering walking around singing "Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me". Your enemies are very bloody. People often mistake that the Big Daddy wants to have s** with the Little Sisters, but that isn't true. Give the game a shot, but don't play it alone if you are 10 or under.

excellent game, a bit on the violent side, and there is some strong language, but all in all its really not that bad. you know your kids, if you feel they are overly influenced by violence andlanguage, by all means keep them away from this game, but otherwise, this is really a great game. I absolutely love it.