Perhaps one of the most iconic franchises to emerge in the last console generation, it's widely accepted that Bioshock, and its latest entry, Infinite, are perhaps some of the finest examples of video game storytelling ever. Even to this day, delving for the first time into the gloriously-realised underwater dystopian city of Rapture or ascending to the clouds in Columbia remain as good as it ever was. Both places are filled with fundamental flaws and explore how the human psyche can be eroded away from within by politics, scientific freedom and tyrannical despots. They're worlds where anything is possible, where the laws of physics and science in general are challenged, and where us as players.... just had to go along with some quite frankly crazy things that happened along the way. Of course any fiction comes with its fair share of the old suspension of disbelief, but there are certain moments and sections in the Bioshock franchise that really pushed the boundaries and we had to be cool being whisked along for the ride. So why not join us as we delve straight into a crazy world of powers, lunatics and utter craziness? Honestly, this one is probably even crazier than Metal Gear! Warning: Spoilers for the entire Bioshock franchise follow.
10. The Ridiculous Locations Of The Cities
Come on people, these are entire cities, living, thriving - and then failing - in the most utterly ridiculous of places. The original title forced us to believe that some dude had managed to construct an entire city underwater where loads of people lived away from the politics and bureaucracy of society, and somehow managed to keep it all going for a long time before the inevitable cracks started to form. In Infinite, we're led to believe that an entire self-sustaining floating city has been created and can roam the skies at will, traveling where it sees fit. The only difference between the two is that the outside world knows of the floating city of Columbia's existence before it eventually sticks its fingers up at society and disappears into the clouds, whereas Rapture is a complete secret except to a select few individuals. We all know that having a city underwater, or a city that floats in the sky, is utterly ludicrous. Yet, somehow they end up working. Rapture and Columbia are fantastically-realised locales each with their own flavour and - in terms of plot devices - having these cities isolated away from the world allows the narrative to explore how lines can be crossed when there are no laws and where society is left to break down altogether. So, you know what? We'll accept these crazy places simply because they're utterly awe-inspiring. It's still to this day amazing to just explore Rapture, standing at one of the windows to see the ocean life swimming by as you hear fifties tunes in the background before you blast a crazy splicer in the face with a fireball plasmid.
Dan Curtis is approximately one-half videogame knowledge, and the other half inexplicable Geordie accent. He's also one quarter of the Factory Sealed Retro Gaming podcast.
