5. Bioshock
There was a point though I dont remember where, specifically just over halfway through my first time in Rapture when I realized this game was going to change everything; not just first-person shooters, but the industry in general. Its a sentiment Im comfortable defending even now, having seen the landscape of games evolve in ways that could be especially indicative of Bioshock. In all fairness, Bioshock didnt sculpt any aspects of a shooter that hadnt already been defined by the genre's elite. What it did accomplish was something far more subtle the unification of these elements into a single artistic expression - a feat that few games, let alone first-person shooters have managed. In the claustrophobic, often frightening time capsule that is Rapture, we trudge through what's arguably the thickest atmosphere ever assembled. The term assembled even seems a disservice, because the overwhelming level of detail affords us the opportunity to believe that it genuinely evolved, organically, within the narrative. Thats an amazing accomplishment. What unfolds inside the dank, heavy air of Rapture, effectively redefined the capability of the first-person shooter as a story-telling medium. Its a tale of moral ambiguity, of sacrifice and submission, of choice. In a genre that banks on our willingness to become an unstoppable force en route to an objective, Bioshock asked us to consider more than just the weapon in hand. Now more than ever were seeing games that entertain, but also ignite discussion and ask us to consider larger issues. Were seeing wholly realized worlds, convincing worlds that exist in imaginative new realms of possibility not just World War 2, Soviet Russia or the Middle East. Bioshock proved it was possible to color outside the lines and still be successful in a generation that was only just finding its feet. It asked us to reconsider what a shooter was, and what it could be. If you havent yet experienced the world of Rapture, would you kindly give it a try?