10 Thought-Provoking Video Games That Haunted You For Days

1. Bioshock

Back in 2006, a video game that was partly a deconstruction of the works of Ayn Rand sounded like the worst idea in the world. Come 2007 and it quickly became one of gaming's greatest ever titles. The influence of Ayn Rand's best work, Atlas Shrugged, can be seen throughout Bioshock in various forms, but interestingly, Ken Levine's game takes Rand's ideas and turns them on their head. The idea of objectivism (created by Rand herself) runs throughout Bioshock; after all, Rapture is founded on the very same principles - profiting from one's own abilities and skills without being impeded by others. Instead of creating a utopia though, Ryan's Rapture turns into a nightmare, perhaps demonstrating that a world with no Kings or Gods (as declared by a banner on your introduction to Rapture) isn't actually a good idea. Bioshock is rife with this sort of criticism throughout but the idea of a utopia-gone-wrong is only part of the appeal here. There's a specific scene in Bioshock which will undoubtedly be remembered by those who have played it for years to come; it's a shocking yet highly engaging scene that completely changes the plot. Your player character (known as Jack) never speaks in game and is led around Rapture by a voice on the radio who calls himself Atlas. He urges Jack to end the tyrant reign of Andrew Ryan (fueled by Ryan blowing up a submarine with Atlas' family inside). Getting into Ryan's office and confronting him takes up a major portion of the game but it's the revelatory scenes that follow that justify Bioshock's universal acclaim. Skipping over several details, it is revealed that Jack is Andrew Ryan's illegitimate son who was sold to Ryan's biggest rival, Frank Fontaine, and experimented and brainwashed to become a sleeper agent on the surface, ready to return to Rapture and help kill Andrew Ryan. Ryan demonstrates this with the phrase "Would you kindly" (Jack obeys any command following those three words) and orders Jack to kill him, which he brutally does with a golf club. While this scene alone is beautifully well done, the way in which it makes you look back on the game is phenomenal. On a repeat play (or maybe you noticed already?), you'll see that Atlas always orders Jack around with the phrase "Would you kindly..." - suddenly you'll realise that all of Jack's actions in Rapture (including the plane crash that got him there) were orchestrated by Atlas in order to kill off Andrew Ryan and seize control of Rapture. Even as the player, you feel cheated and tricked; that's how cleverly done this twist is. Ken Levine has since moved on from the Bioshock series (following the equally superb Bioshock Infinite) and it remains to be what lies in store for the series; regardless, Bioshock has stood the test of time and it's still the most intellectually-stimulating game out there. The various culture critiques and fascinating storyline are something usually seen in movies and to transfer that into a video game (and make it an entertaining experience at the same time) was groundbreaking. More games like this, please! Agree? Disagree? Are there any other games that we've missed? Let us know in the comments below.