4. Atlas (Bioshock)
2K GamesIf you haven't experienced the incredible storytelling of Bioshock for yourself yet, do yourself a favour and go play it. Now, would you kindly continue reading? Atlas aids our silent protagonist during his exploration of the underwater city Rapture; he's a remarkably chipper man, considering the circumstances he's in. Our protagonist Jack gets caught up in his battles with the founder of Rapture, Andrew Ryan, and it all comes to a head in Ryan's office in what has now become one of gaming's most infamous scenes. After allowing the mask to slip, Atlas (or Frank Fontaine) quickly changes into a thoroughly nasty piece of work, altering his tone of dramatically and regularly taking to the radio to insult our hero. With all that weighing on your mind, the end battle against Atlas cannot come soon enough. It's a bit of a damp squib when it does come to be perfectly honest (he goes down horrendously easily) but the way the story builds up to this climax is superb; some may argue that Bioshock peaked too early, but getting to see Atlas' final demise was motivation enough to finish this modern day masterpiece.