Can a game get on an all-time greatest list based almost off that endgame post plot-twist feeling of having to wind your jaw back in? Yes. Yes it can. Plenty films over the years lay the groundwork so subtly and expertly that when it comes time to spring the final revelation, we're all just utterly and pleasantly flabbergasted, and Bioshock tells a story so rich and perfectly-paced that should mastermind Ken Levine ever decide to transfer it to the big-screen, it would still work almost perfectly. Of course such a massive twist and medium-defining moment is not going to frivolously be discussed here; that's the job for some rogue Game of Thrones-style book-reading comment-ruiner to drop in and instil a backlash of all-caps retaliation. No instead what becomes more apparent - and far more affecting as you sit there processing everything throughout the credits-roll, is just how perfectly this narrative works in a game; and only in a game. It's that sense of player agency that actively encourages you to explore the game world, that idea that things are only unfurling for and to you, and it's that unique ability that only games have to pull the rug out from under you and prove they've been pulling the strings the whole time that makes Bioshock so special. It's easily Ken Levine's finest work, and the one that provides the most replayability as well as the most in-depth discussions around its inclusion in the pantheon of great literary works both inside and out of gaming.
