8 Bits Of Science You Didn’t Know Ruin Iconic Video Game Scenes

Beautiful, captivating, otherworldly, our first glimpse of the underwater jewel that is Rapture evoked a sense of wonder perfectly in keeping with the sheer audacity of the concept. If not for the horrors inside it would be a holiday spot for the ages.

A pity it can’t exist, at any depth.

In an in-game audio diary we are told about water freezing in Rapture’s pipes. This is perfectly plausible as deep ocean water at polar latitudes – roughly matching Rapture’s location – can reach a bone-chilling -1.9 °C (28.6°F) at the seabed.

However, this creates a problem. According to an article by deep-sea ecologist Andrew Thaler, the crushing weight of water pressure makes building an underwater environment at even 100 meters (328ft) difficult, and that in the ideal shape of a sphere. At deep ocean depths Rapture’s slab-sided art-deco skyscrapers don’t stand a chance.

The presence of kelp around the city, a species rarely found deeper than 49-131 ft (15-40 meters), implies a far more sensible depth. And yet the city is built on the seabed and with many of its skyscrapers clocking in at over 50 stories tall - a height of 170 meters (558ft), Rapture wouldn’t be an underwater city any more.

It’s an unfortunate mess, one this story of Plasmids and Little Sisters could easily have hand-waved if only it hadn’t pointed to deep ocean science.