8 Video Games That Changed The World

4. Bioshock - Asking WHY A Character Is Doing Anything

Another fundamental advancement in gaming as a medium, before Bioshock, nobody was asking "Why?"

Why does Sonic want rings? Why can Mario fly with his winged cap?

Any number of titles gave you a hero, a gun or weapon, some enemies, and said "Have at it". And we did.

It was a simpler time, but then came Bioshock, and nothing would be the same again.

Spoilers for Bioshock itself, but that game's biggest twist is realising that the most trustworthy characters in its story - the ones that tell you where to go or what to do - have been lying to you the whole time. Not only have they been lying, but the everyday phrase of "Would you kindly" followed by an instruction was a trigger phrase for protagonist Jack, alongside being something we responded to as players, because why wouldn't we?

Before Bioshock, an unreliable narrator hadn't been done, and especially not like this. In piecing together what YOUR decisions were, vs. those your character would've done anyway, it blew the medium wide open, maturing video game storytelling and giving us even better narratives going forward.