Bioshock Remastered Review

Would you kindly cast your mind back to 2007? Bioshock, at the time of its original release, was a revolution in game artistry. It was perhaps the first game to seriously make the argument for videogames as an art form. The setting of Rapture was a fascinating study in its dystopian vision mixed with iconic sci-fi 50’s flavour, and the premise explored themes such as genetic modification, free will, and objectivism that are still strongly relevant 11 years later. 

 

The game's aesthetics are still spectacular and affecting, even today. Source: in-game screenshot

11 years on and two sequels later, does the original Bioshock hold up? This question is especially relevant as now the idea of videogames as art has taken root, particularly in the indie scene, and where 11 years of advancement in technology takes us to more fantastic and graphically-astounding places than ever before. With the remastered edition of Bioshock, I took the plunge to explore the ruined city of Rapture with fresh eyes. 

The first thing to note on Bioshock Remastered is, of course, the graphics. While the remaster offers a fresh coat of paint to offer higher resolutions and frame rates, the fact of the matter is that the game doesn’t look a world apart from its original state by any means. Bioshock does benefit, however, from the finer attention to detail, especially in the twisted facial expressions of the Splicers. However, as a remaster goes, the graphical overhaul has achieved very little more than the minimum to meet modern standards.

 

The first look at Rapture is still a breathtaking sight. Source: in-game screenshot

This is arguably because Bioshock was a stellar-looking game to begin with. Yes, it is a last-gen games and yes, this does occasionally show in the odd muddy texture or in some of the detail of level backdrops. But the aesthetic of Rapture as a location is so good that the game is still a marvel to look at. Each pocket of the city is fleshed-out and lived-in and you get a sense of authenticity from the run-down bars all the way to the optimistically-built, abandoned farmer’s markets. Rapture still feels and looks like it was once a living, breathing city and this is in no small part because the artistic direction of the game was spot-on. Rapture is to gaming what Gotham City is to comic books; a realised and authentic vision of an exaggerated and tragically-beautiful, ruined city. 

The main annoyance with Bioshock graphically is in the vision-altering effects. While it does make sense and adds to the game’s authentic feel that getting soaked by water will make your vision alter appropriately, or that drinking three bottles of vodka instantaneously would cause blurry vision (and probably a severe hangover and liver poisoning), but the execution of the vision-impairing effects is more of an annoyance than anything else; perhaps they last just a few seconds too long, but I often found that I avoided waterfalls with more fear than I avoided the enemy’s iconic Big Daddies.

Other than those small niggles, and the fact that as a remaster the improvements to the graphics feel insignificant, visually Bioshock is a joy to behold; from its bright neon lights to the grimy reality of underwater dystopian life, every part of Bioshock’s aesthetic is authentic, atmospheric and artistic in all the right ways.

 

The locations are authentically built to look ruined, and are powerful visual clues as to Rapture's downfall. Source: in-game screenshot.

In terms of the sound design, Bioshock presents excellence in some areas; particularly as fitting music plays while you take in an important visual spectacle, or when a hidden enemy whispers sinister threats at you from out of sight, or the spine-chilling moan of a Big Daddy. The result is that the sound leaves you feeling totally immersed in Bioshock’s setting; you truly feel as if you are in an underwater city and the atmosphere is as oppressive as you would expect.

The main issues here, however, are in the volume settings. As one of the most important aspects of the story, it is such a shame that the audio diaries wind up constantly drowned out by the cacophony of chaos going on as the player fights off waves of enemies; I ended up turning every other audio slider down to the minimum setting and the voice turned all the way up, just so I could listen in. This is a shame, because the voice acting performances are stellar and emotive, giving the player a real sense of what it was like to live and die in Rapture. Another issue is with the variety of the voice clips being played; too often, you will hear the same line being uttered by Little Sisters and Splicers over, and over again.

The gameplay of Bioshock is impressive and is perfectly in tune with the story. For those unfamiliar with Bioshock’s formula; the game mixes FPS gameplay with RPG-style progression in the form of plasmids: abilities the player can use either in combat or in puzzle-solving, such as the ability to cast fire or lightning at enemies, pick up objects with telekinesis, or even hypnotise Big Daddies to make mincemeat of anyone in the player’s way. Plasmid use is dictated by the EVE bar, which is implemented as a mana system, showing the player how many plasmid uses they have left. On top of this, the game borrows from survival horror in that ammo must be carefully conserved lest the player end up under-equipped for tough encounters. The result is an engaging, complex game that rewards clever use of abilities. Instead of just being levels, Bioshock’s maps become sandboxes for players to experiment with different strategies for dispatching enemies. There are many ways to make it through a level; by hacking security cameras and turrets to kill enemies for you, by enraging splicers to kill each other, or just blast through as an unstoppable, genetically-enhanced killing machine. Because of this, gameplay is largely emergent and always has the potential to surprise. 

 

The game is atmospheric and often-terrifying, especially with its enemies. Source: in-game screenshot

There are a few of the gameplay elements, however, that have aged poorly; hacking, for instance, quickly becomes tedious with its take on Pipe Mania gameplay. Often, I preferred just to destroy cameras and turrets, just because I was so fatigued from hacking, rather than for any strategic reason. Also, the use of the camera to research enemies for greater damage and bonuses becomes an annoyance that leaves little strategic value. 

It is in Bioshock’s story, however, where it truly shines. The narrative is powerful and asks many probing questions of the player; about free will, objectivism and morality. The story of Rapture is a tragic tale told through implication and in-game voice recordings that are acted emotionally and authentically. The result is that players feel immersed and affected by the plights of Rapture’s denizens and are drawn deeper into the world. The narrative of the player, however, is without question excellent, with plenty of surprising twists and turns and allowing for multiple interpretations on the many characters they meet. 

 

Little Sisters may be an eponymous part of Bioshock, but the choice they represent is one of the stories' weaker aspects. Source: in-game screenshot

The one area where the storytelling falters, however, is in the moral binary choice that Little Sisters present to the player. They can either be brutally murdered for more in-game currency to buy plasmids, or saved for only slightly less. The result is an unaffecting no-brainer of a choice, because the consequences of choosing to save the Little Sisters is tiny, leaving little reason for the ‘evil’ decision. This is the school of the Fallout morality system, where not being an evil monster suddenly makes one an angelic hero worthy of worship. It is ironic that in a game where many probing areas of debate are explored in their many shades of grey, such an obvious binary decision becomes the central morality choice that the player makes in the game. 

 

Even from the beginning, Bioshock's atmosphere and story is masterfully-executed. Source: in-game screenshot.

In the end, Bioshock is still an excellent game, whether you are playing it remastered or not. The narrative is still a masterclass in world and character building and Rapture is one of the most accomplished settings ever in a videogame. That Bioshock presents a campaign that is over 10 hours, most of which is a deep and non-linear FPS experience, is particularly encouraging in a world with lootboxes and multiplayer shooters that offer tired variations of deathmatches. The value prospect of the remastered edition of Bioshock, as well as its status as still one of the most artistically-powerful and engaging games ever created (unusual for a AAA videogame), makes it one of the most important must-play titles of modern gaming. Bioshock is a title I would recommend to almost any gamer, as it shows the true potential of a high-production value FPS made with excellence in mind.