Critical Play of Bioshock
Bioshock presents an underwater dystopian-like city known as Rapture, that is plagued by corruption and addiction among its denizens. As you progress through the game, you the player gets injected with a drug called Adam which changes the DNA of the person granting them different powers. Many of the denizens have become addicted to this drug so much so that they seem to have gone insane from its overuse. Many of these addicts are known as Splicers, those who have spliced their DNA so much from the use of the drug. Throughout the many corridors and areas of the city, these splicers try to get the drop on the player who must fight them either with melee, ranged, or with plasmid powers. Throughout the game you can find safes and others mechanisms which you can hack into to benefit your character either rewarding with a helper or through extra goodies. The overall vibe of the game feels unique as being creepy, mysterious, and intriguing with its mix of a 1960’s-like feel while also feeling futuristic and supernatural in some capacity. The combat feels dynamic and interactive and there’s a lot you can play around with to defeat your enemies, like using telekinesis to hurl back items or use your electric bolt to electrocute enemies that are in water. I also really enjoy the moral choices when it comes to choosing to save or harvest the Little Sisters and how that impacts the player’s gameplay depending on which way you choose to go.
Mary Flanagan’s book on Critical Play Radical Game Design talks about the idea of critical play and how it comes into perspective in video games that question human society and challenge the norms surrounding everyday life. Bioshock is a perfect example of the idea surrounding critical play. It really puts into question the aspect of human life when it comes to addiction, corruption, evolution, and the idea of a dystopia that can fall into ruin so easily. “Critical play means to create or occupy play environments and activities that represent one or more questions about aspects of human life.” (Flanagan 6). Critical play is more or less a way to peer into the subjects, ideals, activities, and other concepts that associate with the game and how it challenges the notion of human basic human concepts and day-to-day life. The game is rooted in themes dealing with these various politics and these challenged ideals without impeding on its core gameplay; in fact, the core themes contribute greatly to the gameplay. The player at times can choose to be greedy with the Adam drug, especially when it comes to choosing whether or not to save the Little Sisters. This is just one example of the player agency surrounding the posed question by the game on the morality of the player and the environment in which they’ve been placed in. I think the combination of these subjects and topics makes the game feel unique and sets up other questions for everyday human life through various dialogue and voiceovers as you reveal more and more on what happened to this deranged dystopia.
Below is a link to a playthrough of the game of a guy going into the game for the first time. The video is made by a Youtuber going by, “Liquid Blitz Plays”.
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