Happy 15th anniversary, BioShock
Hundreds, if not thousands of great games have come out in the past fifteen years, but one that will always fall at the top of that list is BioShock, the classic FPS game set in the underwater city of Rapture. While to many it feels like the game didn’t come out all that long ago, BioShock was actually released August 21, 2007 — exactly fifteen years ago from this past Sunday, and we’re celebrating the anniversary.
The whole BioShock series got a remaster and rerelease as a collection back in 2016, and when I replayed the games on my PS4, I was shocked at how well they’ve aged. Sure, the graphics got a welcome update, but the game’s design, story, and characters have aged like fine wine. Its iconography, from the Big Daddies to the Splicer masks, has pervaded both gaming culture, and pop culture at large, as symbols of some incredible storytelling.
BioShock has a legacy that will live on in gaming history, particularly because of its story and setting in the world of Rapture. Its mechanics are a ton of fun and still feel punchy and satisfying to play, but it didn’t revolutionize the FPS genre because of its gunplay or magic. What people remember, and really love, is the game’s aesthetic and dedication to building a rich setting and story.
It’s one of the titles gamers point to as an example of the amazing art that games can be, especially when it comes to storytelling. I mean, it’s a critique of Ayn Rand’s philosophical ideas of Objectivism — regardless of how well it actually engages with those ideas, I can’t think of many other games that have even wagered to try.
BioShock was also at the forefront of games criticism as it was emerging as a discipline. It particularly began the conversation of the notorious idea of
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