Genetic marvel

by ERIK LEIJON

Roger Ebert has steadfastly argued that video games cannot be considered art on par with film because, by virtue of being an interactive medium, the creator or director lacks the control needed to tell a true story. As the last dozen Woody Allen films have proven, complete power over one’s art does not ensure a masterpiece. BioShock (X360, PC/2K, Irrational Games), aka The Best Thing Ever, is a miraculous testament to human ingenuity by accomplishing something a movie could never do—allowing you to step into a completely different world from your own and experience it at your own leisure.

Of course, leisure never factors into the equation, as BioShock’s world, a twisted 1950s dystopian underwater city overrun by genetically mutated humans, is about the scariest fucking place ever (outside of Algiers, The Economist magazine’s 2007 recipient of the world’s least livable city award). The game starts with a nameless main character rising to the surface of the Atlantic Ocean after his plane crash lands. The only sign of life, beyond the destructive flames emanating from the wreckage, is an odd, monolithic lighthouse structure. Upon entering the lighthouse and being exposed to a submerged kingdom called Rapture—a twisted 1950s pleasantville created by the charismatic, pinko-hating Andrew Ryan—it’s just you, playing from a first-person perspective, and an unlimited army of freaks who have been transformed through a series of injections designed to spur human evolution.

Not one to feel left out, early on you submit to these inoculations as well, developing special powers, called plasmids, which shoot from your left hand. Electric bolts, fire, small tornados and even Half-Life-style telekinesis (think gravity gun) are at your disposal, transforming what would seem like a mundane first-person shooter into an elaborate puzzle game with different skills to master. With the amount of guns and plasmids available, it takes a while to learn how to sift through the different weapons effectively, underlining the fact that BioShock is not for beginners. The gameplay itself is a variant of System Shock, considered the spiritual ancestor of this title, but where BioShock takes off and leaves the competition eating dust is with the disturbing world of Rapture.

The architecture of Rapture is the star of the game. Designed as a perfect society in which scientific discovery and the free market rule, the art deco designs of that era provide a vibrant colour palette to this doomed city. Old-fashioned advertisements and public service videos are everywhere, and the eerie soundtrack loops ’40s and ’50s crooners that simultaneously sound distant and filled with life. The city may be a series of underwater buildings, attached through a series of glass conduits, but places like the arboretum have so much detail packed into them, players will devote an equal amount of time to shooting enemies and revelling in the small touches. Even little things like the gunsmoke coming from the shotgun, or water reflections, have never looked better. Everything is so well designed you would swear the walls and floors are alive—which only heightens the sense of paranoia.

There’s no doubt BioShock will be at, or near, the top of my, and most other, 2007 best-of lists. Historically, it could represent a turning point for interactive media.

EN FRANÇAIS

The provincial government jumped the gun, saying they had reached a partnership with game publishers to provide more games in French. The deal is almost done and an announcement will be made next month, but the good news is that the game publishers are willingly doing this, as opposed to having their arms twisted by clueless bureaucrats who still carry wallet-sized photos of Robert Bourassa.