The Rise and Fall of BioShock | Documentary

Akin to the great musical artists and films of our time, certain video game releases have instituted a culture shift, establishing a clear demarcation line dividing the art created before its existence and after. Wolfenstein 3D earned its place among such a prestigious list, having fathered the modern first-person shooter in 1992. The 2001 launch of Grand Theft Auto 3 similarly shifted popular culture, birthing the open-world genre whose potential knows no limits. BioShock from Boston-based developer Irrational Games drew yet another indelible line in August 2007, its immersive gameplay, gripping atmosphere, and pioneering use of inventive storytelling devices elevating first-person shooters on countless fronts.

The original BioShock constituted Irrational’s attempt at bringing the hallmarks of the critically acclaimed yet commercially unimpressive System Shock to mainstream audiences. It accomplished as much by coloring outside the lines of market expectations. Over the course of the series, however, adapting to said expectations deeply affected the core of the brand.

Development woes affected all three entries as well, often driving a wedge between members of the creative team. That series creator Ken Levine was supposedly difficult to work with only exacerbated the tension. Internal and public-facing issues aside, many would argue BioShock never shied away from challenging the status quo, all while raising the bar. But for Irrational’s publisher, a contingent of fans, and even some developers, that bar could never quite reach high enough.

This is the rise and fall of BioShock.

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[GVMERS]

Hey everyone, thanks for watching (and hopefully enjoying) our latest documentary about BioShock.

We wanted to clear a few things up regarding the naming convention of our Rise and Fall videos: in this series, we do not only cover franchises that have shown a marked rise and decline in popularity or quality but also franchises that have been lost to time (Skate, Max Payne and InFamous to name a few). In these cases, "Rise and Fall" doesn't necessarily represent the trajectory of quality of the games in these franchises, but more the state of these franchises themselves (for example: when they're abandoned or mishandled by their publishers, when their sequels are eternally stuck in development hell or when their developers have simply lost interest in pursuing another entry).

[ablemorghon]

Bioshock 1 is one of my favorite games ever. The music and atmosphere are amazing.

[rossbrook]

Will always be one of my favorite single player games even after all these years. Truly immersive gameplay

[Pewpewpew]

It’s crazy, so many of these Rise and Fall episodes are based off of the PS3/360/Wii era.

This really was the last generation of imagination and risk. Bioshock as a series, was amazing.

[michadomeracki]

Everything must end. This series didn't fall, it ended.

[Pilps]

I remember my first time playing the first one, the scene just before you exit the pod in which that splicer cuts open that man in front of you. It honestly took my young self 10+ minutes to finally take the plunge and leave the pod.

I also fondly remembering loving Bioshock 2's Multiplayer.

[kimberlyhill]

Bioshock had the biggest plot twist for me. There hasn’t been any other game with a story like bioshock for me.

[JohnySeen]

Still to this day, I sometimes go back and play the original BioShock. It's such an incredibly thought out gem. Everything is special, from the eerie art deco atmosphere, rich and mysterious story, vivid gameplay, and the awesome music that compliments it so well. Bloody love it. Great documentary once more 👍

[PikaLink]

I respect BioShock 1 for being a groundbreaking landmark in videogame but BioShock 2, with it's more wholesome and intimate narrative, will always be my favorite.

[AdamEllis]

i legitimately go back to these games as often as i can. the worlds they crafted are so imaginative and beautiful and in my opinion we havent seen anything even close to rapture or columbia since. ive heard arguments for each game being the best in the series and i think that highlights the quality in the individual experiences. these games stand the test of time!

[BucklingSwashes]

Bioshock 2 was the last game in the series that I ended up getting to, but it's easily my favorite. Despite not having any especially memorable twists like its predecessor or Infinite, I think both its overall story and gameplay end up holding up the best of the three. It wasn't mentioned in the video, but Jordan Thomas (B2's creative director) was the lead level designer for Fort Frolic, arguably the peak of Bioshock 1. I think he ended up understanding what made Bioshock great more than Ken Levine did, in the end.

[samuelantoniocastillomeza]

Bioshock 2 is my favourite. The good ending still makes me emotional and the Multiplayer was awesome. Lots of hours invested and even used the option to Reborn from level 1 all the way to 50 again.

[GelberDracheLP]

Holy moly...
Bioshock Infinite is already 10 years old O.O
I now from then, it was like everyone around me was playing it and everyone loved it...

[AdamMannD]

I have a number of friends that worked on Infinite and my buddy Tim worked at Irrational. My take away is something My friend Nick told me. He said "they threw out enough on Infinite to make 2 whole games while I was there. He along with other artists from Human Head in Madison went out to work on that as they were knee capped by Bethesdas buy out attempt. So Head was not able to work.

[theyankeesamurai]

Well I like to think that Bioshock and Bioshock 2 were the canon games. Bioshock Infinite fked everything up. So honestly. How nicely Bioshock 2 ended l'm happy, more bittersweet than disappointed.

[fernaureason]

I dreaded you guys doing this one. Saw the thumb nail and got tears in my eyes. Bioshock is one of those game where I can run through it over and over again using the same guns and plasmids that I always have and still have fun. 1 and 2 are very close to my heart.

[DarthBaras]

You've got to at least give props to author John Shirley's prequel novel BioShock: Rapture. It combined both story aspects from both BioShock 1 and 2 and created a backdrop that most people would be lost on if they had not played the game.

[HopelesslyCritical]

Bioshock 1 was a good game. The story about the fall of Rapture and its citizens. Ryan's vision of his city. The atmosphere as a whole. Gameplay was also good. Horror elements, interesting powers, not too slow or too fast. ❤

[spark]

I can't believe how underrated this channel is!

[rapturecitizen]

I played the Bioshock games recently for the first time and they became my favorite games of all time especially Bioshock 1 i love the art style and everything about the game. Really wish they make a new Bioshock with lots of gameplay options like the first one