Hey Bombinites

Here is the latest Deep Look! Deep Looks are largely gameplay and commentary like a Giantbomb quicklook; however, I try to cover games that have been out for a while and I intend to use the videos to highlight moments and mechanics that I found interesting. Also I aim to keep the videos under 20 minutes.

In this Deep Look I examine how the key philosophies of the city of Rapture lead it to fall. I show how several of the minor antagonists, namely Steinman and Cohen, display the fundamental problems with Rapture's founding belief of truly unfettered freedom. I also show off what makes the characters of Rapture so problematic. This will likely be my last video on the original Bioshock so I hope you enjoy!

You might also want to note the characters and their idealism frequently butting heads against reality, because that was another huge point in BioShock. In some ways, the world of Rapture, doesn't even feel real. Look at the part where Steinman reveals himself: it's staged like a play. (I imagine there's more to develop with all these points.)

@video_game_king: They certainly bump heads against reality. But it seems like, despite their ability to push beyond what is physically possible, the characters lack of compassion and empathy for others undermines the whole community. I wish I mentioned that plasmids and splicing would not have been possible without human experimentation, which already crosses an ethical line that other communities would not allow.

I felt the splicing aspect of the game was unfortunate given what else the game did.

Bioshock teased at exploring at some interesting personal & ideological failures, that were easily explained away or concealed by the "hey crazy druggie mutants" thing. From a commercial standpoint, it was probably smart for Irrational to not overtly crap too hard on Randian Libertarian ideology given that many of their potential customer base likely has some affinity for at least parts of the viewpoint (many of us are afterall and we do like our freedom, me included).

But yeah these societies that end up being quasi-dictatorships founded by charismatic visionaries usually never end well.

Hot diggity, love these deep look. Excellent work. I was replaying Bioshock 1 and Stienman is really one of the first character to stand out. It's not exactly a sympathetic character or even relatable he's so theatrical over his own interest in perfection of beauty. Comes off like a Hellraiser character.

@crithon: Glad you like them! My personal favorite monster is Cohen. He is a living embodiment of masturbatory, high-minded art taken in the most violent direction possible. Also he speaks like how I imagine hack artists speak.

@slag: But the face of the Randian stuff, Andrew Ryan, never spliced. So at least the mastermind of the madness doesn't have the insanity excuse.

For my next Deep Look I'm debating whether to look at FTL as a follow-up to my blog on rogue-likes or to look at one of Bioshock Infinite or Burial at Sea. How do those options sound?

Cover some obscure shit, son. Tread the ground that no man has touched.

@video_game_king: I'm currently limited to PC games since I don't have access to a capture box. I'm looking in to getting an El Gato. Once I've got that, the sky's the limits! Brave Fencer Musashi! Moster Rancher 3! Moster Rancher Card Battle! Chocobo Racing! Rugrats the Videogame?

Also I don't want to just do Bombasticas. I want to cover games in a way that is unique to me. Just talking about a game I've played is not really my corner right now. I want to have a real argument beyond, "this exists. Its rad. Check it out." So I don't know that there are too many obscure games that I've thrown myself into dissecting. Plus, isn't the obscure game thing your area of expertise?