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Giant Bomb Video Game News
Video Game News, Stories and Updates for the PS3, XBOX 360, PC, PSP, Wii, and DS
Added by Brad Shoemaker on April 21, 2009
Maybe there was a better way...
PC Gamer UK writer Tom Francis has spent more time thinking about those events than most of us, and he's posted his ideas for the kind of ending such an otherwise fine game truly deserved. The summary of his alternate ending is up over on his blog. There's some clever stuff in here; Francis manages to preserve the Big Daddy conversion, while turning mechanics like the Vita Chambers around and using them against you.
Tenenbaum manages to reach you on the radio for the first time since you entered Ryan’s office. Having heard about your command phrase, she asks if you would kindly DROP THE GODDAMN RADIO then meet her at her nearby hideout... Tenenbaum impresses on you that Fontaine is nearly unstoppable now that his genetic key is tied to Rapture, since Vita Chambers now work for him rather than you.
I like how this version of events makes the ocean more of an active threat than the sinister but more or less benign force it ended up being as the game was written. There's also what I would consider a more poignant and certainly more immediate moral choice than the mechanical Little Sister save/harvest option in the existing game, and some delicious irony in the last few moments.
Granted, hindsight is always 20/20, but this is a neat thought exercise if nothing else. Francis and some eager commenters have a good dialogue going at the bottom of the page dissecting his ideas and the way BioShock turned out, so if you have an interest in game writing and design--or if you're just looking for more BioShock to ponder until the sequel hits--I recommend you check it out.
Filed under :
BioShock,
BioShock 2
35 Comments
I liked how Bioshock ended, but I guess you can always improve on an old story. The creative use of Vita Chambers did speak to me tho, I always found it strange how I could throw myself against my enemies countless of times untill they died of boredom.
The story was great until it copped out with "mind control" as the plot twist. After that, it all went down hill.
I thought your genetic key had to be tied to Andrew Ryan in order to use the Vita-Chamber? Jack is Andrew's son, which is why he could use them
Huh, that is some interesting stuff. The fact that he still had a radio on after finding out that phrase really was a bit dumb, and there are some interesting points the writer makes there.
Good stuf. Why is it that Bioshock and Fallout 3 can deliver a great story up until the end, where it falls flat? Oh well, at least Fallout is ditching its lame-ass ending.
I like the idea of fontaine drowning before comically respawning just to drown some more, with the process repeating ad infinitum.
Maybe you would still see him drowning 10 years later in bioshock 2, looking super pissed.
Maybe you would still see him drowning 10 years later in bioshock 2, looking super pissed.
I found becoming the Big Daddy one of the most disturbing events in the game, and I chose to play it ponderously. Imagining the dozens of hopeless "volunteers" that had been through the conversion center before... picturing broken men's faces under the helmets. Made to believe that the best interests of Rapture were being served by enabling these biomatter collectors to pillage the dead...
I agree the helmet view sucked, but damn it was creepy.
I agree the helmet view sucked, but damn it was creepy.
I got to admit the ending was easily the worst part of the entire game and if there is a ratio to awesomeness of game versus lameness of ending surely BioShock is the most extreme example.
The problem with the big daddy segment is that it involves the most tedious of tasks: handholding and escorting the friendly AI from danger. I have never coming across a game where this type of gameplay is fun.
i loved the hell out of bioshock, but the ending described in this article is soooooooo much better.
His ending is beautiful. Especially his end cut scene.
"End scene: You, as a Big Daddy, standing motionless as the water rises time-lapse fast, everything zipping in motion-blur streaks around you. As soon as our view is underwater, everything goes silent and slow. The body of a little sister drifts slowly past behind you, its back to us. When all is still, Fontaine suddenly scrambles into view, thrashing spasmically, screaming bubbles, clutching his throat, red in the face. After some violent jerks, he lies completely still. A few seconds pass, then a light flicks on in the background. We cut to a close-up of it: after a beat, the Vita Chamber doors slide open and Fontaine bursts out again, screaming bubbles louder and louder as he thrashes towards us, and his terrified face almost fills the frame before we cut to black. Fin!"
"End scene: You, as a Big Daddy, standing motionless as the water rises time-lapse fast, everything zipping in motion-blur streaks around you. As soon as our view is underwater, everything goes silent and slow. The body of a little sister drifts slowly past behind you, its back to us. When all is still, Fontaine suddenly scrambles into view, thrashing spasmically, screaming bubbles, clutching his throat, red in the face. After some violent jerks, he lies completely still. A few seconds pass, then a light flicks on in the background. We cut to a close-up of it: after a beat, the Vita Chamber doors slide open and Fontaine bursts out again, screaming bubbles louder and louder as he thrashes towards us, and his terrified face almost fills the frame before we cut to black. Fin!"
I hated the ending of Bioshock, especially if you harvested ONE FUCKING LITTLE SISTER.
I mean, I was trying to walk a fine line, save three girls, harvest one, but then I learn that I fucked myself after the first one I harvested.
Great "choice" there, Ken Levine.
I mean, I was trying to walk a fine line, save three girls, harvest one, but then I learn that I fucked myself after the first one I harvested.
Great "choice" there, Ken Levine.
Very interesting. Didn't mind the ending to Bioshock, but this would have been a better ending.
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"Mercs Inc." to continue Pandemic's legacy of explosions and open-world-type stuff.
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on April 21, 2009