I apologize for yet another post concerning BioShock, but there was a discussion on narrative consistency over at www.pjsattic.com so I decided to throw my hat into the ring. What follows below is a transcript of my comments. Basically, I took issue with some of the weapons that were included in the game BioShock.

Now, I’m not talking about the standard weapons (pistol, shotgun, etc.) that get modified in interesting ways. What bugs me about the game from a narrative standpoint is the plasmids. The problem is that they aren’t genetic alterations, they are magic.

But they make for fun gameplay, right? True, but take a step back with me to a time when the game was first announced…There I was, reading about a new game called BioShock by the same creators as System Shock 2 (awesome!). It takes place in a failed utopia where genetic alteration and enhancement triggered a descent into madness by a populace that could not deal with the ramifications of what they had wrought.

Oh my God, this is going to be fantastic…

I was so excited by this premise because it sounded like it was being executed with maturity and thoughtfulness. It felt relevant, focusing on the dangers that arise when man’s scientific advances are undermined by his greed and selfishness, leading to suffering and death. It seemed like we were finally getting a game with the courage to eschew the conventions that made so many other entries in the genre seem trivial.

Then I heard about plasmids.

The gamer in me knew that telekinesis would be “a hoot.” Do I want to light enemies across the room on fire with my mind? Yes, yes I do. But something didn’t feel right. I found myself not excited by this news, but kind of deflated. What seemed to be a parable of man’s failings suddenly turned into “a shooter.” Not because there would be combat, I knew that would in the game from the start, but it felt like the narrative was being sidestepped to make the combat more varied. More variety isn’t necessarily bad, but the logic of the game’s premise was suddenly broken. I can believe that genetic alteration could make a person stronger, or faster, or smarter, but I don’t see how altering your DNA suddenly could grant you the ability to make objects float with your mind. How does that happen? How can you light things on fire from a distance? There is no scientific basis for this, certainly not one that could have been achieved in the last century.

The real problem here is that in trying to expand the gameplay, the developers damaged the potency of the game’s theme. Once the characters had magical powers, the cautionary tale of mankind reaching too far held less impact for me. Genetic manipulation is a real issue in our world, but I’m not worried about pyrokinetics running around starting fires with their minds. So what happens for me internally is that I dismiss the dangers that BioShock warns of, because they aren’t a real threat to my life. At the very least the theme was diminished.

A friend of mine said after playing the demo something to this effect: “I just want to run around in this world, I don’t care about finding new weapons and powers. Just give me this reality.” I agree wholeheartedly. I’m not immune to the pressures of making money with a game that cost a lot to create, so I understand the business behind showcasing the game’s combat. But we have to start finding ways of staying true to our visions and reaching the audience regardless.

-Jason