Bioshock 2

[Revy]

I've played some of this game and I am wondering if it stays this bad, at least from an ideological perspective. I guess it's OK from a gameplay perspective, although I find the Little Sister extremely annoying, to the point where I only saved the first one, and I've continued harvesting (which is eating them?) them (kind of demented, but whatever).

but anyway, I never played the first Bioshock in full, only the demo, but I got from that of what the game was about. but in Bioshock 2 I was annoyed by this whole backstory about the "collectivist" villain Dr. Sofia Lamb destroying Andrew Ryan's Objectivist utopia, or maybe I haven't played enough to understand it that well. I guess an underwater city is cool, but if it's based on the ideas of Ayn Rand I can understand hating it. But Lamb is more like a cult leader type than someone who can really be portrayed as a commie.

so....could someone who's played the first one give me some perspective on what kind of ideology this game is really pushing, if it's pushing any kind of politics at all....

[Glenn Beck]

The first one was not very strongly political, the Objectivist villain Ryan was portrayed as essentially an amoral crackpot in a city of amoral crackpots, and was ultimately being manipulated by elements more astute and fiendish than he.

The second one is basically a gigantic retcon of the first, with the portrayal of Ryan turning far more apologetic in tone. If you pay attention the the audio logs it paints a picture of a tragic idealist being taken advantage of and kept out of the loop by nefarious plotters who don't share his high-minded views. Sofia Lamb who didn't even exist in the original is retconned into the game as a major character who was there essentially since the beginning, along with some changes to the details of the big daddy project. Ultimately the game is pretty awful plotwise and completely derivative in terms of gameplay, visually it has not really improved at all. In fact though the graphics obviously have not gotten worse, the art direction certainly has. There are far fewer impressive open areas and far more soulless and generic corridors. The levels don't have the degree of distinctiveness that the ones in the original did, though some do stand out.

If I had to say the game was "pushing" any ideology it would be a neoliberal centrism. It criticizes both "collectivism" and "individualism" although the portrayal of individualism is more that of an admirable but inapplicable idea; the "collectivism" of Sofia Lamb is portrayed as an unsympathetic fanaticism. There are also pretty strong sexist undertones insofar as her ideology is portrayed as that of a stifling totalitarian mother figure whose followers wish to return to a prenatal bliss free from individuality.

Both games have elements of elitism and the degree to which "the masses" are prone to populist manipulation is a major plot point in both games. The plot can thus be interpreted coherently from basically any point on the spectrum of broadly centrist neoliberal technocratic politics, depending on how much weight one gives to the different plot elements. All in all the second game is both more political and less compelling than the first.

[MarxSchmarx]

The first one was not very strongly political, the Objectivist villain Ryan was portrayed as essentially an amoral crackpot in a city of amoral crackpots, and was ultimately being manipulated by elements more astute and fiendish than he.

The second one is basically a gigantic retcon of the first, with the portrayal of Ryan turning far more apologetic in tone. If you pay attention the the audio logs it paints a picture of a tragic idealist being taken advantage of and kept out of the loop by nefarious plotters who don't share his high-minded views. Sofia Lamb who didn't even exist in the original is retconned into the game as a major character who was there essentially since the beginning, along with some changes to the details of the big daddy project. Ultimately the game is pretty awful plotwise and completely derivative in terms of gameplay, visually it has not really improved at all. In fact though the graphics obviously have not gotten worse, the art direction certainly has. There are far fewer impressive open areas and far more soulless and generic corridors. The levels don't have the degree of distinctiveness that the ones in the original did, though some do stand out.

If I had to say the game was "pushing" any ideology it would be a neoliberal centrism. It criticizes both "collectivism" and "individualism" although the portrayal of individualism is more that of an admirable but inapplicable idea; the "collectivism" of Sofia Lamb is portrayed as an unsympathetic fanaticism. There are also pretty strong sexist undertones insofar as her ideology is portrayed as that of a stifling totalitarian mother figure whose followers wish to return to a prenatal bliss free from individuality.

Both games have elements of elitism and the degree to which "the masses" are prone to populist manipulation is a major plot point in both games. The plot can thus be interpreted coherently from basically any point on the spectrum of broadly centrist neoliberal technocratic politics, depending on how much weight one gives to the different plot elements. All in all the second game is both more political and less compelling than the first.

Phooey I was looking forward to playing it, now I am not so sure. That is really lame that the sequel couldn't live up to the original, esp. a place like 2k and bethesda. I guess it just goes to show the shortcomings of the franchise model.

[Glenn Beck]

Phooey I was looking forward to playing it, now I am not so sure. That is really lame that the sequel couldn't live up to the original, esp. a place like 2k and bethesda. I guess it just goes to show the shortcomings of the franchise model.

If you have a PC that can run it, it's worth pirating. Otherwise skip it or rent it (do people rent games anymore)? I sure as hell wouldn't pay 50 bucks for a game I beat in a weekend, especially one which such irritating aspects.

[Taikand]

You could try Half-Life 2, if you didn't.
The fascist city at the beginning is interesting.

[thatdevious]

The multiplayer is a real let down. Overall, not worth the 70 euros I paid for it. Do yourself a favor and rent it instead.