The Wrapping of Rapture

The historical intertextuality in the narrative and aesthetic of Bioshock (Irrational Games, 2007) actively shapes the structure and experience of its game world.

The setting in the city Rapture, makes an intertextual connection to rapture culture of the 1960s Christian America (Fishwick 2005). The narrative of Bioshock is tied to this historical context through the bizarre and terrifying cult mindsets emulated in aesthetic, character types and the moral and ethical challenges they present (Buinicki 2016). The aesthetic of Bioshock is of a decaying utopia, in which the neurosis and psychosis in the minds of Jack’s main adversaries- Splicers and Little Sisters- also eats away at the city. This dual presentation of decay and corruption, of both the mind and the world, emphasises the invasiveness of beliefs propagated by 60s cults (Fishwick 2005). The repetitive interaction with Splicers drives the game forward, as they literally chase and push Jack from space to space, level to level. This crazed and overwhelming interaction with Splicers results in a mood and tension imbued in the aesthetic presentation of the world. However, the more levels one plays through, arguably, the more habituated one becomes with the constant onslaught of Splicers. The interaction and challenge of fighting Splicers is not enough to motivate gameplay alone; Bioshock then requires additional narrative foils and plot lines players to maintain player interest in the game.

Little Sisters in Bioshock also present a cultural and narrative foil for 60s rapture culture, morality and the player’s key mode of ethical engagement with the game. Little Sisters are children containing a biologically mutative substrate ADAM –which is a biblical reference to Genesis and Adam and Eve. Little Sisters and ADAM are then a narrative device, evoking themes of founding humanity inherent in rapture culture dialogue. Jack can extract ADAM from the Little Sister, restoring their innocence; alternatively, Jack can harvest use the ADAM for himself. This interaction alters the narrative outcome of the game, reflecting the rapture culture belief that moral actions will result in your immediate entry into heaven, a good death, at the apocalypse (Fishwick 2005). If Jack saves the Little Sisters, at the end of the game he lives a good life and good death. If Jack harvests the Little Sisters he dies a terrible death.

The human embodiment of Little Sisters and Splicers creates a social and moral landscape in which the ethical dynamic of first-person shooter game play must occur. The choice between helping or harming Little Sisters is absent in the singular harmful mode of interaction with Splicers. If Splicers and Little Sisters were not embodied in a human form, the ethics of killing them would arguably be better. Without rapture culture intertextuality and the characterisation of Splicers and Little Sisters, the moral challenge of the game would be severely undermined: the narrative would collapse, and the game play would lose significant moment to moment purpose. The morally driven narrative encourages player immersion and ties together an otherwise nonsensical gaming experience. Bioshock is then simultaneously a game and an interactive fiction. The intertextuality provides a key connection to a historical reality, and the narrative provides a deus ex machina, keeping players invested in the product to the very end (Buinicki 2016).

References

Irrational Games “Bioshock”, 2007

Buinicki, Martin T. 2016. “Nostalgia and the Dystopia of History in 2K’s Bioshock Infinite.” The Journal of Popular Culture 49 (4): 722–37. doi:10.1111/jpcu.12440.

Fishwick, Marshall W. 2005. “Rapture Culture: Left Behind in Evangelical America.” The Journal of Popular Culture 38 (5): 967–69. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.2005.00157.x.