Have you played the BioShock PC demo yet? Incredible stuff. Be sure to get the updated video drivers (NVIDIA or ATi) to really appreciate the moist splendor.

A while back I wrote at length about Storytelling in games. And at the risk of spoiling the demo (you haven't played it yet? Get Cracking!), I'd love to talk about it here. What's going on with BioShock? What storytelling techniques are being used?

One of the reasons the game is so compelling is because multiple storytelling tricks are being layered over one another. I counted a couple of brief cutscenes, both done in the first person (the opening sequence and the first time you inject a plasmid). At another point, there's a kind of interactive cut-scene, where you can watch a big daddy in action from behind a glass wall. But the majority of the storytelling is done while you're in-game, usually through radio contact or Half-Life-style mini-scenes or bits of dialogue happening around you. That's how your story is told. (This is technique 2 in my storytelling essay, if you're following along at home.)


But there's more going on, under the surface (pun intended). Obviously Andrew Ryan created what he thought would be an underwater paradise, but something went terribly terribly wrong. What happened to Rapture? You start to find the clues as you adventure through the game. That's technique 3 in my storytelling essay: discovering a buried story piece-by-piece.

But there's even another story hinted at in the demo, which remains a mystery until you play the full game. What's the story with your character's past? What's with the chain tattoos on your wrists? Where were you headed the night the plane crashed? (And I've been wondering ... what kind of person randomly injects himself with strange liquids he finds in ruined, blood-soaked nightmare cities? That's probably a personality flaw).

There's no doubt that BioShock has some solid gameplay, but the storytelling is the real kicker. It's what takes the title over-the-top, what makes you hunger to play the next chapter. Unlike movies or books, the story is experienced, not told -- dialogue is minimal. That's what makes games unique compared to other media.

Of course, we'll have to wait for the full game to discover how Ryan's utopia turned into an every-man-for-himself nightmare. The game is poised to explore a certain worldview (notice how the name "Andrew Ryan" is practically an anagram for "Ayn Rand?") and its potentially horrific consequences. Is Atlas the good guy he seems to be? Is Ryan really a megalomaniacal freak, or did he shut off surface access from Rapture to protect the rest of the world from his mistake? Only the full game has the answers. You can Order BioShock from Direct2Drive to be among the first to play the PC version...

      -Fargo