Zeal For Truth

I am Andrew Ryan and I am here to ask you a question:
Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his own brow?

No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor.
No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God.
No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone.

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something
different. I chose the impossible. I chose…
Rapture.
-Andrew Ryan

The year is 1946. Disillusioned with war and perceived religious and political authority, business mogul Andrew Ryan secretly begins building an escape, a utopia free from the parasites of Marxist altruism and religious scrutiny. He built Rapture, a city where man could build, where a man could make himself by his own merit, where a man could be free from moral entanglements and social obligations. He built “Rapture,” at the bottom of the sea. He invites all the great minds and free-thinkers to relish in his wonderland of libertopia, free to do as they please, how they please.

And then, in 1958, it all fell apart.

So begins the story of Bioshock, the newest game for XBOX 360 and PC from 2K, makers of System Shock and System Shock 2. Set in 1960, the story tells of an Objectivist dystopia at the height of ruin. You, the narrator, crash land into the mid-Atlantic near a mysterious island containing a lone lighthouse. You enter the lighthouse, board a bathysphere, and descend to the depths of Rapture. Leaking and crumbling, and apparently victim of its own design, you must fight the denizens of the genetically malformed and psychologically disturbed to discover its secrets, and its powers.

Unbridled by regulations and rules, scientists in Rapture discover the way to unlock the power of the human genome. Andrew Ryan creates (discovers?) Plasmids, a genetic code that gives humans additional strengths and powers including telekinesis, fire, ice and electricity and powered by EVE, a substance that acts as a fuel. Another substance, ADAM, enhances the ability of plasmids, but also weakens the physical/brain barrier, requiring more and more ADAM to maintain sanity. Soon, the residents of Rapture, horribly transfigured and addicted to ADAM, go crazy. And revolt.

The Philosophy of Rapture
Bioshock raises two important issues behind its symbolism:
1) Is this a game showing the futility of Objectivism, and its consequences? or…2) is this a game showing that regardless of intentions, man eventually falls to its basest of levels?

The makers of this game never tell us, which allows much room for interpretation.

If we assume #1, then creators have made some inherent flaws and assumptions, through which most can be attributed to #2. But before we start, let’s begin with some basic definitions.

Objectivism (from Wikipedia, a decent summarization) states:

Objectivism holds that there is mind-independent reality; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement and form valid concepts by measurement omission; that the proper moral purpose of one’s life is the pursuit of one’s own happiness or “rational self-interest”; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform abstract knowledge, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and respond to with the whole of one’s consciousness.

It is your moral duty to pursue your own self-interests, as long as those interests do not interfere or destroy the individual rights of others. This basic concept is key behind the objectivist movement, and a founding principle of (L)ibertarianism. It is also this concept that the game appears to make as its base in theory, but it could be argued that it was not Objectivism that brought Rapture down, but the fact that it was not quite Objectivist enough.

Food for Thought, and for Skeptics
Now I know by now many of you are thinking “BUT! IT’S JUST A GAME! YOU’RE CHASING SMOKE ON A WINDY DAY!” Well, possibly. But with it being the #1 selling game on XBOX, and with 9.8/10 or higher in most game review magazines, there is no doubt that this game will be played. Also, given its thought provoking plot, there is little doubt it will many raise questions. Consider also the Randian basis that this game builds upon, including the symbolism which alludes to famous works and characters of her novels. With names like Andrew Ryan….Frank Fontaine…Atlas…it’s not hard to see Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and notice it’s more than just coincidence. Like a good book, or a good movie, this game was meant to raise questions and be explored.
Continue reading ‘Game Review - Bioshock: Welcome to Rapture’