Gaming
Games
10 amazing BioShock facts you never knew
Learn more about the legendary series that’s being remastered for consoles this year.
BioShock Infinite’s world holds dark secrets
© 2K Games
Without question, the BioShock trilogy is one of the most discussed and respected first-person shooter franchises ever created. The way it skilfully blends its narratives with noted philosophical principles, how it consistently asks the player to think rather than simply act and its provision of some of the medium's most interesting environments make it a series to be cherished and celebrated.
BioShock: The Collection, a release featuring remastered editions of all three games and post-release single-player DLC, is coming this September, so what better time than now to uncover some of the games' less obvious components? As with the facts we uncovered about Monster Hunter, we're here to arm you with the knowledge that others don't have.
The first BioShock wasn’t originally set under the sea
Rapture, the underwater city of the first BioShock, is as iconic a videogame location as any. However, initial plans didn't include Rapture at all. In fact, an early demo of the game that would eventually become BioShock was set within the confines of a space station ravaged by monsters that had undergone genetic mutations. Prior even to that, the game was supposedly based on a tropical island populated with Nazis.
There's no telling whether or not the space station or tropical island setting would have proved to be a superior option to Rapture, but it's safe to say that most people are happy with how things turned out.
Little Sisters weren’t always Little Sisters
The Little Sisters have become one of the BioShock series' most enduring elements, the decision to save them or not standing at the heart of the original game. However, they didn't always take the form of oddly spooky little girls.
Initially, they were called 'gatherers' and they were presented as something akin to a sea slug. The problem, though, was that players didn't feel any empathy for the slugs, and so they had to be changed. Before arriving at the Little Sister idea the team of artists at BioShock creator Irrational Games had gone through concepts as wild as having the gatherers presented as dogs in wheelchairs, and what has been referred to within the studio's art team as the "frog with the tunnel in its anus."
Propaganda litters almost every wall and building
© 2K Games
Ken Levine voiced the Circus of Values
Found throughout Rapture in the original BioShock, the Circus of Values vending machines offer health boosts and ammunition to the needy. They're one of the most recognisable, and welcome, sights in the game. Less recognised about them, however, is the fact that the clown that greets you when you interact with a machine is voice by BioShock game director Ken Levine.
His recording when you arrive says the line, "Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Fill your cravings at the Circus of Values!" Should you not have enough money to make a purchase, he says, "Come back when you get some money, buddy."
BioShock Infinite’s Elizabeth was originally a silent character
Developer Irrational Games was not initially confident in its ability to build the fully-voiced, AI-driven companion character that is Elizabeth in the finished game. The problem of designing Elizabeth revolved around the fact that the team didn't want players to have to listen to a character that would regularly repeat lines of dialogue that they had already heard.
However, the decision to give her a full voice was decided upon after encountering problems as to how to have her communicate to players in a non-verbal way. This could only be achieved by taking control of the camera away from the player so that it could focus on Elizabeth, to allow her to communicate through signs. Irrational wasn't happy with undermining player control and so decided to push on with a voiced Elizabeth.
Fahrenheit 451 is referenced throughout all the games
In all three BioShock games, some form of the code '451' is required to unlock a blocked door that the player will at some point come across. Sometimes a simple 451 would do, at other times you might need to add a zero to make it 0451. Or you might even have to reverse the numbers to make it 154.
This consistent inclusion is a reference to Ray Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit 451. The same coding convention also appears with regularity in other games that BioShock developers have worked on, including System Shock, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Gone Home and Dishonored.
The allusion to Bradbury's novel is particularly relevant to the BioShock series given that both feature dystopian societies in which the powerful are seeking ways to effectively controls populations.
Schrödinger’s Cat can be found in BioShock 2
The most observant of BioShock fans will have noticed that the famous thought experiment, Schrödinger's Cat, is referenced in BioShock 2. To observe the reference you'll need to visit the Dionysus Park level, and make your way to Imago Fine Arts. Once there you'll be able to see, in all its subtle glory, a frozen cat named Schrödinger's.
For reference, Schrödinger's Cat is a thought experiment concerned with highlighting the conflict between what we perceive to be reality and what quantum theory states is reality, or possibly reality. Indeed, the questioning the nature of reality and, specifically, how we might gain getting control over how it plays out, is a major theme of BioShock Infinite.
It’s prepared to make jokes about itself
There's a particular scene in BioShock Infinite that sees Elizabeth and Booker moving through an arcade. At one point Elizabeth stops in front of a game she recognises and excitedly remarks to Booker that she heard that this game had been, "delayed three times!"
Indeed, BioShock Infinite itself had seen numerous delays prior to its eventual release, making her remark poignantly self-referential. One the series' great strengths revolves around how it intelligently uses text and dialogue to reference ideas and concepts not explicitly part of the game's core themes, giving it a more diverse, expansive sense of place.
Input the Konami code to unlock ‘Hardcore Mode’
By default, first time playthroughs of BioShock Infinite are available in Easy, Normal or Hard difficulties. A level of extreme difficulty, entitled 1999 Mode, is locked until you've played through the game in its entirety. However, if you enter the fabled Konami Code at the title screen then you can unlock 1999 Mode whenever you like.
The naming of 1999 Mode is a reference to Irrational Games' 1999 release System Shock 2, a game that offers a significantly more challenging experience than BioShock Infinite. Despite being able to unlock the mode whenever you like, we'd recommend that you become familiar with the game before you do. You've be warned.
Lifetime sales are nearly double on Xbox
All three BioShock games were born into the era of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. However, it's Microsoft's console that has seen, by a very significant margin, the greatest number of BioShock sales. As of July 2016, combined series sales of BioShock on Xbox 360 total some 6.98 million units. By comparison, PlayStation 3 sales total 4.75 million. If anything, this highlights just how dominant the Xbox 360 was over the PlayStation 3 during the course of their respective life cycles.
The 1893 World’s Fair inspired BioShock Infinite
In honour of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus setting foot on the Americas, the 1893 World's Fair, held in Chicago, was given the title 'The Columbian Exposition'. Some of the highlights of the show included Nikola Tesla's demonstration of alternating current, George Westinghouse's polyphase system as a means of distributing that current, all manner of guns and the first ever instance of a moving public walkway.
These technologies, and the sense of wonder that they inspired in people of the time, came to play a major role in shaping BioShock Infinite, and dictating how it presented its themes to the player. Even the name of Infinite's city locale, Columbia, was taken from the fair.
BioShock: The Collection releases on September 16 on PS4, Xbox One and PC. For more gaming coverage, be sure to follow @RedBullGames on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
