Anyone else think Bioshock is over-rated?

[rocketpig]

Sansui said:
A lot of discussion about the philosphy behind the story and basis on Rand's work, as well as characterization and character development (or lack of, according to some people's opinions).

To me, most of the character growth was carried out through the tape recorders that told you the past story from all these different viewpoints. People CLEARLY changed dramatically as you found different copies of their recordings, and you got to know characters you never even meet in the story (unless you count some of the ghosts). It was like unraveling the mystery of a post-apocalytpic world.

Just because the 'living' characters like the main character or Ryan don't seem to evolve over the story, doesn't mean the game lacked in the character development department. I maintain that the storytelling methods in this game were superb and a refreshing change of pace from the usual archetypal character molds going through a journey of transformation or redemption or tragedy or whatever.

I notice no one has really talked about the game's artwork very much. I work as a designer, my degree was heavily art theory, and the art direction in Bioshock is also fantastic. There are few games that have created a world so complete, styled, and captivating as Rapture

While I haven't touched on the design of Rapture (I'm a designer myself) in this thread, I have raved about it in several threads in the past.

Simply put, I think Rapture is the most intelligent, thought-out, and well designed game world to ever hit the industry. The only competition I put in the same class is Fallout, though its cheekiness puts it a notch below Rapture IMO.

It's rare in any form of entertainment to see the world itself become the main character and driving force behind a story and IMO, Irrational/2K did just that with the design of Rapture.