BioShock: Rapture, what was supposed to be the ultimate utopia

     Dystopian elements are all around us, whether they are in the movies, books, television, music, art, or even video games. All however seem to share one same element, that being an oppressive society, where one usually loses their sense of freedom and individuality, under the disguise of a utopia. After reading Ira Levin's This Perfect Day, and discussing dystopian literature in class, I've become more aware of it. Now, not only do obvious choices such as Lois Lowry's The Giver come to mind, but now so does the The Matrix, along with many others.

     Another prime example of dystopian fiction in today's society is BioShock. Although BioShock is a video game, it gives its players a wholesome dose of just what exactly a dystopia is like with its great backstory and almost horrifying scenery. The game takes place in the fictional "utopia" of Rapture, which is located underwater somewhere around Iceland. From the initial scenes and audio logs throughout the game we are clued in to the story behind Rapture, as well as what went wrong to turn it into the hell that it is today. It was originally devised in the 1940's by millionaire, Andrew Ryan, as a utopia to get away from the oppressive government. Seeming to almost resemble a Las Vegas underwater, it seemed as a perfect place for a getaway.

     Soon after colonizing Rapture and getting it up and running, an astonishing discovery was made. After being bitten by a sea slug, a worker with a crippled hand was amazingly healed. After some in-depth research was conducted, it was determined that these sea slugs were infected with parasites that contained a type of unstable stem cells, which were lated dubbed ADAM, which allowed those infected to essentially have superhuman abilities, such as shooting fire or lighting from their hands. While this initially seemed amazing to the citizens of Rapture, little did they know that it would have such a horrific side effect. Over time, it eventually lead to physical deformities as well as mental instability. This still didn't seem to stop the population, however. People let their need for ADAM get the best of them, and soon a civil war broke out in 1959, which eventually led to the downfall of Rapture, the so called ultimate utopia. While just about everyone was killed from the violence, a group of deranged survivors still remained, waiting for more people to arrive.

      You start off the game as a man named Jack, whose plane just crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Seeing a large building in the near distance, he decides to go investigate and finds an underwater device, which eventually leads him to the city of Rapture. Once he arrives there, he is helped navigate the city, by radio, by a man named Atlas. It is Jack's goal to maneuver past the ADAM-stricken, murderous psychopaths and the automated turret systems which are trying to kill him. Atlas helps Jack find some of the remaining "plasmids" which grant superhuman abilities and is told to kill Andrew Ryan, who is still the head of this now forsaken city. Only once Ryan has been destroyed can Jack be allowed to leave.