Some games or series are iconic, it does not matter what genre you like, you know that these games are supposed to be played, that they have something no other game has or had at the time. That is 2K’s Bioshock series.

A few years ago, I was given the opportunity to play Bioshock 1, my boyfriend bought it for me on Steam and said “this game is amazing, you will love it”. My issue at the time, and to this day, is I suck at keyboard and mouse, having grown up on Nintendo 64 and console gaming. I attempted to play Bioshock with keyboard and mouse, not only did I suck, the game also creeped me out, so I quit.

Now I have had the opportunity to play Bioshock again, and my boyfriend has earned himself an “I told you so” since these games are definitely amazing a second time round. Although Bioshock 1 & 2 had already been remastered and re-released back in 2016, releasing the collection on the Nintendo Switch has opened the door to all console and PC gamers, so no matter who you are or what your console of choice is you can enjoy this series.

Bioshock 1, originally released in 2007 for PC and Xbox 360, then later to PS3, by 2K Games and developed by a few different studios mainly Irrational games and 2K Marin is the first part of the collection. Bioshock tells the story of Rapture, the city under the sea; the year is 1960 and this underwater city is free from society rules and regulations, scientists have been given free reign to discover and manufacture whatever they desire. You find yourself crash landed in the sea right before Rapture and must navigate the city to find the truth of how it all went so wrong and why all the citizens have been driven mad.

For those who have not played Bioshock, it is a first-person shooter where you walk the streets of Rapture fending off attacks from the citizens, who have gone insane. They’re now called “Splicers”, genetically altered or spliced humans, hence their name. Some have special abilities; they can throw electricity and fire at you, some have blades for hands while some use common guns to attack but all have been mutilated and look horrific in appearance. You, yourself, gain abilities as you work through the game with your main weapon being a gun, but the game does offers you abilities called “Plasmids” you can wield with your hands. Using Plasmids cost energy called “Eve”, you’ve got your health bar and your Eve bar in the top left corner.

Buying new Plasmids cost a substance called ‘Adam’, this aspect of the game opens up the moral dilemma aspect and boy is it a doosy. Adam can be harvested from enemies called “Little Sisters” and as the name suggests these are little girls who walk through Rapture looking for Adam for themselves. Little Sisters are protected by Big Daddies, who essentially look like old school diving suits. These guys are tough and protect their Little Sister to the death. Your moral dilemma; save the little girl by extracting the Adam out of her and setting her free or harvest all the Adam within her thus killing her in the process. Your choices affect the game ending, so choose wisely.

The artwork and design for Bioshock is amazing, the game has been remastered but has aged incredibly well. Under the ocean, you can just imagine what a city could look like and Bioshock puts you right there. The game is set in the 1960’s and the ads and marketing around the city paints the perfect image of that time. The characters are realistic and very well designed, down to every morbid detail.

The music and sounds are intense and make the whole gameplay more hyper realistic, the music is vintage as well, with record players sprinkled around and in some parts of the city you can hear the water that surrounds you. Even when a Splicer is nearby, they often mutter to themselves insane things and Big Daddies have these awful moans that make their presence known. It is all very eerie.

Bioshock 2, is a direct sequel to Bioshock, released 3 years after the original. The game plays along similar to the original game except this time round you are playing as a Big Daddy. You have access to the same Plasmids and weapons and while the game feels a lot like the original, the characters are given slight upgrades making them look a little more realistic.

The game bugged out a couple times for me during this experience; once during a boss battle and the bad guy literally disappeared so I had to go to my last save and then the game crashed and I lost all my saves and had to start the level again. The art style and music are all much the same to the original Bioshock, it’s only the story that seems to have changed.

Bioshock Infinite, originally released 2013, sticking to the 3-year gap theme, developed by Irrational games, has also aged incredibly well to the point it seems the game didn’t require any major changes. Bioshock Infinite tells a completely different story and is based in a different place, the city in the air, Columbia, 1912. You are Booker Dewitt; an agent sent to collect a girl and take her to New York. The game play is also similar to the other BioShocks; you have your guns and special powers although in Columbia they are this time called “Vigors”, Bioshock Infinite has a lot of political, racial and religious story arcs, the game has you really feeling for the plight of the city and its people. Some games go beyond just shooting things and really ask you questions that you should take out of the game and explore in real life. The art is a lot more vibrant in this one as you are up in the sky not under the sea. The characters look great and the music and historical references are fantastic.

I thought the handheld mode on the Switch would lose some of the appeal, but I found the game stunning and easy to play on both T.V. screen and handheld. The controls on all three games were easy to use; left side was for using your Plasmids/Vigor abilities and right side your gun. Throughout, all the games I’ve played in both handheld and T.V, I definitely prefer it on the T.V. using my controller, I think if I was unable to use the T.V. to play I’d have had issues with the fiddliness. The gameplay is still fully functional and immersive but the Switch console isn’t something I can hold for hours on end unlike the Nintendo controller.

Overall, if you only have a Switch, I recommend these games, if you have a PC or PS4/Xbox, I also recommend these games still. The Bioshock Collection is a must have, and now you can, as it is available on all major consoles, so there is no excuse really.

Written by: Jordy Lowe