15 Must-Play PC Games of the Decade: Page 7 of 15

Must-Play PC Games
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9. Bioshock (2007)

Here’s the usual FPS formula: you do warfare in an urban or jungle setting, hunting terrorists or alien forces using conventional military weaponry to save innocent lives. If you’re tired of it and wanting to take on something unusual, try your hands on Bioshock. It was developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games), heavily borrowing concepts from System Shock and integrating ideas from known novelists like Ayn Rand and George Orwell. It was not given much attention at first due to its eccentricity, but gained critical acclaim after critics and gamers tried it out.

You play the character of Jack, as you guide him through the underwater utopian city of Rapture. After his airplane crashed near a lighthouse, he found a bathysphere terminus that lead him to the city of Rapture. He then tries to find a way to escape and return to the surface, fighting through zombie-like splicers and ironclad Big Daddies, while learning the city’s eventful rise to utopia up to its ultimate descent to dystopia.

Lovely tandem. Big Daddy protecting a Little Sister. Hmm… she doesn’t look like she needs one.

With FPS games swarmed by a military-based concept, Bioshock brings a breath of fresh air to the genre. People from 2K perfectly depicted the dreamy idea of living in an underwater metropolis, like giving life to the legendary city of Atlantis. 2K also did exceptionally well in balancing the game atmosphere: there’s the nostalgic, retro feel of the 60’s (the game is set in the 1960s) and the futuristic advances to living submarine life are entwined to create one of the most distinctive environments in gaming history.

The greater credit for the game’s success goes to its much-praised storyline. Revolving around the objectivist ideals of Andrew Ryan, founder of Rapture, the plot challenges players’ views on morality and social structure. Implant this theme in a survival-horror, biopunk, FPS game, mix it with some RPG elements, and voila! You get Bioshock shocking gamers in amazement.

The franchise expanded further into Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite, both garnering high ratings and awards from various gaming sites and critics. The way Bioshock plunges you right into the heart of events makes it deserving to have a spot in the list of must-play PC games of the decade.



Gamer Since: 1997
Favorite Genre: RPG
Top 3 Favorite Games:The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, Bioshock Infinite, Fallout 3: Broken Steel


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