Mythology And Bioshock Analytic Comparison

This study aims to compare the often opposed disciplines of ludology and narratology as they concern to the study of contemporary video games. Despite recent theoretical developments, the debate continues over whether games are configurative sets of computational rules and sequences of events meant to embody the game’s coding or immersive worlds designed to facilitate a narrative experience. In order to test the merits of each approach, each will be applied to analyses of BioShock Infinite , a first-person shooter released in 2013 by Irrational Games and 2K Studios. BioShock Infinite is fitting for such an analysis because of the way its narrative elements reflect the ludological components as well.

Game designer Ken Levine wanted to build

The player still has the option to shoot with weapons or use superhuman powers. In the world of Columbia, these abilities, are named vigors rather than plasmids. ForBioShock and BioShock 2, plasmids were a key element tied to both the setting and plot. Rapture, in part, fell due to the over-use of plasmids by its citizenry. They were a creation of the free-market Andrew Ryan instilled and his emphasis on unchecked scientific research. Vigors, on the other hand, play a minor role in the story of BioShock Infinite. They are not commonly used by the population, yet somehow easy to access for the hero Booker DeWitt.

These vigors, while less integral to the narrative, are more important to combat dynamics in Infinite. In BioShock, the main dynamic was combining the plasmids with specific weapons, like freezing opponents with Winter Blast and then smashing them into ice cubes with a wrench. In BioShock 2, the player could dual-wield plasmids and weapons for more brutal attacks. Infinite’s fighting style centers around vigor combinations, like using Murder of Crows followed by Devil’s Kiss to create a

Not only does Infinite feature fewer vigor options than either BioShock or BioShock 2 but the player is only capable of equipping two vigors at a time rather than allowing the player to cycle through all of the vigors they have earned. In the first two BioShock titles, you could choose from all of the plasmids you collected by way of a plasmid wheel, a set of gears that appeared onscreen that you could then rotate through until you found the power you wanted to use for a particular situation. You also had the option of rotating through all of your plasmids without the visual assistance of the plasmid wheel. In BioShock Infinite the plasmid (or vigors in this case) wheel has been removed. You can only cycle through two vigors in real-time. If you wish to substitute out one of these vigors, then you have to pause the game and replace one or both of the vigor slots with a new choice of