BioShock: The Collection (Switch) Review

There is always a lighthouse

The last collection to be released by 2K Games on the Switch is by no means least, Bioshock. That name carries a certain weight to it, one that personally I don’t think X-COM or Borderlands have. Not to say thateither of those series aren’t fantastic, but to me Bioshock is on a whole other level. Whether is it the subversive nature of the first game, one that we forever be remembered for ‘That’ twist. Or how Bioshock 2 took the lore from the first game and expanded on it, fleshing out the world of Rapture and giving it more personality. Or how Infinite blew open the whole story of Bioshock and took it to a new level. All three games have earned the right to be called classics and many people happily call the franchise their favorite and consider its creator, Ken Levine as a real auteur in the industry.

As with X-COM and Borderlands, 2K felt that bringing The Bioshock Collection to the Switch would mean a whole new set of players could experience the rich storytelling on offer, and while I may not totally agree that this release will bring the games to a new audience, I can at least say that the port was taken good care of. Developed by Blind Squirrel, the team behind the Xbox One, PC and PS4 remasters that released a few years back, The Bioshock Collection not only includes the three games, but also the DLC from both Bioshock 2 and Infinite. However, the multiplayer component found in the original Bioshock 2 has been removed, which is understandable. All three games run incredibly well on Nintendo’s little handheld, whether in docked mode or in portable play. When playing the first to games I encountered no issues with things like lag or framerates, although there were a few times when playing Infinite where it started to chug a little. But these occurrences were few and far between, and didn’t hamper the gameplay. Of course, the game is missing a lot of the visual bells and whistles it’s more powerful counterparts enjoy. But the games still convey that distinct look and feel that the Bioshock games have.

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $49.99
Multiplayer: No

A first-person shooter set in an alternate history, where entrepreneur Andrew Ryan has built a massive underwater city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean called Rapture, Bioshock tells the story of a man who stumbles across this city after it has been through a social collapse and gets embroiled in a plot to overthrow Ryan. It is quickly discovered that the reason for the collapse of the society there was mostly dueto a drug called Adam. Adam gives the user a selection of super-human powers called Plasmids; such as being able to fire electricity from their fingertips and throw fireballs. But with this came an addiction that slowly turned the populous crazy. Throughout the game it will become apparent that there was a lot more going on under the sea than just one man’s lofty utopian vision and that Rapture was doomed from the start. One of the things I found lacking in Bioshock however is the fact that a lot of the finer points of the story can only be found in audio logs that are scattered throughout the map. These logs go in to a lot of details about the history of Rapture and the key players in its failure. Missing any of them can result in missing out on cool parts of the lore, which is a real shame.

Bioshock 2 is a direct sequel to the original game, but was not developed by Ken Levine and Irrational Games as they were busy preparing for Infinite. Bioshock was not only a critical success, but a financial one as well, so 2K games wanted a follow up but didn’t want to wait for Ken to create his ‘true’ sequel. Instead they got another of their studios, 2K Marin to take the lead and got Ken to provide input in regards to the story and design.

Set after the events of the first game, Bioshock 2 starts off by throwing a massive curveball and makes the main protagonist one of the original protype Big Daddies, the genetically enhanced guardian of the Little Sisters. Although Ken was not in direct control of the sequel it none the less manages to retain the look and feel of the first game, while managing to expand on the story in a meaningful way. Once again many of the finer story points are hidden away in audio logs, but at this point it is expected.

While Bioshock 2 was in development Ken Levine was working hard on his vision of a sequel, but it is something that we wouldn’t see until 6 years after the original games release. Bioshock Infinite changed the location, taking it from the bottom of the ocean to above the clouds. Rapture has been replaced by Columbia, a city in the sky. Instead of a broken-down society we have one that is seemingly built on a racist sensibility and cultist ideals. The core theme however is eerily similar. Plasmids are replaced by Vigors and Big Daddies are replaced by the Songbird. It may seem like lazy writing, but it isn’t until the second half of the games that you realize that there is a reason behind the similarities, one that blew my mind when I originally played it. Out of all three games, Bioshock Infinite was the one I fell in love with the most. I felt the characters were more fleshed out and nuanced than they were in Bioshock and I even enjoyed the setting more; going from the dank, dark corridors or Rapture to the open air and blue skies of Columbia. But it is only by playing all three that you truly get a sense of what is going on in both these worlds and what connects them.

As well as the games and the DLC, the collection also includes a director’s commentary for Bioshock, which can be unlocked through gameplay; as well as the Museum of Orphaned Ideas which is a collection of unused ideas. These are pretty cool additions, especially the commentary.

As a package The Bioshock collection delivers, but once again (as has been with the other two 2K collections on Switch) the issue of value raises its head. Yes, fifty bucks for three fully fleshed out games and all their DLC seems like good value. But only if the only console you own is a Switch. This collection released 4 years ago on PC, Xbox One and Playstation4 and as such can be picked up for a fraction of that price nowadays. The games also play much better on these platforms, with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X recently getting a 4K 60fps update. I guess it comes down to whether you think having versions of these great games on the go is worth the cost. But for me, no matter how good these games are, I would recommend waiting for a price drop.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • All three games
  • Mostly great performance
  • Still riveting to play
Bad
  • Price
  • Slight performance issues with Infinite
8
Great
Written by
News Editor/Reviewer, he also lends his distinct British tones to the N4G Radio Podcast. When not at his PC, he can be found either playing something with the word LEGO in it, or TROPICO!!!