Eurogamer: Are the Splicers in Bioshock…Woke?

IbizaPocholo

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman


Bioshock came out way back in 2007 but it was incredibly ahead of its time in its portrayal of the game's main enemies - splicers.

Zoe Delahunty-Light dives into why their conception and execution is groundbreaking looking back, and how they could be considered woke in their depiction. From representing political issues that we recognise now, to mirroring issues found in the influencer and acting industry, the splicers found wandering the halls of Rapture are nuanced in a way we don't often get with videogame enemies.

What do you think? Was Bioshock ahead of its time? And just how much did those plaster splicers freak you out when you first played it?!
Click to expand...
 
PauloRoberto said:
Forget about all the stupidity of this article... again, if the title is a question, whoever is writing wants the anwser to be YES but knows the answer is NO.
Click to expand...
The article isn't stupid. Bioshock is a criticism of Ayn Rand, and by extension, a lot of right wing ideology. People today would hardly tolerate it without being triggered for wokeness. I think it's an interesting point honestly. Demonstrates how over the top people obsessed with being anti-woke are; often the mirror image of the political obsession they claim to be against.

Bioshock is basically the same kind of corporate total power future that Outer Worlds is, with a darker tone. And we all saw how obsessed people were with dunking on Outer Worlds 2 for any kind of anti-capitalist/anti-corporate commentary. People would probably dunk on Total Recall today for criticizing Cohaagen, or Robocop for being a corporate parody.
 
Last edited:
If people considered it "woke" then people are fucking morons…..simple as that.

I'm sooooo sick of people calling every little thing "woke" it gone beyond stupid.
 
People mistake stuff being woke in the past. There has been representation and criticism against powerful people for a long time. But in the 10s and beginning of 20s it became weird and hateful towards anyone not deemed to be in the right oppressed group. No one minds chocolate balls, but if someone puts them in the freezer and shoots them at people with a slingshot then it starts to annoy people. Or when someone puts chocolate balls in your lasagna because they think it's vital for it to be there.

So no, I don't consider past stuff woke, because wokeness is authoritarianism disguised as compassion.
 
Last edited:
Danjin44 said:
If people considered it "woke" then people are fucking morons…..simple as that.

I'm sooooo sick of people calling every little thing "woke" it gone beyond stupid.
Click to expand...
The vast majority of modern media made by big studios, be it games, films, or even books, have staff in place to ensure their products are woke enough.

Brilliant people who walk around telling designers to make the characters ugly girls and make them gay!

But before 2015 that wasn't prevalent yet.
 
Punished Miku said:
The article isn't stupid. Bioshock is a criticism of Ayn Rand, and by extension, a lot of right wing ideology. People today would hardly tolerate it without being triggered for wokeness. I think it's an interesting point honestly. Demonstrates how over the top people obsessed with being anti-woke are; often the mirror image of the political obsession they claim to be against.

Bioshock is basically the same kind of corporate total power future that Outer Worlds is, with a darker tone. And we all saw how obsessed people were with dunking on Outer Worlds 2 for any kind of anti-capitalist/anti-corporate commentary. People would probably dunk on Total Recall today for criticizing Cohaagen, or Robocop for being a corporate parody.
Click to expand...
I see that you were so eager to try to validate this stupid article taht you forgot to mention... BIoshock 2 🙃
 
PauloRoberto said:
I see that you were so eager to try to validate this stupid article taht you forgot to mention... BIoshock 2 🙃
Click to expand...
I only played the first Bioshock. If you want to discuss Bioshock 2, go for it.

Would be interesting to see the reaction to Bioshock Infinite today though. I'm sure that would be a shitshow.
 
boM4q3.gif
 
Punished Miku said:
The article isn't stupid. Bioshock is a criticism of Ayn Rand, and by extension, a lot of right wing ideology. People today would hardly tolerate it without being triggered for wokeness. I think it's an interesting point honestly. Demonstrates how over the top people obsessed with being anti-woke are; often the mirror image of the political obsession they claim to be against.

Bioshock is basically the same kind of corporate total power future that Outer Worlds is, with a darker tone. And we all saw how obsessed people were with dunking on Outer Worlds 2 for any kind of anti-capitalist/anti-corporate commentary. People would probably dunk on Total Recall today for criticizing Cohaagen, or Robocop for being a corporate parody.
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with criticizing the powerful and rich. But the difference is that first Bioshock does that intelligently and also has a great game built around it.

Outer Worlds (1&2) has badly written Marvel style Temu Whedon writing with terrible (and completely forgettable) characters, uninteresting story and mid game.

Hell, BG3 could be considered "woke" and yet a ton of people love it. There is a reason for that.
 
So they are looking for clickbaits

You know, some rare incel victories are battles that people didn't even fought
 
StereoVsn said:
There is nothing wrong with criticizing the powerful and rich. But the difference is that first Bioshock does that intelligently and also has a great game built around it.

Outer Worlds (1&2) has badly written Marvel style Temu Whedon writing with terrible (and completely forgettable) characters, uninteresting story and mid game.

Hell, BG3 could be considered "woke" and yet a ton of people love it. There is a reason for that.
Click to expand...
This still is missing the point though honestly. I think everyone would agree that Bioshock 1 and Baldur's Gate 3 are better games than Outer Worlds 1. I think everyone would agree Outer Worlds 1 has some portions with bland, poorly written dialogue / story.

What I'm discussing is the reaction to Outer Worlds 2 and the constant mocking of even attempting to criticize the powerful and rich. It was definitely mocked for even attempting to do that. If you're actually claiming there is zero culture change on the anti-woke reactionary side since 2012 then I just disagree, completely. I've seen a ton of games attacked in this manner. It is true that if it turns out to be a masterpiece people usually shut up about it and play it anyway. That happens on both sides.
 
Last edited:
Discussing this in a thread is giving them what they want.

Let them fade into obscurity before AI takes their menial mundane lives and jobs
 
Last edited:
Punished Miku said:
This still is missing the point though honestly. I think everyone would agree that Bioshock 1 and Baldur's Gate 3 are better games than Outer Worlds 1. I think everyone would agree Outer Worlds 1 has some portions with bland, poorly written dialogue / story.

What I'm discussing is the reaction to Outer Worlds 2 and the constant mocking of even attempting to criticize the powerful and rich. It was definitely mocked for even attempting to do that. If you're actually claiming there is zero culture change on the anti-woke reactionary side since 2012 then I just disagree, completely. I've seen a ton of games attacked in this manner. It is true, that if it turns out to be a masterpiece, people usually shut up about it and play it anyway. That happens on both sides.
Click to expand...
The mocking is coming from the fact that Obsidian is owned and being paid by a $4 Trillion corporation.

Corporation that has been spending ungodly amount of money on AI and firing employees while making shitty products, mind you.

The game is still mid and still has the bad writing and characters. If the game was actually good and not merely "Good Enough for Gamepasa", the situation would be different.
 
Last edited:
Punished Miku said:
I disagree. That's really just the easiest method of insult. It's coming from a much broader culture shift.
Click to expand...
You don't see the dissonance?

Again, all of that and even woke material would be excused (see BG3) if it was a good and well written game.

The game writing, dialogue, characters are what causing the pushback. And then you have a studio that is owned by a huge corporation that is not liked by anyone making snarky points against capitalism? Meh.
 
Sorry guys, Bioshock was a dumb monster movie that was somehow hailed as offering critique of Randian objectivism by a critical establishment desperate to prove their political bona-fides.

Truly one of the worst cases of stage-dressing taken as meaningful subtext in the history of gaming.
 
What an absolute load of shit........

I am a hugae Bioshock stan and have never once thought of the splicers as woke, absolute bait that the "modern audience" website is now using it's own outdated language such as "woke" to try and be relevant.

insufferable website
 
Smells like desperation. How long until some large conglomerate fires 2/3 of them and has the other 1/3 writing guides and wikis?
 
StereoVsn said:
You don't see the dissonance?

Again, all of that and even woke material would be excused (see BG3) if it was a good and well written game.

The game writing, dialogue, characters are what causing the pushback. And then you have a studio that is owned by a huge corporation that is not liked by anyone making snarky points against capitalism? Meh.
Click to expand...
As I said, it's an easy insult because of the dissonance but it's not at all the cause of any culture shift. No one gives a shit that MS is a trillion dollar company. One of the right's favorite PEOPLE is soon to be a trillionaire.
 
Last edited:
Well everything is woke according to some peoples

docs.google.com

Woke Content Detector's Curated List of Games

docs.google.com docs.google.com

parks and red sigh GIF


Imagine following this list on what to play and not to play, you won't have much left.

Bioshock : "Contains LGBTQ+ messaging. According to creative director Ken Levine, the minor NPC Sander Cohen is gay. In-game audio logs allude to possible homosexual interactions. Pro- or anti- is unclear"

Oh noes! Not the possible gays in an audiolog!
 
Typical desperate tactic of wokies trying to pass off old beloved fictions as woke to prove a point. No, Bioshock is not woke.

Having a diverse cast and social commentary doesn't make a story woke. This has been normal for decades. It's all about how you do it. Movies like Alien or Predator have diverse cast. No sane person would call them woke. The key is that no character is treated as the avatar of a demographic group to deliver a political message.

Bioshock works very well as a dystopian world with a weird mix of marxism and capitalism. Games like The Other Worlds don't have that kind of worldbuilding and narrative consistency because characters discuss present social issues in a setting where they don't belong.
 
Clear said:
Sorry guys, Bioshock was a dumb monster movie that was somehow hailed as offering critique of Randian objectivism by a critical establishment desperate to prove their political bona-fides.

Truly one of the worst cases of stage-dressing taken as meaningful subtext in the history of gaming.
Click to expand...
I mean it does have that subtext but it's a great game so that was mainly the dressing and not the main course.
 
Clear said:
Sorry guys, Bioshock was a dumb monster movie that was somehow hailed as offering critique of Randian objectivism by a critical establishment desperate to prove their political bona-fides.

Truly one of the worst cases of stage-dressing taken as meaningful subtext in the history of gaming.
Click to expand...
You never fail to not have dumb takes.
 
San Dan Glokta said:
You never fail to not have dumb takes.
Click to expand...

Yawn. Where's your rebuttal then ?

People like you are very quick on the trigger with the ad hominem's but typically very reticent on presenting any sort of argument in favour of whatever nonsense they are in favour of.
I wonder why that is ?

If you think I'm wrong, make a case for it, or pound sand.

The only challenge I seem to get here is to my self-control in not giving you the savage rinsing you deserve.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Gothic 1 Remake goes woke
2 3 4 5 6
272
902
Hollywood Hitman replied
EUROGAMER: If consoles are dead, how do we explain the phenomenal success of Nintendo?
2 3 4 5
225
1K
yurinka replied
Is PlayStation Portal a real handheld now? ( Eurogamer)
2
77
78
yurinka replied
When did the woke trend start in gaming?
2 3 4 5
240
15K
Major Insano replied
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers "Woke" patch receives criticism
News 
5
535
nowhat replied
Top Bottom