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The battle for Galt's Gulch: Bioshock as critique of Objectivism
- Source: Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds, Volume 2, Issue 3, Dec 2010, p. 209 - 224
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- 01 Dec 2010
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Abstract
This article argues that the first-person shooter Bioshock uses the video game medium to provide a powerful critique of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism. The city of Rapture, collapsing into chaos and violence, provides a dystopian vision of what the game suggests are the inevitable results of the laissez faire politics of Rand. Bioshock not only tells a compelling story about the dangers of Objectivism, but also encodes anti-Objectivist messages into the very mechanics of the game. I examine the game's visual, narrative and procedural rhetoric, and the ways that it counters the fiction that has acted as the conduit to spread Objectivist thought.
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