Great Moments in Jump Scares: Bioshock

The original Bioshock is known to be the scariest game in the series.  Its creepy atmosphere and even creepier enemies make for some wonderful moments of pure jump-out-of-your-seat fear.  In this article, we're going to look at some of the notable jump scares in Bioshock.  Keep in mind that this is by no means an inclusive list of all jump scares in the game, just a few that I find to be the most memorable.  So sit back, turn off all the lights, and enjoy!

The Morgue

Let's start off by talking about the morgue level in Bioshock.  A place with mass storage of dead bodies?  You know the developers couldn't miss out on this golden opportunity to give you a fright. Upon entering the storage area, you'll find that it's dimly lit, with giant blood splatters on the floor, and corpses lying on tables.  Towards the back of the room, you'll notice the shadow of a Splicer projected on the wall, but you can't see him since he happens to be standing around a corner (see below pic for clarification).

I have a bad feeling about this.

As you approach the back of the room, the lights abruptly flicker off, only to come back on after a few seconds.  You'll find that the Splicer has vanished without a trace.  As you head back to exit the morgue the clever and cruel Splicer will jump out at you from one of the corpse storage containers, finally relieving you of the tension, but not after causing your heart to momentarily stop.

Not-So-Dead Bodies

Towards the end of the game, you'll find that the developers had another nasty trick up their sleeves.  Throughout Bioshock you encounter countless corpses lying here and there; half-way through the game you'll get used to them and consider them part of the scenery.  However, around the time that the major plot twist occurs, you'll start encountering corpses that aren't corpses at all: they are merely Splicers lying in wait to ambush you.

Needless to say this catches you off guard, as you can never quite tell when a body is going to jump up and scream into your face.  At this point in the game, I found myself firing bolts of electricity at every single dead body I came across, just to avoid being caught by surprise.

The Dentist

This is what I consider to be the biggest scare in the game.  It's not a flashy scare involving a door banging open or someone screaming in your face, but it's just plain creepy.  There is a small dentist's office located in Bioshock, which contains a power-up and some other goodies.  Immediately upon setting foot in here, you know something is wrong.  A thick mist begins to fall from the ceiling, obscuring your view, and when it clears you'll find a nice corpse has been placed in front of you.

Do we really have to go in there?

If you decide to soldier on into the back of the office to pick up the power-up, the mist begins to briefly fall again.  As you turn around to head back, you'll find that the dentist himself (a haggard-looking Splicer) is standing right behind you, just inches from your face.  This is where people usually experience one of the following reactions:

• You don't immediately notice him standing there, but then you do a double-take before freaking out (my reaction).
• You immediately scream in fear and unload a full clip of ammo into him.

I don't know what it is, but the fact that he silently creeps up behind you still makes me shudder to this day.  This is truly a brilliant scare tactic, and one that must be seen for yourself.  If you don't own Bioshock, here is a video of the complete dentist's office experience:


And that about wraps up our look at some of the great jump scares in Bioshock.  If you guys played this game, did you find these to be memorable moments?  If not, what elements of the game scared you the most?

Bioshock Infinite Delayed to 2013, Here's Hoping For Improvement!

I'm not sure if you've already heard of this, but Bioshock Infinite has been delayed until February 2013.  It saddened me to realize I was indifferent to this news, I'm just not excited about the game.

For me, Bioshock has always been about exploring dark, creepy, mostly abandoned areas while encountering hideous mutants.  Some of the magic was lost in Bioshock 2, because the game focused more on non-stop action and much less on the slow-paced, tense exploration sequences.  In fact, scary jump-out-of-your-seat moments were completely absent from Bioshock 2.

I worry that this trend of turning the series into a Call of Duty-style non-stop gunfight will continue with Infinite.  The game features wide open environments for sniping and long range combat, but there is still hope because returning are the claustrophobic areas with the close range combat we all know and love.

Also, Bioshock Infinite does seem to retain the theme of trying to piece together what went wrong in an isolated community while you battle the vicious locals (who sadly don't seem to be complete abominations like the Splicers).  There's even hope that Infinite will have some of the creepiness from the previous games in the series.  One of the enemies is a mechanical George Washington who wields a minigun and hunts you down like the Terminator:

You'll never look at a quarter the same way again.

One look at that creepy porcelain doll face and you know you are going to dread running into these guys at close quarters.  Alright so maybe I'm a little bit excited for this game, if the devs can make sure it still feels like Bioshock (and please bring back the jump-out-of-your-seat moments!) then this one might be worth checking out.

How about you guys, are you looking forward to Bioshock Infinite?  Do you think it can reclaim the magic of the first Bioshock game?

The Freaks of Bioshock, Part 3 Finale: The Big Daddies

What do you get when you brainwash The Incredible Hulk and send him on a deep sea diving expedition? A Big Daddy of course!

Captain Nemo better be thankful he never came across Rapture.

Well not exactly, but it's as close an analogy as any.  Big Daddies are essentially the face of Bioshock, and for most gamers they are the first thing that comes to mind when this game is mentioned.

In-game, the purpose of the Big Daddies is to protect the Little Sisters while the girls cheerfully extract ADAM from the many Splicer corpses littered throughout Rapture.  Initially Little Sisters went about this task on their own.  But as you can imagine, with such model citizens as the psychopathic, ADAM-addicted Splicers, gathering ADAM was not a walk in the park (or a walk in Arcadia).  After suffering numerous Little Sister casualties, Dr. Suchong proposed to create protectors for the brainwashed girls, beginning the era of Big Daddies in Rapture.

A Big Daddy is essentially a Rapture citizen who is spliced to the extreme, giving him extreme muscle mass and agility.  The cost is a loss of humanity due to the mind control splices that are part of the conversion process.  For reasons not explained, the vocal chords of a Big Daddy are modified to give him a super deep voice which can only make moaning and growling sounds.  Lastly, the skin of the subject is removed and the subject is attached directly to a deep sea diving suit, so that the suit essentially becomes his new skin.  Due to this being a splicing process that is obviously not very desirable, volunteers were non-existent, leading to forced Big Daddy conversions.

The two types of Big Daddies encountered in Bioshock are the iconic, drill-equipped Bouncers and the rivet gun-equipped Rosies.

The Bouncer

The Rosie

As you can see from the following video, these protectors of Little Sisters do their job fairly well; any hostility towards a Little Sister is met with total brutality:



These hulking monstrosities are the most difficult enemies in the game to take down.  However, unlike the other enemies in the game, they will not attack you unless provoked, which gives you time to prepare and strategize.  Once you initiate a battle (and you must battle at least some of these guys, because you need ADAM from the accompanying Little Sisters), prepare for a thrilling experience as these gigantic tanks try to cut you in half!

This concludes our look at the many freaks of Bioshock, now get out there and mow down some Splicers!

The Freaks of Bioshock, Part 2: Little Sisters

Last time we covered the freakiest of the Bioshock characters, the Splicers.  In part 2 of this series we will look at everyone's favorite creepy brainwashed children: the Little Sisters.

If the glowing eyes don't make you run for your life, maybe the bloody syringe will.

Little Sisters were "created" in order to produce ADAM, the substance discussed in part 1.  They are girls who have been implanted with a certain sea slug, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two beings.  Using the girl as a host, the slug generates massive amounts of ADAM, which can be harvested by causing the Little Sister to vomit.  Pretty disgusting so far right?  It gets worse.


As the civil war in Rapture continued on, it was discovered that ADAM could be recycled from the blood of Splicers who had been killed in battle.  In order to perform the recycling, Little Sisters were required to extract and drink the blood of Splicer corpses.  It makes you wonder what is going on in the heads of the game developers at 2K Games.  Anyway, the Little Sisters were brainwashed into seeing corpses as "angels," which means they have no problem jamming syringes into dead bodies to withdraw and drink their blood.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

As a result of the implanted slug, the brainwashing treatment, or both, Little Sisters speak in a creepy voice worthy of a demon possession.  They cheerfully dance around the halls of Rapture, singing in their freaky voices or talking to their companions, the Big Daddies (more info to come!).

If you decide to panic and gun down every Little Sister in sight, you are out of luck.  They are immortal as long as the slug lives inside them.  However, if you play through Bioshock as an evil bastard, you can "harvest" the slugs from the Little Sisters, effectively killing them, and bringing you closer to the dark ending of the game.

The Freaks of Bioshock, Part 1: Splicers

Bioshock is a great game with an even greater atmosphere to experience.  If you can use your imagination and get past the fact that it is impossible to build such a city as Rapture, then you really feel as if you are exploring the wreckage of a once-grand underwater metropolis.  The eery environments are made even creepier due to the fact that you know you are going to encounter a myriad of the game's signature freaks, some of which will gladly appear at unexpected moments when your guard is down.

Since there are so many weird character types in Bioshock, this will be a multiple part blog series, starting with the creepiest inhabitants of Rapture: the Splicers.

The Splicers are the most common type of enemies encountered during your trip to Rapture.  They were once normal citizens who fell victim to the popular trend of splicing, which involves using a substance called ADAM to rewrite a person's DNA.  The result is that the person gains superpowers, but at the cost of destabilizing his or her body cells.  In other words, they go insane and their bodies become hideously deformed.  In addition, splicing causes a drug-like addiction, so as a result you have yourself a top-notch psychopath.  Quite a few of the Splicers are ashamed of how deformed their faces have become, and wear masks to hide it.  However the masks can be knocked off, and not all Splicers wear masks, so you are bound to be creeped out no matter what.

WHERE'S...MY.......ADAM??!!

Splicers come in many forms, such as the Thuggish Splicer (pictured above), and the Leadhead Splicer, who attack you with blunt objects and guns respectively.

There are also more super-powered variants such as the Spider Splicer, who can climb on walls and ceilings, and tend to drop down right in your face when they attack.

Spider Splicer

It is worth noting that in Bioshock 2, Spider Splicers have become extremely deformed, and are probably the creepiest enemies in the game:

Spider Splicer in Bioshock 2

One of the most challenging Splicer types is the Houdini Splicer.  This Splicer has the ability to teleport to different areas of the room, as well as the ability to blast you with fireballs when attacking you head on.

Houdini Splicer

Now, keep in mind that you encounter these cheerful citizens of Rapture in dark, quiet, abandoned locations.  Needless to say, there are plenty of jump out of your seat moments in Bioshock, and that's part of what makes this game such an entertaining experience.