BioShock: The Collection - A Worthy Remaster?

Before BioShock: The Collection was released, it was a good many, many years since I last played the first two games, and to be honest I only really played them so I could play BioShock Infinite. Don’t get me wrong, there wasn’t anything wrong with the first two games, BioShock was simply a series that passed me by. That is, until I started to learn about the, at the time, recently released BioShock Infinite and decided that it was time to pull my finger out and buy them all.

I was pleasantly surprised with BioShock. I found it to be a genuinely enjoyable game, aesthetically beautiful, and I sincerely enjoyed my time down in Rapture. However, I must admit, by the time I reached the sequel, I was getting a little impatient to play BioShock Infinite, so I found myself blasting through BioShock 2 as fast as I could, and I never really took the time to appreciate the game. Then I finally reached BioShock Infinite. My word, what a visually and audibly stunning masterpiece this game is, truly. Not only that, but the characters are endearing, and the story is captivating. I defy anyone to play this game and feel disappointed by these aspects.

Anyway, why we are here today? Well, I would like to discuss BioShock: The Collection, made up of the trilogy of BioShock games which have now been given the old make-over treatment, something which is quite evident as soon as you reach BioShock’s main menu. From the outset, you can tell that this game, which was visually outstanding already, has been kicked up a notch, right? The question posed in the title is - was the remaster worth it? Well, let’s take a look.

Without the menu text, this would make quite the desktop wallpaper.

I'm mostly going to focus on the first BioShock game, for now, so let's dive in. When compared with many of the recent ‘HD remakes’ of certain games (not naming names, but looking in distinct directions), the BioShock remastering is, for all intents and purposes, a somewhat successful endeavor, though not a complete success. There are a number of issues that I feel lower the overall quality of the games. Firstly, in this particular remaster, gushing water appears to look worse than it did in the original game. Splashing water just sticks out like a sore thumb against the other watery assets, and if you check out the various comparison videos that are available online, I have no doubt that you would agree. Normally this wouldn’t be too much of an issue, but considering this is a game where water is an integral element for the surroundings, you would imagine they’d have water as an artistic priority. The overall wet look for the walls, metal, floors, etc… also seems to have been toned down, I mean, again, this story takes place entirely underwater, the whole city should be incredibly moist. There is also the fact that I somewhat miss the bloom effect that was present in the original game. I think that it added quite a lovely quality to the aesthetic of Rapture, and now things look a little too crisp in my opinion; to add to that, some parts of Rapture actually look cleaner than they did in the original version of the game and this is something which I feel was a mistake in regards to the remaster because now the ruins of this city no longer look as dingy, as grimy as they once did. While this isn’t a terrible remaster, it does contain more than enough issues that should’ve been fixed in order for this collection to be a near-perfect remastering of the originals. As an aside, I have heard a number of people mention that they have experienced frustrating bugs while playing the game, but I must say that I am yet to experience a single bug or glitch.

Moving on though, while I can most certainly say that this remastered collection as a whole requires more than a little bit of polish, I just found it so immensely enjoyable to be reliving my experience in Rapture. It is also wonderful that new players to the franchise get the chance to delve into the ruins of this once great city for the very first time. There is not a doubt in my mind that many of them will love it as much as I did.

Despite the aforementioned graphical “downgrades” presented in the game, BioShock still manages to look rather stunning, and I don’t think many of the issues will be all that noticeable unless you are actively looking out for them, or are viewing a side-by-side comparison of the two versions. The Splicers look as fucked up as ever. The Splicers have always been so intriguing; They are the last remaining denizens of this majestic underwater city, now utterly deformed beyond recognition and addicted to ADAM. They are as vile and disgusting as they were before, but thanks to a few model tweaks here and there and a few texture upgrades, these poor mutated souls are as unsettling as possible. Of course, the Big Daddies are back and just as menacing as you remember, having also received their own ever so slight model tweaks and visual upgrades.
 

You’d think that the Splicers would’ve learnt to not piss off the Big Daddies by now.

I would dearly love to say that BioShock: The Collection was a success, but I’m not sure if it’s just nostalgia talking, and, to be fair, one must simply remember that no game, particularly remastered editions of older games, is perfect. There’s always some give and take, and don’t get me wrong, not everything looks worse than before, some things do look a whole lot more impressive this time around, but there are still the occasional number of cock-ups (including a few issues with the audio). But why dwell on the negatives when there is so much more to be pleased with?
BioShock 2 also features both the improvements and shortfalls of the BioShock remaster so I don’t really see the need to repeat myself discussing them here, but allow me to move quickly on to the game that cemented my love for this universe – BioShock Infinite; A game that takes place, not far beneath the surface of the sea, but rather far above the clouds in the heavens above.

So, to start off, there is one thing I must note in regard to this remastered collection: BioShock Infinite has not actually received any real graphical updates at all. This is due to the fact that this third installment in the franchise is considered to be up to (now)current-gen standards. I can’t really argue with that, because let’s face it, this game remains one of the most beautiful games ever released and is without a doubt one of the most striking that I have ever played. While looking through my Steam screenshot folder for any caps to use for this article, It became immediately obvious to me just how much I seem to have loved the visuals in this game. I currently have a staggering 893 screenshots for BioShock Infinite (including the various DLC), though many of those are from mashing the screen capture key to try and get the best shot possible.

Particularly for this moment.

There are a few changes to some of the effects in BioShock: Infinite, such as a reduced bloom effect, but at least it is still present in this game, unlike with BioShock. It is a shame that there is no new content for BioShock Infinite. As this game was included in the collection, and such additional work went into the previous games, it would have been an absolute treat to be given a reason to play through this story once more in the form of… something, anything that adds even more depth to this world. Hell, a few more scenes with the Lutece twins would have been outstanding (they are two of my favorite side-characters in any game I have ever played). For someone such as myself that has replayed BioShock Infinite a countless number of times, it would’ve been nice to see something new, but hey, it’s just the way it is. Not that the lack of new content would ever diminish my love of the game, not in the slightest. I will continue revisiting Columbia, the city in the sky, whenever the mood takes me. I will be there to see the story unfold time and again, to rediscover the connections with the first game, to interact with truly memorable characters like Elizabeth, the Luteces, Daisy Fitzroy, Slater, and not forgetting that magnificent Song Bird. It feels odd to love these games so much, but that just goes to show how unique these games really are. I cannot congratulate Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games, and of course those at the various 2K studios for their unmitigated success with the BioShock franchise.

It is time to wrap this article up, my dear readers, so let us return to the question in the title - Overall, is BioShock: The Collection actually worth it? Honestly, as much as I would love to say yes, I'm not sure. At the time of writing, BioShock: The Collection is retailing at £24.98 for the PS4, and unless you’re brand new to this universe (or just want to repurchase the games for your current-gen consoles), I’m not sure I’d bother just for the few things you can actually call an upgrade. If, however, you are brand new to BioShock, by all means, go for it as you’ll be unable to find the individual games for sale (excluding Infinite) for those current-gen consoles, it will definitely be worth your time to experience these stories and characters. To avoid ending on a negative, I would like to say that, despite the flaws in this remastering, it was a gift to be able to return to Rapture once more, and I genuinely believe old fans will get a real kick out of revisiting the city where it all began, to play all three games (and DLC) back to back, and to see the trilogy tied together nicely.

Right then, that’s it from myself. Would you kindly comment down below telling me what you thought of BioShock: The Collection? What did you like about it? Was there anything you felt let down about? What would you have liked to have seen included / changed in the games? If you need a visual comparison for yourselves, be sure to check out the comparison trailer for the collection right here:

Image Credit: 2K Games, Irrational Games.