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Bioshock: A Radio Drama Part 1

The first of a two part adaptation of the popular franchise Bioshock, this audio drama takes a behind the scenes look at the history of the infamous underwater city called Rapture. The source material this production gets its material from comes from both the first Bioshock video game and a novel written by Jon Shirley. It follows the book quite well, but you don’t have to know the story Rapture in order to appreciate the story.

For this unfamiliar with the backstory of bioshock, here’s a quick summary: An wealthy man named Andrew Ryan has plans to build a city under the sea. The people will govern themselves in a laissez faire society. As stated several times by Ryan himself, what is the difference between a man and a parasite? The political thought experiment brought to life is what makes Bioshock so original and unique. Everything goes along perfectly at first, but when a man by the alias of Frank Fontaine steps inside the city of Rapture, things go down hill quick. If you’re already familiar with the world of Bioshock, you’ll know that the glory days of Rapture don’t last forever. if they did there wouldn’t be a story.

This first part focuses on the creation and daily life in Rapture and ends right before start of the decline. Hence why part one has a subtitle of “the Rise of Rapture.” It was amazing experiencing the history in depth, such as the genesis of Adam and Eve.

Where this work truly shines is with its actors. The man who plays Andrew Ryan sounds like the man from the video games. Same with Frank Fontaine. That being said, the one real drawback is the radio filter applied to the monologues in between scenes. The effect peaks and clips often, making it hard to listen to without wincing.

All in all, Bioshock: A Radio Drama is more than deserving of this rating, considering the amount of care and talent went into the production and adaptation of a popular video game series into the world of audio.

5/5 Stars

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