Last night I was talking to my brother-in-law, Tim, who had just finished the spellbinding PS2 masterpiece, Ico, and we were both acknowledging the experience as support for the potential of video games to realize 'big A' Art ambitions. Ico is that good.I haven't been following Ebert's "video games are inherently inferior to film and literature" blather, and don't plan to. However, while I might concede that as a whole, the medium may lean to the entertainment side it has the potential for Art. Ico and it's 'sibling', Shadow of the Colossus, both staggeringly artistic in their vision and execution, are just two games that have realized that potential. It's even been argued that Ico, a subtle, dream-like 'fairy tale' of a game, might have been too artistic for the collective gamer audience.
Now, the initial reviews are hitting for BioShock, the eagerly anticipated Xbox 360 title being released this Tuesday. And they are rave. My hope is that the market hears Games Radar's caution below and supports this 'mesmerizing masterpiece'. If it's everything the gaming press is saying it is, I'm sure we'll be lavishing our own praise in the coming weeks.
...the only glaring weakness we can find in BioShock is that it may be too unusual, too original, too artistic and too genius to be embraced by the general public. Please don't let this game become that forgotten, one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
Image ©2007 Take-Two Interactive
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