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As I am reading through a wiki on Bioshock it mentions Bioshock Infinite having a connection to the other titles through a theme. The theme being American Exceptionalism, which is easily noticable in Bioshock Infinite (even with it not being released yet) but not as noticable in the other two titles.

while a third game entitled BioShock Infinite by Irrational Games is presently under development, though it is only thematically connected to the previous titles

Wiki source

I've heard this talk from a die hard as well, he mention something similiar although he had a different take on the whole thing.

So how is American Exceptionalism the theme that connects the Bioshock titles?

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3 downvotes and not a single tip for improvement :c – Paralytic Dec 18 '12 at 19:39
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@Retrosaur On meta they mean disagreement. Here they mean bad question (or so the voters think). – Fluttershy Dec 18 '12 at 20:16
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I downvoted because I think trying to define what is the "theme" of a gaming series is vague and not useful. – bwarner Dec 18 '12 at 20:44
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@Luck thats what im trying to figure out, because Irrational Games has stated (so says the wiki) that they are using American Exceptionalism in their games. – Paralytic Dec 18 '12 at 21:38
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@Nacho if that was true then ppl who ask for strategies would be asking subjective questions. – Paralytic Dec 19 '12 at 2:35
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1 Answer

up vote 7 down vote accepted

American Exceptionalism is not the theme of the BioShock series.

The theme of the BioShock series is 'choice'.

Creative Director Ken Levine, on the major themes in the first BioShock:

The back of the box mentions combat alone, with no allusions to the greater themes. Did you find you had to manipulate how you presented the game to different groups?

Ken Levine: You know, marketing it as "The ultimate in first-person Objectivist shooters" is not really the right path to go.

Notice how he doesn't mention American Exceptionalism, but does mention objectivism.

Again, on the series in general:

"To me, there's two things that make a 'BioShock' game 'BioShock.' They take place in a world that is both fantastic and ridiculous. Something that you've never seen before and something that nobody else could create except Irrational, but it's also strangely grounded and believable. The other thing that makes it a 'BioShock' game, it's about having a huge toolset of power and a huge range of challenges, and you being able to drive how you solve those challenges."

[Emphasis added. Source here]

Furthermore, look at Andrew Ryan's "A man chooses, a slave obeys" and the continuously repeating "Would you kindly..." messages, as well as Delta's drive to save Eleanor in BioShock 2. Nowhere is American Exceptionalism mentioned, except as it relates to BioShock Infinite, indicating that it is not a major theme of the series, but rather a theme of that particular game.

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intermeresting, never would've thought that. – Paralytic Dec 19 '12 at 14:02

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