So, let’s chat about Bioshock 2 for a bit. It may not be everyone’s top pick in the series, but it still holds a special place in the whole Bioshock/Rapture universe. I mean, I really enjoyed it, even if it felt like some parts were just leftovers from the first game.
Now, in Bioshock 2, we got to explore some of the grittier parts of Rapture, like the slums and the not-so-fancy neighbourhoods. And then there’s that prison. I don’t know about you, but I thought that was a pretty odd choice. Like, why would Rapture even need a prison?
You see, Rapture was this super-secret underwater city that didn’t answer to any country and made its own rules. So, if someone turned out to be a troublemaker, why not just kick them out and let them be someone else’s headache? Or, if we’re being really harsh, why not just make the prison an airlock?
Andrew Ryan, the guy who built Rapture, wasn’t exactly handing out invites left and right. Living there was a privilege, so getting kicked out would be a pretty solid punishment. It’s not like you can just swim back down, right?
And let’s not forget the cost of running a prison. That’s a big drain on resources for a small city. Sure, it might be kind of selfish to make criminals someone else’s problem, but Rapture was supposed to be a utopia, and there’s no room for “parasites”.
Now, it’s worth mentioning that the Rapture we saw in Bioshock 2 wasn’t part of Ken Levine’s original vision. Maybe it messed with the city’s backstory a bit, but still, Bioshock 2 brought some cool stuff to the table. That prison, though? Definitely a weird choice for a place like Rapture.
