Once immersed in Rapture, BioShock’s underwater city, the plot unfolds and twists in a way rarely seen in games.

The game reveals how things went wrong in the utopian Rapture primarily through the recorded comments of its residents. More convenient versions of the diaries commonly employed by games, these recordings provide background and insight into some of the more obscure plot points, such as the little sisters, without breaking the immersion of the first-person perspective.

This device works well in the complex locale of Rapture, but raises an interesting question: Doesn’t new technology allow for more creative plot devices than somewhat contrived journals and dialogue, so ubiquitous in games?

It’s unfair to bring this up in discussing BioShock, which takes many steps forward. The game’s scripted scenes are well choreographed and acted. The flashbacks and ghosts which pass through certain areas are a particularly clever ways of getting around the narrative limitations of first-person games.

I’d like to say more, but hate spoilers. Remaining as ambiguous as possible, BioShock does a near-perfect job of conveying a complicated plot and should serve as an example for game developers of how storytelling can be handled and improved.