“I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose…Rapture.”

I will always choose Rapture.

As some of you know, the original BioShock is my favorite game of all time. I could expound on this in a zillion words, but suffice to say, I adore it. It changed the way I looked at games (amongst other things) forever.

I don’t take those statements lightly.

I have played through each of the BioShock games (the first, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite) in order of release, however I’m unsure if I ever finished the Minerva’s Den DLC for the second, and I deliberately didn’t play the Burial at Sea DLC for Infinite as I had a plan. That plan is this month’s game challenge.

I will play each BioShock (in order of release), as well as all non-multiplayer DLC.

I gotta tell you, this isn’t a task, it’s a gosh darn treat.

The last time I played the original BioShock was several years ago. I’ve been itching for a reason to go back to Rapture, and now I have it.

I waited to play the Burial at Sea DLC, as I wanted to play it at the end of this trilogy to cap the experience. To say I’m excited is a drastic understatement.

And as much as I know BioShock 2 got a lot of negative attention, I adored it. It contains one of my favorite moments in any video game ever, and for that, it has my respect. I didn’t see that moment coming, and it turned the experience on its head.

When I originally played the first, when the big reveal happens, I felt wronged. I felt like all I had taken for granted in this game, in any game, was called into question, and I loved that moment. I loved that this game could make me question not just circumstances in the game world, but various aspects of the real world. I love that it turned me upside down and said, “What do you believe? What do you take for granted?”

I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

I’ve also never been as enamored with an environment as I was with Rapture. Equal parts beauty and decay, it begged to be looked at, explored. I have always been taken with urban atrophy, and this was an example I was free to wander at my leisure (most of the time).

I was always ready to learn more, so when the book by John Shirley (BioShock: Rapture) was released, I was right there, and read it immediately. It was a prequel to the events of the first game, and it brought to light many interesting points, namely, how Rapture was built initially.

I have pored over the pages of each art book for each game (Breaking the Mold: The Art of BioShock, Deco Devolution: The Art of BioShock 2, & The Art of BioShock Infinite), and been enthralled. Never has a location so captured my imagination. Columbia may have been beautiful and intriguing, but nothing can win out over the underwater city.

So, my friends, this month’s game challenge isn’t really a challenge at all, rather a completely voluntary trip through the best game series I’ve ever played.

If you need me, I’ll be under the ocean. Pass the water wings.