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Bioshock is a work of art

Bioshock is a survival horror first-person shooter video game designed by Ken Levine and developed by 2k Boston. The game plays off of Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged: led by Andrew Ryan, industrialists, artists, and scientists have retreated from the world and built Rapture, a dystopian city at the bottom of the Atlantic. When the game begins, however, the city and its citizens have been corrupted by their own arrogance, as genetically manipulated splicers creep through the corridors and hallways of Rapture. It seems like all humanity has been lost, and it is the player's objective to kill Andrew Ryan and escape Rapture. In a previous debate with USM, I argued that video games were not actually works of art. But after playing through and considering the aesthetic and philosophical depth of Bioshock, I feel compelled to recant my position. Bioshock is a work of art. It is a monumental human achievement, the magnum opus of gaming, and I would like to take this opportunity to defend it till my dying breath. I welcome anyone to take this debate, but I ask that challengers take it seriously and not attempt to derail it with semantics or other forms of silliness. I accept the full responsibility and burden of proving Bioshock is a work of art.