Released in 2007, BioShock immediately secured its spot in gaming history, not only with its eerie underwater world but with a twist that left an entire generation of players in awe.
The use of "Would you kindly?" as a narrative tool changed the way games engaged with the story and the player's role in it. As iconic as it was, the twist might have made a bigger impression if it had pushed the boundaries a little further.
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+ 3The story of BioShock revolves around Jack, a man who discovers himself in the fallen city of Rapture. Players are guided through the madness by Atlas, a voice that seems to offer all the right advice.
What seemed like ordinary mission instructions—"Would you kindly pick up that wrench?"—is actually a trigger phrase. Neither Jack nor the player truly made their own choices.
Every action taken up to that point was a result of deep-rooted conditioning. Delivered in a tense showdown with Andrew Ryan, this reveal completely upended what was expected. It was a critique of how choice is illusionary in video games.
Players spent years hopping from objective to objective in endless shooters, following orders without hesitation. BioShock threw that passive obedience back in their faces and asked: were you ever really in control? The development of the twist reveals just how deliberate it was.
Ken Levine, the game's director, wanted to explore the tension between free will and determinism. "Would you kindly?" was woven into the first half of the game, carefully concealed yet right before players' eyes. For many, the realization came like a punch to the gut.
You were conditioned the same way Jack was, and the game kept you blind to it until it was too late. This twist is a big reason why it's one of the most talked-about moments in gaming. It blended narrative and mechanics in a way that felt genuinely unique at the time.
click to enlarge + 3Sparing or harvesting the Little Sisters didn't feel important once you saw how it all fit into a bigger manipulation. The twist was clever, but it could have packed more punch if it had built real tension earlier.
Most of Jack's actions under mind control—battling enemies, picking up weapons, exploring Rapture—come across as sensible choices for a survivor. Since players hardly take a moment to reflect on their actions, the twist often feels more like a fascinating detail than a truly impactful surprise for some.
The real power of a mind control twist lies in the dissonance. Think about being pushed into doing something you had no desire for—something cruel or ethically questionable.
It would make the twist hit harder if you discovered later that you weren't actually in control. The idea is touched on in the Andrew Ryan scene, but it's only here that mind control feels more chilling than symbolic in BioShock.
Even subtle deviations in behavior—strange orders that don't quite make sense, unexplained actions, or choices that feel wrong but are unskippable—could have planted seeds of doubt.
Players might have started to question things before the twist even arrived. That kind of foreshadowing would have made the reveal more than clever. To be fair, there's an in-universe explanation for why things played out the way they did. Fontaine (posing as Atlas) needed Jack alive and useful.
Forcing him into risky or blatantly evil actions might have jeopardized his plan. Jack was Fontaine's ace in the hole, and keeping him tiptoeing was more important than showing his hand.
click to enlarge + 3That explains the simplicity and logic of the commands, but it doesn't alter the player's experience. The emotional payoff could have been far stronger if those commands had occasionally felt unnatural or wrong.
Even after the twist, you're still hearing voices like Tenenbaum's, so it makes you wonder if you ever really get full control back. The message is obvious, yet it doesn't stay; the shock fades away too quickly. As time went on, "Would you kindly?" grew into one of the most quoted lines in the gaming world.
It's become a core subject in game design programs and a constant reference in talks on interactive storytelling. But in an era where games like The Stanley Parable and Spec Ops: The Line have taken similar themes even further, it's easier to see where BioShock could have pushed more.
It's still a classic, no doubt, but its twist is both brilliant and a near-miss.
And maybe that's why the moment sticks with people so firmly. It's not just what it did—but what it could have done.