The Ultimate Guide on Playing the BioShock Series in Order

As a long-time gaming enthusiast and BioShock super-fan who has played through the entire iconic series multiple times, I‘m often asked what is the best or proper way to experience these groundbreaking immersive sims. So let me share the ideal play order that I recommend for getting the most awe and enjoyment out of Andrew Ryan‘s sprawling undersea saga:

The Definitive Playing Order

1. BioShock
2. BioShock 2
3. BioShock 2 – Minerva‘s Den DLC
4. BioShock Infinite
5. Burial at Sea DLC Part 1
6. Burial at Sea DLC Part 2

Now let me explain the logic behind this sequence for both newcomers and veterans looking to replay gaming‘s most famous fallen utopia…

Why BioShock Must Come First

As the original game that started it all back in 2007 on Xbox 360 and PC (later PS3 and Nintendo Switch), BioShock lays the entire foundation of Rapture and everything that makes this retro-futuristic setting so compelling. Playing it in release order allows you to see how the concepts, gameplay, and narrative evolved with each subsequent entry.

More importantly, experiencing the peerless introduction to Rapture and village idiot protagonist Jack‘s journey through its ruptured tunnels and masoleums first delivers the biggest emotional and intellectual impact compared to starting elsewhere. From the still-astonishing opening plane crash to that unforgettable plot twist, BioShock delivers a confounding yet thrilling descent into a failed objectivist paradise that no other installment quite matches.

Finally, all of the gameplay concepts that became staples of the series – plasmids, gene tonics, moral choices around Little Sisters, audio logs fleshing out the history, and more – originated in this monumental title. So it‘s best to begin where it all started over 15 years ago before seeing how later releases iterated upon those core foundations.

According to highly-respected site Metacritic, BioShock earned a 96 overall rating across 100 reviews, along with widespread perfect scores from renowned outlets. Clearly, this pioneering release built something unprecedented that still holds up phenomenally today.

Playing the Sequel and Its DLC

After the mind-melting closing moments of the original, 2010‘s BioShock 2 from a different development team daringly continues telling Rapture‘s fall from another perspective a decade later. And while debate still rages around whether it reaches BioShock‘s monumental pedigree in all areas, I strongly believe playing 2 second adding additional context around the society‘s collapse, iconic Big Daddy characters, and new stories is extremely rewarding.

Most importantly, you take the pivotal role of an Alpha Series protector bonded to a Little Sister for the very first time. By inhabiting armored boots during this fateful civil war, you feel connected to Rapture unlike ever before while facing physical and ethical challenges Jack didn‘t share. Through 2‘s unique genetics-altering campaign, you discover many more audio logs analyzing what tore Ryan‘s community apart. Rapture feels more alive than ever on PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware showing slight age compared to the original release. While some gameplay and visual elements definitely show signs of everything created so rapidly using amended BioShock assets due to corporate deadlines, the general experience still enriches what began in its legendary predecessor.

Then after completing the base campaign, I strongly endorse diving into the harder-to-find-yet-brilliant Minerva‘s Den DLC focusing on Rapture Central Computing‘s supercomputer and qualified scientists striving for progress at any cost. Through its self-contained story reinforcing core themes, this add-on produces some gameplay refinements, emphasizes previously unseen parts of the sinking metropolis, and provides yet another sad vignette during a spotlight on more characters demonstrating how the entire ill-fated experiment affected everyone differently. Specifically when it comes toBioShock lore surrounding key technologies enabling Rapture‘s brief flourishing then fueling destructive class warfare soon afterwards, Minerva‘s Den supplies precious background information you simply can‘t find anywhere else.

While not quite attaining the same stratospheric heights, this 2010 package deserves experiencing immediately after the initial outing showing what ultimately happened years later when ideology fully collapsed into chaos.

Critically, BioShock 2 earned an 88 overall Metacritic average based on 81 reviews. While a clear step down from the first‘s scores, most critics praised the sequel‘s successful attempts at evolving its predecessor‘s gameplay and style despite some relying too much on past triumphs.

Venturing to the Skies of Infinite

Once you witness Rapture‘s full trajectory by playing the initial two chapters first, the 2013 threequel BioShock Infinite transports players somewhere completely different outside continuity yet equally imaginitive – the impossible floating city of Columbia ruled by nationalism and prophet Zachary Comstock.

In contrast to earlier subterranean suffering tied closely to key figures building their supposed paradise among secretive unfettered scientific research, Infinite ushers its messianic shooter mechanics into broad daylight by realizing another environment highlighting society‘s corrupted American exceptionalism taken towards ultimately destructive ends when religious extremism selects an isolated communal habitat in the clouds celebrating false idols. Through protagonist Booker DeWitt‘s revisions, you uncover parallels between Columbia‘s sanguine facade and Rapture‘s objectivist downfall when observing what blissful universal harmony mutated into with nobody willing to temper dangerous city leader ambitions swirling out of control. This parallel tale occurs in 1912 rather than later decades amidst rampant science. By visiting familiar places and themes wearing a different palliative skin yet retaining signature series DNA into a first-person gunplay ballet worthy of the name BioShock, the lessons learned ring out louder than ever when you already studied previous lessons showing how another communitarian enclave‘s noble intentions paved an all-too-familiar road straight into the depths of human moral failure once again.

Back during March 2013 when global reviewers published evaluations of this long-awaited third chapter, Infinite exceeded sky-high anticipation by earning a stunning 94 average score according to MetaCritic‘s 42 critic reviews. Such an incredible achievement proves that the talented Irrational Games team behind the first entry successfully rekindled creative flames for another unforgettable, thematically rich masterwork launch firmly into upper echelons of video game writing unmatched by almost any big-budget shooter before or since – now accessible by modern hardware like PS4/Xbox One backwards compatibility, Nintendo Switch, or remastered PC upgrades. Truly worthy of its name while paying due homage roots in Rapture‘s creation.

Play Burial At Sea to Connect All Threads

Once players complete Infinite then witness dimensions beyond after witnessing multiverse possibilities once Columbia fully implodes under cacophonous contradictions, I strongly advise immediately downloading then playing through Infinite’s two-part Burial at Sea stellar DLC included with updated anthology collection releases. Why? Because these climactic chapters feature Infinite’s Booker and Elizabeth conspicuously reappearing inside iconic Rapture at its frenzied apex moments before war wages between Ryan and Fontaine assets as traditional New Year’s 1959 celebrations rage.

How and why characters from Columbia inhabit 1958 undersea turmoil right when Atlas foments fury towards Ryan‘s increasingly suppressive market dominance paints a convoluted tapestry intertwining all plot threads established thus far. Without spoiling ingenious surprises, Burial at Sea crucially links realities viewed separately because Infinite occurs earlier featuring many characters whose roles become prominent later during Rapture‘s disastrous demise. This ambitious expansion ambitiously shows rather than tells how certain figures bearing oddly familiar names or appearances active during BioShock 1 and 2‘s fateful events circa 1960 inexplicably already walked similar paths beforehand.

Some arguable gameplay backsteps particularly during BatS Episode 1 bogging down pacing can’t overshadow successfully connecting endless dots. The writing brilliance on display especially during a monumental final act eventually opening locked vault doors flooding an ocean of revelations about everyone‘s journey should not get missed. This culminating content cements the entire franchise’s legacy fittingly. What Burial at Sea accomplishes integrating all BioShock universes under a single shattered lampshade is absolutely remarkable and not to be missed!

According to Metacritic, Burial at Sea’s two epic parts earned slightly lower yet still admirable review averages around 86 each across two console generations. While some gameplay components faltered occasionally, almost every critic praised the DLC’s storytelling reaching skyward new heights seamlessly blending Rapture and Columbia into a unified tale.

Why Play in Release Order Conclusion

To recap, by playing each full BioShock game in historical order followed immediately by accompanying DLC packs, you witness Rapture‘s full tragic bipartisan rise and fall before observing reflections across alternate reality mirrors with Columbian similarities. This epic marathon allows you to extract more substantial enjoyment plus appreciation and for all the intricate narrative details binding both decadent cities built upon ideological castles crumbling under the weight of hubris meeting human nature.

Newcomers and devotees alike understand BioShock more profoundly by undergoing this righteously arranged sequential marathon. Each separate tale feels individually whole yet contributes connecting tissue towards an astounding saga. Both cities‘ thought-provoking stories echo louder followed comfortably by post-campaign content most seek too late. Seeing moments of DLC genius after credits roll adds impact making Burial at Sea an astonishing grand finale.

By marching through each entry backed by overwhelmingly positive reviews in step with timeline milestones, the imagery, emotion and ideology found inside BioShock resonates stronger learning why firsthand experiences still influence gaming today. Ryan‘s objectivism, Comstock‘s prophecy, formidable figures like Atlas and Andrew Ryan himself all occupy intertwined roles binding past and present struggles.

This series sits perched on a masterpiece pedestal thanks to intricate world-building unmatched elsewhere. Hence why release order makes appreciating everything fuller and easier. Spending reality-warping hours submerged will change how you perceive game stories forever after. Nothing matches memorable introduction diving into an airplane submerged helmet-first towards destiny. But upending religious dystopia afterwards followed by interdimensional curtain calls sure tries with aplomb!

So trust me, sink elsewhere first. Because entering BioShock engines humming captures whirling creative magic no other franchise today replicates. Why just play one or two when all become greater than sum of parts? Gathering insights ascending spiritual chain link fence between heaven and Earth observing what unregulated brilliance manufactures is breathtaking. Hopefully this guide sets you sailing towards enlightenment!

Let me know if you have any other BioShock questions! I could talk all day about these masterpieces. Enjoy the epic adventures through Rapture and Columbia!