If there is a perfect dieselpunk video game, it must be BioShock (our review here). It has several of the genre’s major influences (Art Deco, Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, dystopian fiction like Nineteen Eighty-Four, Hugh Ferriss, the Red Scare and Jazz) as well as tropes (the lone hero fighting the system, mind control).
It’s the BioShock aesthetic, though, that is the most evocative.
Concept art
First, let’s take a look at the concept art Thomas Pringle, Mauricio Tejerina and others created for the BioShock games.
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-492x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-5-738x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-4-738x415.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-3-738x415.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-2-738x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-1-738x431.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-7-738x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-10-738x308.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-11-738x308.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-8-738x246.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-9-738x246.jpg)
Fan art
Rapture has inspired many digital artists. A search on ArtStation or DeviantArt will turn up hundreds of results. Here are our favorites.
![Sean Donaldson artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Sean-Donaldson-artwork-363x492.jpg)
![LprToto artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/LprToto-artwork-328x492.jpg)
![GAVade artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/GAVade-artwork-359x492.png)
![Rapture BioShock art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Rapture-BioShock-art-328x492.jpg)
![Tavershima Shande artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Tavershima-Shande-artwork-738x415.jpg)
![Tari Márk Dávid artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Tari-Márk-Dávid-artwork-738x492.jpg)
![Scott Homer artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Scott-Homer-artwork-738x369.jpg)
![Lucas Terra artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Lucas-Terra-artwork-738x369.jpg)
![Dario Marzadori artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Dario-Marzadori-artwork-738x369.jpg)
![Dave Foret artwork](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Dave-Foret-artwork-738x369.jpg)
Movie concept art
Kasra Farahani and Jim Martin produced the following concept art for a BioShock movie that never happened.
![BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BioShock-concept-art-738x394.jpg)
![BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/BioShock-concept-art-738x492.jpg)
![BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BioShock-concept-art-2-738x369.jpg)
![BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BioShock-concept-art-1-738x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock concept art](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-concept-art-6-738x369.jpg)
More at the BioShock Wiki.
Scenes from the game
We’ll conclude with a few beauty shots from the game itself.
![Rapture BioShock](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-554x492.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-1-738x415.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Rapture-BioShock-2-738x415.jpg)
![Rapture BioShock](https://neverwasmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Rapture-BioShock-738x492.jpg)
Remember, with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well!
1 Comment
Add YoursWonderful as always! Though such a necessarily artificial and constrained environment has always seemed to me an unlikely setting for a Libertarian city.