BioShock 2 - Sounds From The Lighthouse

Bioshock sequel has divided its fans into two camps. One said that the game was absolutely nothing new and that’s why all copies should be burnt in an electric chair. The others (and your humble servant is in this group) came to a simple and a pleasant conclusion – there’s even more Bioshock here! It reminds of a situation with Fallout 1-2, right?

In any case, the action is again set in an underwater city Rapture, which was designed as utopia for creative people. Built by Andrew Ryan in the seabed of the Atlantic Ocean, inaccessible from the outside world, it could represent the ideal state for thinkers, artists, poets and entrepreneurs. Andrew wanted to create a place free from moral constraints, where everyone could be what he wanted to be. The discovery of “ADAM” serum, which allowed people to reshape their gene structure at their desire, should have helped to the inhabitants of Rapture to achieve these aims.

But the idea of utopia has failed. "ADAM" was so good that people became drug addicts, ready to fight for the dose. The ever-growing class differences between rich and poor and lack of access to the gene modifying drug resulted in an armed uprising which was brutally suppressed, but turned Raptor into ruins, inhabited by mutants. There was nobody left to process “ADAM”.

However, the solution was found - the drug didn’t dissolve and remained in the body of the user. And little girls with a special storage capsule implanted into the stomach and mentally conditioned to reclaim “ADAM” from the dead got to work. They were always accompanied by Big Daddies, genetically-enhanced human beings, whose only task was to protect little sisters at any cost. Wearing seemingly bulky diving suits, these mastodons were deprived of any intelligence and personality, but had incredible strength, speed, and a very unpleasant weapon.


The soundtrack for such an unusual story should be non-standard too. Licensed jazz and pop-songs from 30-50s immediately evoke thoughts of Fallout. The latter used a mix of jazz and post-industrial ambient to create a colorful and strong contrast, thanks to which the game got its unforgettable atmosphere. Well, what has Bioshock 2 together with Garry Schyman prepared against it?

It took Garry a long time to find a core, around which he would build a shell of the soundtrack. Rapture is a city of ingenious people. That’s why neither ambient, not any post-rock (God, save us) would serve as their music. After a lengthy search the composer decided to apply to the classical music of the early 20th century. The time of game action goes in line with the chosen interval too. The resulting soundtrack almost entirely relies on the string section with thundering brass, piano and heavy percussion support.

Starting with a sad and plaintive title theme “Pairbond”, not promising any happy-end by its mood, the soundtrack gets more and more gloomy track after track. Chronologically, the album follows the events happening on the screen, which, however, is not very noticeable - the music in the game is spread out in a very thin layer and appears only in the key episodes. Despite this, the album is not short on drama. The first peak of the OST is no longer than in the track entitled “Protecting His Charge” – Daddy begins a long hunt for Sister’s offenders so as to quit this world later for long 10 years. This composition is a classic example of Bioshock action-scenes. A piercing blend of brass and strings resembles Jerry Goldsmith’s soundtrack to “Alien” a bit, which is quite avant-garde work for its time. But what really shocks is closeness with an ideologically similar space-horror “Dead Space” by Jason Graves. Such tracks are "working" mainly in the context of the game. It’s they that depict an image of the very Daddy – a heartless and furious defender who will stop at nothing in order to protect his little companion.

A dismal “Grim Out The Airlock” bears an incredibly strong resemblance to music from an underwater kingdom in the Soviet film version of a fairy tale “Sadko”. Despite the occurring tragedy, the city still attracts and tempts. It’s interesting to understand what has happened, why it happened in such a way and not the other, and the composition perfectly conveys this attitude. It’s this track that starts to pile up the pressure in the atmosphere. And the track “Big Sister On The Move” becomes the next peak of the album. It illustrates the first meeting with a dangerous and difficult enemy, Big Sister. The whole album is designed according to this principle of pumping and reducing tension.

Like Dead Space, Bioshock 2 is actively using elements of aleatoric music. In brief, it’s a music technique, in which some element of the composition is left to chance. A melody doesn’t have a distinct structure and it’s more an artist’s improvisation, rather than a mold from a composer’s sheet music. Designed in such a way, Bioshock 2, skillfully alternating between quiet and intense compositions, is much more pleasant to be listened to apart from the game than its space companion. An ideal Dead Space? Maybe, why not.

Closer to the end of the album the soundtrack manages to surprise with a contrasting doublet, that is “Welcome to the Drop” and “Under the Tracks”. These are absolutely transcendent tracks built on a fanciful clarinet improvisation, vocals and trumpet with a ringing-stringy panoramic background accompaniment. It’s a very unexpected turn of events before a final soft and sad track “Eleanor's Lullaby”. All ends well. You’ll surely be smiling. Though smiling through the tears.