Bioshock infinite : modifications of game-narrative temporality by player choice through narraludic devices

Abstract

Technological advancements in computer simulation and stimulation have brought the experience of visual and auditory immersion in modern video games to a level rivalling the filmic medium. As game immersion improved, so did the complexity and depth of the stories that began to be constructed for the interactive screen. These advancements in game narratives and their presentation however, have not been accompanied by the depth of systematic literary study that these rising virtual stories have the potential for. Unlike film which has a pre-directed temporal form for its spectator to experience, in Irrational Games’ 2013 video game Bioshock Infinite, the temporal structure of the game’s presentation is malleable and the discourse undergoes further distortions of temporal relationships during the subjective player-directed experience of the narrative. This paper therefore seeks to examine the ways in which Bioshock Infinite constructs a fundamentally different experience of narrative time through the impact that conscious and subconscious player choice has on its temporal structure.