"A man chooses. A slave obeys."
This is the line repeated by Andrew Ryan as the player sits and watches as their character slowly beats him to death with a club. Bioshock is known for implementing the moral choice to either harvest or to save the Little Girls the player comes across throughout Rapture. However, the player is never given the opportunity to CHOOSE at any other point in the game. This is revealed to be an aspect of the character controlled by the player, who can be controlled by saying the phrase, "would you kindly" before giving him any command. The first command given to the player is "Would you kindly pick up that shortwave radio?" At this point in the game, the avatar is stuck in a bathysphere after watching a splicer murder a worker. The command comes from the voice of Atlas (aka Fontaine), and the game will not progress until the player picks up the radio. If a player chooses not to pick up the radio the game will not progress and nothing will happen.
Without having any previous knowledge of the avatar's origins a player would follow the directions and progress the game. In this way, the game mechanic of forced interaction creates the narrative experience of being controlled by someone else's commands. The player is not brainwashed, but the game does not have to make the avatar act on his own. By allowing the player only one option to progress, the game itself forces the player to follow Atlas's command.
This type of interaction occurs several times throughout the game. Atlas will tell the avatar "would you kindly?" followed by a simple direction such as go to a location or find an item. In all these cases, the direction is a required event. The player must do them in order to progress. The seemingly innocent phrase "would you kindly" does not matter to the player, only progression.
As an FPS, the player is given a certain amount of freedom in their actions. They can choose how to approach each combat situation. They can select which weapon to use and which plasmids to equip. No one ever says, "would you kindly use a shotgun?" However, the game itself limits how the player can choose. Ammunition for each weapon is limited and can run out in combat, forcing the player to use a different gun or even switch to the wrench. The number of plasmid slots is also limited, so the player must choose which ones to equip. Opening more plasmid slots requires the player to spend currency, and even purchasing plasmids requires spending Adam. All of these "choices" are limited by the resources provided by the game. How much money and Adam the player possesses is controlled by the game.
Ultimately, the player's choices are entirely controlled by the game's design, both within the narrative and within the gameplay.
It is interesting to consider how in a medium that offers a high amount of choice compared to others, the game design still has to limit the freedom of the player in order to get the desired message across. Even though the game allows for multiple endings, if not for the high amount of direction given by the game design, the player might not reach the desired conclusions.
This illusion of choice instills a sense that the player is in control of his path. However, with very limited options, the player actually has little freedom. Different players will make different decisions according to their different personalities. The game is very much like our lives, isn't it?
I love the many examples of how the game is controlled by the designer, not by the player. Although I was aware that Fontaine was controlling the avatar's decisions, it never occurred to me that the progression of the game would be restricted if you chose not to follow his commands. I guess this shows that I was also too focused on progression rather than what the game was allowing me to do or not allowing me to do. This subtle forcing of the player's hand and the fact that the player wants to continue to progress is most likely why this element can go unnoticed by many players without damaging the quality of the game and its story.