How To Return To Rapture Remastered

Bioshock: The Collection [official site] is out next week, and as such you'll be able to play the first two Bioshock games and all of the single-player DLC in renewed detail. Bioshock Infinite is thrown in there for good measure, but it already looks so pretty on PC they're leaving it as is. 2K Games also plan to give the updated versions free to people who own the originals. How? What's the catch? I checked, and it turns out it is surprisingly painless. Read on!

All right, there are a few ways this can go. If you already own the games on Steam, you're all clear. The remastered copies of the games will appear in your library once the Collection goes live on Thursday. You can then choose to install either the original or the remastered version. If you don't want both cluttering up the place, remember that Steam lets you hide games from your Library.

If you own physical copies, or Games for Windows Live versions, there's still hope for you. For Bioshock the First, you'll need to send a ticket in to 2K Support and submit your Steam profile details and proof that you purchased the original game.

Those with non-Steam copies of Bioshock 2 have it a bit easier. Just activate the Games for Windows Live key that came with the physical or digital edition within Steam.

And in case you were worried how these updated versions would run on your PC, 2K also posted the system requirements:

Minimum Specs:
OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit. Platform Update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Processor: Intel E6750 Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz / AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHZ
Memory: 4 GB
Hard Drive: BioShock 25GB; BioShock 2 25GB; BioShock Infinite 20GB; Total for all three games 70GB
Video Card: DirectX11 Compatible, AMD Radeon HD 7770 / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Device
Other Requirements: Software installations required including DirectX and Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 & 2012 Redistributable Package.

Recommended Specs:
OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 64-bit. Platform Update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Processor: 3GHz Quad-Core
Memory: 8 GB
Hard Drive: BioShock 25GB; BioShock 2 25GB; BioShock Infinite 30GB; Total for all three games 80GB
Video Card: 2GB ATI Radeon HD 7970, 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 or better
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Device

And so, with that, we are all prepared for updated dystopian misadventures. Except for me. Bioshock is a bit too scary for my wimpy disposition, what will all of the drills and people climbing all over the walls. But I know you all are going to have a ton of fun all the same. Bioshock: The Collection is out on September 15 on Steam.