Depending on when this article goes live, BioShock will either be about to ?turn 17-years-old or has just recently celebr??ated the anniversary. In any case, many of us will be thinking fondly of the 2007 FPS that helped push video game narratives further along. We may also be wondering whether the franchise will ever make a comeback.

With its creepy atmosphere, gorgeous visuals actualized in the underwater city of Rapture, the first game in the series is nothing short of a modern classic. However, BioShock's most memorable ass??et is undoubtedly that jaw-dropping twist that left us contemplating what it means to be a? free agent in a video game world.

With the studio Cloud Chamber ramping up as talks of a new installment are on the horizon �not to mention 2K allegedly working on a remake, as well as the long-awaited Netflix adaptation �BioShock seems like it's about to make some sort of return. However, after more than a decade and a half, I can finally hold my tongue no longer. Something about the original game has been bugging m??e, and I think we need to have a talk about it.

Bio-shocked this hasn't been mentioned before

If you've ever played BioShock, you're already very familiar with the game's big twist. If you haven't, all of this will come as some kind of su??rprise. To sum it up: about halfway into the story, it's discovered that t?he player-character, Jack, has been following orders of one Atlas only because of a trigger phrase.

Through??out the game, you'll have noticed that Atlas has been prefixing his requests to take action with "would you kindly." It's a throwaway pleasantry, or at?? least it seems that way at first. However, it's revealed that this is part of some brainwashing tactic employed when Jack was an infant.

Th?e fact that you �as the player �have only been advancing throughout Rapture seemingly because you've been commanded to was a huge mindf**k when we first encountered it. It meant that, from a narrative perspective at least, we had to consider whether any of our actions were truly our own, or simply the endgame of mental conditioning.

T?his twist brought down the walls of what was possible in video game storytelling, as it almost pointed the finger at us directly, asking us to question how much agency we have when we play any game and are instructed (perhaps through objectives or level design) on where to go and what to do.

One problem with this idea. Have a look at the clip below. If the timestamp doesn't work, skip forward to a?round ??the 3:00 mark. That's the key bit.

This is the big reveal. Rapture's creator, Andrew Ryan, finally lays everything out. It's all part of Jack's conditioning. Nothing he does is part of any ??sense of free will. However, what do you notice about this scene? Watch it again.

See how, even before Ryan utters the "would you kindly" phrase, th?e player-character immediately follows his orders?.

"Stop!" He says, and the player does..."woul?d you kindly???"

"Sit!" He barks - again the player does just as h?e's told..."would you kindly?"

He even runs when told to without Ryan ha??ving to utte?r the trigger phrase.

It's something that others don't seem to have noticed. If the whole point of BioShock's infamous reveal is that the player is supposed to feel like they've only ever accomplished anything because of story conditioning, then Jack obeying orders before the trigger phrase fe?els like a ?huge plot hole. It feels like it was never needed to begin with.

Look, maybe it can be explained away. Maybe Andrew Ryan, being the perpetrator of Jack's early conditioning, is so authoritative that he doesn't need to utter "would you kindly." Maybe Jack's so far gone at this point in the story that he's almost anticipating the phrase being said, so simply resides himself to following orders before he's even h??eard it. There c??ould well be a canonical reason why he would run, sit, stop etc. without the prefix "would you kindly," but it kind of weakens the immense impact of this otherwise shocking twist.

I?f this scene has been put together slightly wrong by the studio, then it feels a bit like an oversight. We now know that Jack's motives have been the part of brainwashing, so to see it fall apart at this very crucial moment is a bugbare I've been carrying for quite some?? time. Now, I infect you with it.

Somebody out there may well be able to offer an explanation. At the time of watching this cutscene, I never cottoned onto this plot hole. The revelat??ion alone left such a reverberation �in both me and the gaming industry at large �that any inconsistences were eithe??r unnoticed or ignored. It didn't matter back then.

I still love you, BioShock

This is absolutely not a criticism of BioShock or its story elements. It was �and still is �a brilliant game. Even with how lauded BioShock Infinite was (just two points shy of matching the original game's score, according to Metacritic), the 2007 release goes down as the ?best of the bunch.

But I understand this is coming across as just some aging gamer with some anc??ient and, frankly, unimportant point to make. There's a very good chance that I'm just wrong entirely, but having watched this clip many times over, it does seem at least odd that nobody else has pointed it out. Or if they have, it's been reserved for the deepest crevices of the most obscure parts of the indexed internet.

I just think it's fascinating that one of gaming's most notorious plot twists has this gaping hole in it. As I said, it doesn't entirely undo the shocking revelation that comes halfway through BioShock's storyline. But it does potentially open up further discussion. But then, the game is now 17 years old. We've very ??much moved on since t??hen.

I love BioShock. I loved it back then and I love it now. I truly hope that we get a fourth installment, or at least a remake of the first game. It went down as one of the most successful releases of the Xbox 360 and PS3 generation, rubbing elbows with Red Dead Redemption, Halo 3, and Valve's Orange Box. There's a very good reason it typically shows up in lists of the best video games of all time, plot holes notwithstanding. N??ow, would you kind??ly go easy on me in the comments?

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Sometimes At-less isn't At-more

Ken Levine has gone on record several times stating that he didn't like the way the climactic fight in BioShock turned out. Here's an example from ?as far back as 2011. This is not a new development.

But Levine willingly ate crow again, while roping in the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. That's funny e?nough to revisit.

Today is the Jewish day of atonement, it seems. So I'm here to apologize for the naked Atlas boss battle at the end of BioShock. pic.twitter.com/UeaEWV717Q

— Ken Levine (@levine) September 19, 2018

BioShock's Atlas battle might not be one of the greats, but it's certainly on the list of most memorable final fights against a naked boss. It's behind Dante's Inferno's dong-swingin' Lucifer, though. That dude's haulin' around a hamme??r.

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Welcome to the Circus of Subjective Value!

2k Games has announced BioShock: 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition for PS4 and Xbox One, available November 14th. Coming in at $199.99, this pricey bundle includes last year's BioShock: The Collection, which includes touched-up version of the three mainline BioShock titles and their?? DLC, as well as this very slick collector's statue.

Standing tall at 11", the statue sports "Lights, Audio, and a Motorized Drill." While the lights and sounds I could?? do without, I do really appreciate the drill, assuming it rotates properly. I don't have a ton of room in my place for collector's statues, but this is something I'd definitely "accidentally" break some of my wife's snowglobes for which to clear space.

Also announced was a 10th anniversary party dubbed "Return to Rapture" to ??take place a PAX West. A separate event not requi??ring tickets and free to the public, the show promises popular enemies from the series, themed food and drinks, a DJ, and my personal favorite, a BioShock Cosplay Contest! If you go to this, please send me pictures.

I hadn't actually considered the age of the original game until seeing this news. I know it's kind of goofy to say, but BioShock totally changed my perception of what a video game could deliver. With such a high-concept endeavor with obviously a lot of production and even ?more love put into it, I was absolutely stunned from front to back going through it my first time.

BioShock was truly terrifying in parts, introspective in others, and played great at the time. The sequel came along and did some interesting things while improving the gameplay, but story-wise felt like a bit of a retread which ultimately held it back from true greatness. BioShock Infinite is a video game that? you can play. If you want. I'm not your real dad.

BioShock 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition is a??vailable for pre-order at GameStop and t?he 2k Store.

Celebrating 10 Years of BioShock [2k]

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Founded by 12 former Irrational devs

In 2014, the studio behind acclaimed games like System Shock 2, SWAT 4, and BioShock shed the majority of its staff in a massive restructure. "I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it," co-founder Ken Levine said at the time. "To m?eet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct ??  relationship with gamers."

Years later, it's still unclear what exactly this small group of developers?? is working on under Take-Two Interactive, but the studio once known as Irrational now has a new name: Ghost Story.

"Ghost Story was founded by twelve former Irrational Games developers and our mission is simple: to create immersive, story-driven games for people who love games that ask something of them," reads a welcome post. "While we believe our new games will have strong appeal to fans of BioShock, our new focus allows us to c??raft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories."

On a job listing for a senior designer position, there'?s a call for:

• Experience supporting environmental storytelling throug??h design.
• Intuitive understanding of how FPS games work and why people play them.
• Previous experience working on levels, combat encounters, and missions/quests in FPS titles (scripting and design).
• Strong content design skills, including experience with RPG systems.
• Unreal Engine 4 experience.
• Can easily break down core level design elements and use them when creating combat and traversal sections of a level.
• Experience in semi-open (e.g. Borderlands, Shadow of Mordor) or open world games.

That certainly sounds like so?mething Levine would want to create.

Ghost Story Games [Official site]

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Forget the stupid collection

I'm in love with how developers and Microsoft have been pushing backward compatibility on the Xbox One. 2K may have released an updated version of BioShock, but you can now just play the original 360 release on your shiny new box. That is a surprisingly user-friendly move for a co??mpany to make, even if mega fans probably already bought the remastered collection.

As of today, BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite are playable on Xbox One via your original 360 discs (or digital purchases). I'm unsure if the DLC is included, though other games with DLC did contain them. I'm sure the games also run a little better on Xbox One, so it might negate getting the "collection" unless you want a true 1080p presentation. Honestly, the games don't look that much better in the remastered format, though BioShock Infinite is nice looking on PC (and subsequently on PS4? and Xbox One).

As Major Nelson notes, these titles now bring the Xbox One backward compatible catalog up to 300 games. While I can't find a 100% definitive number of games, it looks like the 360 contained around 1,173 titles, so we're about 30% of the way to a full library. I doubt we'll see every game (Guitar Hero and DJ Hero are basically impossible to emulate), but having a majority of the library avail?able would go a long way towards maki??ng the Xbox One a valuable purchase.

At least I won't have to rebuy any older games to play them again, unlike some ??other system (*cough* PS4 *cough*).

Major Nelson [Twitter]

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'How can you be unhappy?'

Love him or hate him, Ken Levine has been responsible for some of the greatest games ever made. Thief: The Dark Project, System Shock 2, and BioShock are all on his re??sume, something most developers would kill to have been a part of. Turns out that Levine wasn't always so happy with his creations.

In an interview with Glixel, Levine details why he won't be returning to the BioShock franchise an?ytime soon. In ??a particularly poignant quote, Ken says:

"I'm not a happy person. I have crushing anxiety all the time. Which is crazy, because I wake up and I look at my beautiful wife and my beautiful dog and my beautiful home and the beautiful people I?? work with and these things?? I've created and these fans, and I say, 'How the fuck can you be unhappy?'"

For many years, I dealt with severe depression. Even when things were going well, I still looked at myself and believed I was worthless. I would cancel plans I had made or lash out at my family simply because I was unable to verbalize what I was feelin??g. It stemmed from a place of fear, major anxiety, and resentment of others happiness.

We all have hardships in our life, but certain individuals suffer from issues that prevent them from being accepted b??y society. I suggest everyone take a look at a friend they have that may be hurting and reach out to them. It is never too late to get help for a loved one.

While it is sad to hear that Ken Levine was going through some of these same issues, at least he never gave up. The lesson to take from this is that persistence and determination are the keys to becoming successful. Ken happens to be more successful th??an some people, but any victory (regardless of size) is still a positive step.

Inside the Ma??king? of 'BioShock' Series With Creator Ken Levine [Rolling Stone]

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A look inside how one of the last gen's best games was made

The upcoming BioShock Collection which features all three of the series' games will also offer developer commentary by BioShock creative di?rector Ken Levine and lead animator Shawn Robertson. In a post on the U.S. PlayStation blog, Sony showed off one of the unlockable commentaries about how the first BioShock's intro was not well re?ceived during an ea??rly round of focus testing.

The video shows that these developer commentaries will be unlocked when a player finds new hidden coll??ectables scattered through the games. It looks like this commentary won't be done in-game, so presumably the intervie??w videos will be unlocked somewhere in the game's menu system. (And on YouTube within a week.)

Developer commentaries can be fascinating when done well, and give people who've mastered a game a reason to return. The first time I remember seeing the technique was in Half-Life 2 over a decade ago, but it's been used to good effect in remasters of Grim Fandango and Monkey Island as well. BioShock Infinite in particular had a ??long, somewhat troubled development cycle, so it'll be interesting to see if th??e commentary goes into detail about the backstory behind that game.

BioShock: The Collection&nb?sp;will be available ?September 13 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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'That's a lot to ask somebody to spend'

BioShock creator ??Ken Levine has revealed that his upc?oming project will feature an open world.

Talking to NPR's On Point (via GameSpot), he confirmed that his latest project will depart from the more traditional, linear storytelling of past games like BioShock, and? will instead a more open-world style to encourage multiple playthroughs.

"The AAA, single-player narrative game is starting to disappear. Kind of games like BioShock. There's fewer of them being made," said Levine.

"The real reason is they're very expensive to? make and I think gamers are saying pretty loud and clear that if?? they're going to spend $40, $50, $60, they want an experience that lasts more than 10-12 hours. That's a lot to ask somebody to spend."

Although he offered no hints on what to expect from his new game, he did acknowledge that after BioShock Infinite, he understands that ??gamers now expect longer experiences fo??r their cash.

"We started this experiment after we finished BioShock Infinite," Levine continued, "which was, 'How do you make a narrative game feel like t??he kind of games we've made before but make it re??playable and make it extend and make it react to the players?' 

"[You] make it replayable by giving players different ways to approach the problems and really letting them dictate the experience. That is not a si?mple problem to solve."

"And the reason ours is an open world game is because if you want to give the player the agency to drive the experience, that really fights against the linear nature of the games we made before like BioShock and BioShock Infinite. What it really means though is, 'How do you make your content so it feels like the quality of the content you've made in games before but reacts to the players' agency and then allows the pl??ayer to do something in one playthrough and something very different in another playthroug??h?'"

What d??o you think? Is there still room in the industry for story-rich, linear games, or should we all demand bigger, more expansive gaming worlds?

HAPPY FRIDAY! <3

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Smaller scale, player-created main character

After BioShock Infinite, developer Irrational effectively closed down. About 70 folks lost their jobs while studio head Ken Levine formed a smaller team focused on high??ly-repl??ayable narrative-driven games. Recently, the process has been likened to Lego blocks, where pieces can be combined in different ways rather than entirely new assets and things needing to be built. Keep costs down. 

Levine took to Twitter with an open Q&A, "As an FYI, I am working on a game. Happy to answer twitter questions on it. Trying to do open dev?."

The game, which will likely be in first-person, is set in "a new universe, not set in any existing," and the team is aiming for, "a game with replayable narrative that can be added IN to like a [Civilization] expansion pack, vs. say a Burial at Sea." It's divided mo??re into "chapters" than a three-act plot, and won't be in the vein of Tellt??ale's work. 

It's in development for PC, set in a sci-fi or "sci-fi ish" world with a player-created main characters. "[I] think small open worldish (but not ?necessarily outdoors?) rpg with quest structure coming from passion system."

And we won't see it at this E3. "That's not the way we want t?o share it with ??people," Levine said.

Ken Levine [Twitter]

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Who wants to work with Ken?

In February, Ken Levine (bio)shocked the gaming world by announcing that Irrational Games was shutting down. Well, sort of. The plan was to lay off the majority o?f the staff, and contin??ue forward as a small group dedicated to creating narrative-driven games.

Ten months after the reveal that 70-some employees would be let go, Irrational's expanding again, but only ever so slightly. The studio recently posted a listing for two new positions -- IT manager and senior programmer. The programmer opening asks for experience in Unre??al 3 and 4, s??uggesting that Irrational has its sights set on its next project.

Whatever Irrational's next endeavor is, it's likely that it won't be related to BioShock. Levine said in the past that the property is in the hands of Take-Two, and that the studio will focus on replayable narrative. In his February post, Levine said "If we're lucky, we'll build something half as memorable as BioShock." Well, then let's ?hope that Irrational's "lucky."

Careers at Irrational [Irrational Games via CVG]

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Key words here are 'would have been'

An installment in the BioShock series for the PlayStation Vita may be one of Ken Levine's only wishes for the franchise that will go unfulfilled. Levine's longing for one of his signature games on the handheld device is well-documented, and he's taken to Twitter to elaborate on the concept he had in mind.

According to Levine, the BioShock title on Vita that he wanted to make would have been "a Final Fantasy Tactics style thing set in pre-fall Rapture." He clarified in another tweet that the Tactics bit referred to combat style in that h?e envisioned a turn-based game.

But, it's all wishful thinking because no one's exactly expecting that the supposed project will ever turn out. In the tweet that sparked the conversation, Levine commented "2K an?d Sony couldn't put a deal together when I last checked. They seemed way more optimistic about this back in 2011." I guess when you're at the bottom of the sea, all you can do is hold your breath.

@IGLevine [Twitter]

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They could be both, too

I feel like I could have just presented th??e above image without context or explanation, and that would have been the entire news post. Really, any kind of commentary I could provide on this just writes itself. 

Just take a look at this graphic that? Fox News implemented during a broadcast about immigration. The piece,?? called "Defending the Homeland," featured this graphic that even Ken Levine recognized and called the network out on via Twitter.

This is all just so perfect, isn't it? T?he screenshot, the graphic, Levine's?? tweet -- it's all grade-A, really. 

Fox News uses BioShock Infinite logo ??to defend the homeland [Eurogamer]

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Remember that?

Remember when Ken Levine went on stage at E3 in 2011 and held up a PlayStation Vita, championed the hardware, and noted that Bioshock would be coming to it? Well... he just disbanded Irrational Games.

CVG reached out to 2K on the matter, who responded that it had "no update" on the game, now that the franchise is completely in 2K's hands. This entire project is kind of a shame, considering it was announced two years before a deal could even be reached between 2K and Sony, and now, it'??s in ?some sort of secretive limbo state.

Anyone remember that Resident Evil PSP project from 2009 that was quietly canceled??? This is soun?ding a lot like that. That's right developers -- I don't forget your reveals so easily!

2K has 'no update' on BioShock Vita [CVG]

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Levine forming smaller team focused on highly-replayable narrative-driven games

"I am winding down Irrational Games as you know it," wrote co-founder Ken Levine in a post that? comes as an utter shock. "I'll be starting a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor at Take-Two. That is going to mean parting ways with all but about fifteen members of the Irrational ?team."

Continuing, he said "Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one ... While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion ha?s turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers."

Although a "classical startup model" was considered, Levine and what's left of Irrational will stay with publisher Take-Two for this venture. Their goal? "To make narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable. To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally." The future of BioShock is now in 2K's hands.

"There's no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as? we can give them during this transition," explained Levine. "Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we'll be hosting a recruiting day where we’ll be giving third-party studios and publishers a chance ? to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff." Bittersweet news of the freakin' month.

A Message From Ken Levine [Irrational Games]

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Start your journey next month

2K has just announced that the first major DLC for BioShock Infinite, Burial at Sea: Episode 1, will be available on November 12th for $14.99 (or included with your Season Pass). This date is a worldwide release for the PS3, 360, and PC, so no timed exclusive or staggered release nonsense here -- eve??ryone is getting it at the exact same time.

Burial at Sea features a self described "film-noir" themed story as you explore the original BioShock's Rapture setting, and encounter some "old friends." I have no idea what to expect from it, but rest assured I'll be trying it out at launch with the rest of you. I'm just glad it's happening right before the massive double-console launch.

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The show's first ever Lifetime Achievement award

Ken Levine, one of the most well-known and respected developers in the videogame industry, will be honored at this year's Golden Joystick Awards with a Li?fetime Achievement award. Throughout the course of the show's 31-year history, Levine will be the first ever recipient of the prestigious accolade.

Levine's being recognized and celebrated for his body of work spanning System Shock 2 in 1999, through this year's critically-acclaimed (and somewhat controversial) BioShock Infinite. He's currently working on Infinite's two-part downloadable content, Burial at Sea.

"In most fields, people begin their careers being inspired by others. In turn, they hopefully end up inspiring others. The great thing about the still-maturing nature of videogames is you get to be inspired by the work of novices and veterans alike. We're all figuring out day by day exactly what the medium is capable of," Levine said upon?? learning about the award.

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Spoilers, obviously

BioShock Infinite's Burial At Sea Episode 1 is on the way, and you can get a quick look at the first five minutes courtesy of Irrational Games above. Although there are obvious spoilers as to the s??etup of the DLC, not a whole lot is revealed, as the video is mostly just a walking and talking affair.

I still think it's weird to see the Elizabeth we know and love turned into a cold-hearted s??moker (that based on this video, feels a lot more generic and less likeable), but we'll see if Irrational has a method to this madness when the DLC actually drops.

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The Destructoid Show says a swearword

Hey gang! Here's today's Destructoid Show??. Because Tuesdays.

The first BioShock Infinite DLC has been released, with later DLC plans revealed, and Caitlin sat down with Ken Levine himself to discuss it. Fez II has been cancelled, thanks to a bunch of internet toilet-garbage hatecrap. People are so impatient for more Grand Theft Auto V news, they've started modding GTA V mechanics into IV. Finally, Microsoft discusses self-publishing on Xbox 360, and some of the Xbox One's matchmaking features.

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Returning to Rapture on the eve of its downfall

Irrational Games, and Ken Levine in particular, have been known for creating games with innovative narratives and unique gameplay. BioShock Infinite is no different, and we expect the same for the remaining downloadable content we've been promised, including Burial at Sea, announced earlier today.

The team at Irrational started working on the Burial at Sea DLC almost immediately after BioShock Infinite released, but the idea took some time to form. Ken explained, “I was running one day and the idea just started […] You’re Booker, you’re a private detective and this woman walks into your office like this classic sort of film noir [...] and that is El?izabeth dressed like Veronica Lake or something. That image was enough to sort of set everything into motion."

Ken mentioned that he wanted to stay away from telling a story just to tell it -- he knew that people were curious about what it was like before the fall of Rapture, but wanted to do it in a way that wouldn't rehash what they had already built in BioShock.

"We knew it had to start with, like all BioShock games, ‘what’s going on here, why is this happening?’, because otherwise you’re telling people what they already know. Retelling the story of what’s already in the audio logs of BioShock is not very interesting, so this is an opportunity to listen to it from the perspective of these character?s and why they are there.”

Ken and his team have built Burial at Sea from the ground up, including the objects and assets. This was surprising to me seeing as it's only DLC, but Ken explains, "it was a huge undertaking and I’m not exactly su??re why we do things that take so much time, but we thought this was our last chance for a while to give our fans a love letter so we de?cided to do it.”

This method seems to pay off -- when Ken describes the game to me, I can already tell how unique it will be compared to previous installments. He continues: “It’s basically two parts -- [the first episode] takes place in sort of the pristine Rapture, and that’s very much like being in Columbia at the beginning. There’s a hubspace that’s pretty…I think actually one of the best BioShock spaces that the team has ever built in t??erms of what I like to see.

"I look at levels like the medical level in BioShock and Fort Frolick as sort of the right structural layout of things because they’re less linear, they’re more sort of the center. They feel organic to me, [but] buildings are designed in a hierarchical fashion […] where the more big action stuff tends to push you down a single corridor. It is a constant struggle to get the team around that non-linearity. We’ve definitely done a better job I think in this DLC than we did in Infinite."

When I asked about the story, Ken didn't want to get too much into the specifics so as not to spoil it, but he did say that everything ties together and certain characters will make appearances. "We’re fans of integration, we’ll put it that way. We want to both give people a chance to see characters from BioShock before they splice up as much as they do and what they were like beforehand. There is a very well known character in BioShock who will? b??e involved substantially in the story [...] It is connected to the larger story.”

Ken also touched on a few themes from the original BioShock, and mentioned that this DLC will dive a bit deeper into the intricacies of Rapture. "You see this opening part which is in pristine Rapture and there’s this whole quest there that doesn’t involve combat and your journey takes you to […] a department store that’s now a prison that you’re there for a reason, you’ll find out. That’s a very traditional BioShock experience with all the fucking crazy splicers down there and the place has g??one to shit. So you get both -- you get the pristine Rapture and the ‘gone to shit’ Rapture in the same pac?kage.”

I prodded about the secon??d episode, in which players get to experience everything through the eyes of Elizabeth. I was ?particularly interested in Booker's role, but it hasn't been fleshed out completely so Ken was hesitant to share a lot of information. However, he has an outline of a story in mind and wants it to have a different combat feel than the other games.

“We’re in relatively early stages of the third part of the DLC [Burial at Sea Ep 2]," Ken told me. "It’s something that we wanted to do, we didn’t know if we could or had the time or resources but finally we decided it was important that we did it. It’s funny, each of the DLCs are a different combat feel, the first one [Clash in the Clouds] is very much like Infinite. The second one is much like BioShock, we reintegrated much more of the player-initiated combat notions of BioShock. In the third one, it’s almost like survival h??orror. Elizabeth is not like Booker, she’s not a huge tank. We’re still figuring out the details, everything is open to change, but we want her to feel like she’s always on t?he bleeding edge of resources and decisions and even push the stealth mechanic."

Ken continues, "We also have this notion of grifting from the original game that we didn’t have time to do, and I wanted to show that side of Elizabeth and ?her saviness through her wits to get the things she needs do??ne, done.”

When I asked about everyone's favorite characters, the Luteces, Ken said that "I'm not only a huge fan of writing them but I'm a huge fan of working with Oliver [Vaquer] and Jenn?ifer [??Hale] on them, and I'll leave it at that."

For now, Ken seemed excited about the future and about what fans will think of Burial at Sea. He explains, “We never know what we’?re doing next but I think if we knew… it wouldn’t be surprising because we’d hav?e to surprise ourselves. I’m just curious to hear people’s reactions.

We know people were frustrated by how silent we were and how long it was taking, but at the end of the day we’re always going to make the choice to present things in a way to actually give people a sense of what we’re doing and do the thing that we think is right for the gamer in the long run, not in the short run. So they&r??squo;re frustrated that they haven’t got??ten the content yet, but we could have done something quicker but it wouldn’t be this. People get anxious but I think they&rsquo;re going to be pretty happy.”

The post Ken Levine on BioShock Infinite’s new DLC, Burial at Sea appeared first on Destructoid.

Welcome Humans! I am ready for you.

A remake for Logan's Run is in the works, and it's surprisingly going to be written by BioShock Infinite's maste?r guru, Ken Levine. He isn't leavi??ng Irrational Games or anything like that; he is just writing this as a side project.

De??adline called t?his a project of passion for Levine, who will be joining Bryan Singer, the Producer of the X-Men movies, House M.D., and Jack the Giant Slayer. Singer has been trying?? to get this movie made since 2004, so I wouldn't expect it to come out anytime soon, but I am really looking forward to seeing what Levine does with the script.

‘Bioshock&rsquo;?? Creator Ken Levine Takes On ‘Logan’s Run&rsquo?; Script For Warner Bros [Deadline]

The post Ken Levine will write the new Logan’s Run movie appeared first on Destructoid.

Just buy and play the damn thing, already!

System Shock 2 is one of those games that everyone should get around to playing eventually. It's an eerie and atmospheric first-person shooter with RPG elements that truly was ahead of its time. Some folks like it better than BioShock, others don't; regardless, it is a game that is loved by many and hated by few. Now, with the addition of System Shock 2 to the Steam library, there is no reason not to own it anymore.

The classic randomly hit Steam today with a price of $9.99, temporarily decreased to $6.99 until May 17. It was previously available from GOG.com, and I'm sure many of you bought it as soon as it launch??ed on the site. For those of you who held out...what are you waiting for? Buy it!

The post System Shock 2 now on Steam, no more excuses appeared first on Destructoid.

Art book shows a new perspective of Columbia

Almost a month after its release, BioShock Infinite is still on my mind, but not for the reasons you might suspect. If you grow tired of seeing the game plastered on just about every gaming website, magazine, and TV commercial, fear not. This commentary does not exist to reiterate the title's excellenc?e nor is it a rant geared at opposing such praise. Instead, I'd like to shine some light on the world of Columbia before it was a fully realized sky-bound paradise; years ago wh?en the idea of the game was just gaining traction in the imaginations of Ken Levine and creative team at Irrational Games.

After traversing every nook and cranny of the firmament-born dystopia and following the tale of Booker DeWitt and the dimension-tearing Elizabeth not one, not two, but three times, I happily retired BioShock Infinite to its rightful place in my gaming library while tucking away my many adm??irations into a mental filing cabinet. I'm finally done, or so I told myself before I received an unsuspecting gift shortly after the exhausting completion.

As a spur-of-the-moment present (my friends are amazing), I was given The Art of BioShock Infinite, an art book showcasing a collection of illustrations, concepts, and ideas crafted throughout the? game's development process.

I'm not a game designer or an artist, and as much as I admire the aesthetics of a game as beautiful as BioShock Infinite, I didn't exactly jump for joy at the sight of a book full of drawings. That is until I took the time to flip through each page, examine every picture, and peruse all the hand-written annotations. You would be quite surprised to discover just how different Infinite was in its early stages.

A city of fragile perfection, the Columbia that we know floats in-between h??eaven and Earth, residing amongst the cloudy skies of idyllic wonder and concealed malevolence. Serving as a symbol of righteousness, the prophet Comstock's vision of religious purity and American ideology conceived a metropolis more picturesque than nature, seamless perfection in stark contrast to the Sodom below. Before humanity's palace of excellence was stai?ned in the blood of Dewitt's increasing body count, it was pristine, tangibly unspoiled despite the ethereal philosophies of overt racism, sexism, and classism.

Derived from the essence of its predecessors, BioShock Infinite embodied many of the series' thematic aspirations: questions of self-determination, pursuit of sovereignty, persistence of greed, and the nature of choice, all while deviating from the atmosph?eric spirit personified by the underwater city of Rapture. Despite the many differences between the newcomer and the previous installments, the three shared quite a few similarities during the infancy of the project from ambiance and landscape design, to enemy types and other conceptual elements.

Before the sky-city of Columbia was born, developers explored the sensibilities of brainstormed elements inside a vacuum. Unhindered by receptivity of a narrative outline, many ideas would surface, but only a select few would color the final product. As expressed by visual depictions and accompanied footnotes within the art book, multiple environmental concepts emerged as plausible settings for Infinite. From an? Art Nouveau world inspired by the unruly aspects of the natural world, to a derelict utopia far past its prime, the main aspect of the game, the hovering ?aesthetic of Columbia, was surprisingly absent during the early stages of conceptualization.

From a collection of disconnected ideas to the final product, the most dramatic divergence in the evolution of BioShock Infinite undoubtedly resides with the enemy design. Capitalizing on th??e essence of d??imensional rifts, early renderings showcase a slew of bad guys that harshly contrast the normalcy of the opponent types in the completed game.

Man-eating brutes who morph into more monstrous forms after feasting on human flesh, a little girl with a face caged behind torn bloody bars, and numerous other gory, creepy, and lurid imagery tint the pages of  the illustrative collection. Borrowing from Andrew Ryan's aquatic landscape, Vigor junkies also make an appearance i??n the art compilation, bearing the drastic physical effects of vigor addiction similar to the splicers of previous games.

One notable example is an adversary fused together by quantum rifts. These grotesque monstrosities reflect different instances of a person together in one body, the merging of realities in the faces of enemies. Drawings depict a man with features of both an infant and an elderly gentleman sprawled haphazardly across a nightmarish face. If you thought the splicers from the original where menacing or plain ugly, they're nothing compared to the eerie visuals left on Infinite's editing room floor.

Besides being a pretty cool book, The Art of BioShock Infinite showcases the creative process of the game's development in a hands-on, artistic medium. Blending the boundaries between old and new, borrowing from early elements in the franchise while crafting something unique, BioShock Infinite truly epitomizes a hodge podge of symbols, aesthetics, and atmospheric cl?out that has evolved drast?ically from beginning to end.

While the book can only represent a microscopic fragment of the overall design process, viewing step by step as the Songbird transformed from an off-putting Big Daddy with wings into a hulking yet emotionally-compelling beast is an experience that necessitates respect for the characters, the story, and the world of Infinite.

If you're curious about the visuals of BioShock Infinite and all of its intricacies, definitely check out the art book at your?? leisure. If you are looking for more of a detailed background you might be a bit disappointed by the few contextual annotations present, however.

Image Source: [1]

The post What BioShock Infinite could have been appeared first on Destructoid.

Cream or sugar?

Jennifer Hale and Oliver Vaquer, the voice actors behind the Lutece Twins, sat down with GameTrailers to talk about their roles in BioShock Infinite. The pair touch on how they both had to read each ?character's scripts, how it was like working together, and where they'd want to go if they could ?rip open tears.

And then things get weird.

The post Meet the voices behind BioShock Infinite’s Lutece Twins appeared first on Destructoid.

Would you kindly give it a view?

Just this past weekend I finished BioShock Infinite, and as a huge fan of the original BioShock this game did not disappoint. I'm still thinking about the story and making new revelations -- and it's been two days since I have touched it! That speaks to the power of Infinite's story as well as the effectiveness of the methods in which Ken Levine and Irrational Games chose to share it.

But what if you just want to take a another romp through Columbia, this time with some popcorn and more attentive ear? An enterprising fellow by the name of dansg08 has just added a "Special Movie Version" of Bioshock Infinite to his Home of Cinematic Gaming channel. Essentially a playthrough, dansg08 does his best to preserve the story of Bioshock Infinite while presenting it as a movie experience, with minimal on-screen distractions? for the view??er.

While I appl??aud dansg08's creativity and dedication in putting this movie together, I still feel that to truly enjoy a videogame's story one has to experience it firsthand. By making those hard choices and realizing the consequences of your actions, I believe it helps connect you to the story and characters more.

Bioshock In?fini??te edited as a nearly four hour movie [Super Punch]

The post Enjoy?? all of BioShock Infinite ??in this 3.5-hour movie appeared first on Destructoid.

Ken out of Ten

BioShock Infinite reviews finally went live across the board today, and while I'm sure we all expected a positive showing, we maybe were not quite prepared for the verit??able outpouring of critical acclaim. 

Of course, Destructoid's own review was a 10/10, yours truly admitting the ga?me had some faults, but ultimately presented a near perfect example o?f a tangible world with an impeccable narrative. As far as story-driven single-player experiences go, I feel this has become the game to beat. Seems I'm far from the only one. 

A lot of tens were se????en this day, and so far no review has dipped below an eight. At the time of writing, the game enjoys a 95 Metacritic score -- quite the accomplishment, with games actually not hitting that high note so often as they did a few years back. 

We've gathered?? the most notable reviews from around the Web. Check 'em out!

Eurogamer: Most of all, though, you'll be amazed that Elizabeth works. To begin with, you imagine she will be someone who tags along behind you as you plunder Columbia for loot and scraps of bonus narrative, but her AI is such that you often find her running in front of you, anticipating where you want to go. It's a great trick, but it's also symbolic, because by the end of the game you realise that you are not the main character in any real sense. She is. She always has been. She always will be. It's her journey. You're just along for the ride. Still: what a ride. [10/10]

Polygon: I'm still thinking about BioShock Infinite now, days after finishing. Irrational built a believable, fantastic world rooted in dark pieces of American history. But for everything it has to say, for all the questi??ons it ask??s -- many of which have no easy answers -- BioShock Infinite's big thoughts and complicated narrative don't obscure the?? brilliant action game that carries those messages through. ?It's hard to know if Infinite will prove to be another?? major point of artistic discussion and development of the medium the way that BioShock was. But in every way, BioShock Infinite lives up to the promise of its legacy, and it looks poised to establish a new one. [10/10]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun: Infinite’s a triumph in terms of fantasy-architecture spectacle and bringing superb flexibility to the modern rollercoaster shooter, but in other respects it’s a small step down from the player agency and even the singular aesthetic of BioShock. Not that it necessarily needs to, as it is most certainly a high-aiming game in its own right rather than mere offspring, but I’m not convinced it will live quite as long in our collective memory as did/does its parent. It sure does make me want to use superlatives like ‘majestic’, ‘lavish’ and ‘spectacular’ over and over again, though. [N/A]

Edge: BioShock Infinite is a sequel, in short – more so than BioShock 2. Irrational has made a game in thematic dialogue with its predecessor, with the same interests but different tastes, and one that expands mechanically and technically on what came before. And it’s given us a city in the sky that reflects upon the one beneath the waves. [9/10]

The Escapist: Bioshock Infinite is both a breathtaking achievement in videogame storytelling and a marquee example of a game that will stick with you long after you see everything it has to offer. Calling it simply a first-person shooter is practically an insult. If you can make it through the game without being emotionally affected - or even experiencing a bit of an existential crisis - you need to check your pulse immediately. [5/5]

CVG: Columbia is one of the most intriguing, best-realised game settings of this generation, and the characters it houses are as captivating as the blimps and parades and artificial beaches that line the streets. [9.1/10]

GamesTM: So, when will gaming have its Citizen Kane moment? Forget that. When will anything else have its BioShock Infinite moment? [10/10]

Penny Arcade Report: This is a game about relationships, and how everything we do affects everyone around us. It's about how trying to do the right thing can be as monstrous as starting with ill intentions. It's about how we can hate those we love, and love those we hate. It's about a man, a girl, and a lost finger. It's about circles, and how you can go around them and end up in a completely new place. It's a beautiful game. [N/A]

PC Gamer: In a sense, that beauty makes it even more of a shame that the writing doesn’t manage to put all this spectacular work to better use. But it also means that these moments end up being emotional anyway. It’s like a surreal arthouse movie where nothing really makes sense, but where each scene is strangely compelling nonetheless. [91]

GameSpot: BioShock Infinite isn't afraid to magnify the way religious and racial extremism inform our culture and change lives. It isn't afraid to depict a less-than-holy trinity diseased by power, deception, and manipulation. As the story circles back on itself, you're left wondering whether redemption cleanses us of our atrocities, or simply invites us to commit greater ones. Once the finale comes, you will want to play again, watching each event and image through the lens of information you can never un-know. BioShock Infinite is more than just a quality game: it's an important one. [9/10]

Videogamer: The finale is sure to be debated for years to come – in both positive and negative senses, but the end of the game is merely the beginning of a cycle: I wanted to play it all over again, despite its flaws. If that's not a recommendation I don't know what is. [8/10]

Game Informer: Replicating the achievements of the original BioShock is a challenging goal (as 2K Marin’s sequel demonstrated), but series creator Irrational Games returns with a fresh vision and redefines what the BioShock name means. Infinite is more than a new setting, story, and characters; those elements are seamlessly integrated with complex themes, a mysterious plot, and entertaining combat to create an amazing experience from beginning to end. [10/10]

The post Reviews Elsewhere: BioShock Infinite appeared first on Destructoid.

BioShock Infinite actress Courtnee Draper recalls how she dug deep to find the voice

One of the main things that Irrational Games has really pushed in its marketing for BioShock Infinite is the relationship between the player-controlled character Booker DeWitt and the young woman Elizabeth that he's tasked with retrieving from the floating city Columbia. At Saturday's Irrational Games Panel, actresses Courtnee Draper and Heather Gordon talked about how they helped sculpt Elizabeth's personali?ty with lead writer Ken Levine.

"This process was really great because Troy, w?ho plays Booker DeWitt, and Ken -- we would all work together. We would just sit in a room and have this really great collaborative effort which was unlike any other project I've worked on. I've never had that to this extent, so the inspiration was really just everytime I came out to Boston we would sit and talk about what kind of character we wanted her to be and what relationship we hoped you as the player would experience with her. It was almost on a piecemeal basis and all kind of finding her together."

Courtnee then recalled a particular recording session that involved Elizabeth being upset after Troy berates her for still being unable to control her powers. We were shown a short video in which Ken briefs the?? scene and Courtnee suggest that Troy (as Booker) just berates her under Ken's direction, which he does and you can really start to see her get more upset before finally delivering the line. The video ends on a funny note as once the line is complete, Courntee regains her composure and suggests they try the process again.

The real challenge came with combining Courtnee's vocal performance with Heather Gordon's motion capture performance. Heather recalled her theatre background as being especially useful: "I had t??o physical have it exude through me as it happened to C??ourtnee. So I had to emotionally get myself to the place that she got to at the same time. It had to be timed perfectly."

The attendees at ??the panel were shown some rough footage of Heather in the full mo-cap suit performing a range of scenes with plenty of gusto. "After getting into it, I really just started to connect deeply with what Courtnee did and she became a person."

The post PAX: Voicing Elizabeth mea?nt collabo??ration and abuse appeared first on Destructoid.

Irrational Games creative lead on the challenges of player freedom

At the Irrational Games panel at PAX East today, the team behind BioShock Infinite talked about the challenges of player agency in the game specifically when interacting with Elizabeth, the player's constant companion. "The player can be a psychopathic alcoholic because we don't know what the player is going to do," says creative director Ken Levine. "You have to embrace that lunacy, if you fight it and you lock the player in place... it's not the player's game, it's our game -- but it has to be your game."

Part of the struggle of the development process was making Elizabeth not just a static robot. Progammer John Abercrombie spoke a?bout how simple movements kept the player engaged with Elizabeth: "We looked at the way pa??rtners moved together... so when you're going some place she has a good idea of where you're going."

Part of Elizabeth's believability is down to the combination of Courtnee Draper's vocal performa?nce and Heather Gordon's mo-cap performance but there's another aspect that's much more subtle. Level designer and "Liz's brain??" Amanda Jeffrey explained it's all in the eyes.

"Every time we were trying to make Elizabeth a better character to experience the game with, so generally the first thing we did was making her awareness of the world absolute??ly impeccable. She has these incredible eyes that she can see the world in a completely different way, Liz can see what's important to her."

An example was shown of two large portrait of a regal-looking woman; one on the left looked like a regular painting but the one on the right was covered in eye icons that show how important it is to Elizabeth. Amanda also pointed out that Elizabeth would still keep up with the player as he's controlling Booker DeWitt so no matter how eye-catching something might be, she won't be far from his side. Ken mentioned at some points there was suggestion of taking Elizabeth out of the game because it was becoming so hard to program her to a level that BioShock Infinite deserves.

The post PAX: Ken Levine:? Players can be psy?chopathic alcoholics appeared first on Destructoid.

"Did someone send checks to the wrong address?"

Yesterday, it was suggested BioShock Infinite was among the most expensive videogame projects of all time, costing a rumored $200 million to produce. Acc?ording to?? director Ken Levine, such a catastrophic amount certainly wasn't seen by his team. 

"200 million for Infinite? Did someone send some checks to the wrong address?" he quipped on The Twittarz. "Analyst: @IGLevine's Ameri?can girl doll collection cost 200 mi??llion."

Even by the standards of this industry's increasingly reckless budgets, $200 million seems decadent. I'm glad that, at least according to Levine, it didn't cost so much, ?because that'd be a dead game walk?ing. 

Our review of the game is going up on Mond??ay because we couldn't sacrifice the goat 2K Games demanded for an earlier release. The goat was too adorable, and now lives with me in my mountain retreat. I've called it Hans. 

The post Ke??n Levine denies $200 million BioShock I??nfinite budget appeared first on Destructoid.

Warning: Raw sexual energy approaching maximum capacity

With BioShock Infinite mere days away from release, I sat down with Irrational Games' Ken Levine this week to discuss exactly how the game has changed over the past five years of development, and what he envisions for the futu??re of the series.

I was particularly curious to know how, after last year's reports of a cancelled multiplayer mode, Levine felt about the idea of narrative-focused games ad??ding multiplayer, and whether or not it cheapens the experience.

"I was the first guy who said, 'Look, let's try [multiplayer]' ... but it was tough, because it had to be something unique to us," said Levine. "The first game we made that didn't have multiplayer was BioShock, and it wa??s by far our most successful game. And so, I think the last t??hing we wanna do is throw this thing in the box just so we can put a bullet point."

The mode was eventually nixed due to a lac??k of proper time and resources, but that didn't stop vitriol from spewing out of eve??ry corner of the internet. Comments like "Good riddance" and "nothing of value was lost" were littered in the comments section of every article, and Levine - a lifelong gamer himself - seems to bear an understanding of where it all came from.

"People, especially I think with the BioShock games, they have this so?rt of emo??tional connection to things," he said. "I think that's where you see some of the various scandals and outrages... because people feel an attachment to it. And if you don't respect that attachment, you reap the whirlwind."

I wouldn't be the first person to denounce the recent trend of tacked-on multiplayer modes (BioShock 2 and Tomb Raider both come to mind), but when developers begin to feel as though they have to include one, for no other sake than simply adding something new, it doesn't instill a whole lot of con??fidence in their game.

Thankfully, based on what I've seen of Infinite so far, I think it'll manage just fine without. Look for our review?? ne?xt Monday.

The post Ken Levine talks multiplayer in BioShock Infinite appeared first on Destructoid.

Universal decreased budgeting altered project

Ken Levine has come out about the BioShock film, first announced in 2008 with Pirates of Caribbean director Gore Ver??binski attached, admitti??ng to personally cancelling the film.

After the poor box office reception to The Watchmen, Universal got cold feet about funding a $200 million R-rated BioShock adaptation. Universal gave the?? project two options: Ditch the R-rating?? or accept a budget of $80 mil. Verbinski wasn't happy with either and soon left the project.

"They br?ought another director in, and I didn't really see the match there," Ken Levine said at BAFTA talk, "and 2K's one of these companies that puts a lot of creative trust in people. So they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it."

Levine got his start in Hollywood as a scriptwrit?er: A role he carried onto his videogame career. I think it's pretty cool that Levine decided to axe the project, knowing it wouldn't be faithful to his and fans' expectations.

"It was saying I don't need to com??promise - how many times in life do you not ne?ed to compromise? It comes along so rarely, but I had the world, the world existed and I didn't want to see it done in a way that I didn't think was right," Levine said. "It may happen one day, who knows, but it'd have to be the right combination of people."

Ken L??evine personally killed off the BioShock film - here's why [Eurogamer]

The post Ken Levine killed BioShock film due to Watchmen’s failure appeared first on Destructoid.