What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator

Irrational Games, the studio behind System Shock 2, Bioshock and Bioshock: Infinite has recently been renamed to Ghost Story Games, along with a few teasers to its next title helmed by one of the best storytellers in gaming right now – Ken Levine. Here’s what we know about the title:

Fans of Bioshock will love it.

What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator Ken Levine
Ghost Story Games announced that their upcoming title will have a “strong appeal” for the fans of Bioshock. Now, we don’t know if that means the game will be similar in gameplay, but there’s nothing to debunk that theory either. Few games have achieved a level of depth that the Bioshock games have and a title akin to that series, at least in narrative depth and complexity will be more than welcome in any gamer’s library who plays something other than the yearly FIFA or NBA game.

It’s made from ‘narrative legos’…

What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator Ken Levine - Burial at Sea
…whatever the hell that means. Levine commented that it will be a concept that connects story and atmosphere driven games like Bioshock and more tactical titles akin to Civilization. He also commented that the choices and individual motivations of characters could be imagined as little bricks which assemble into something different every time you play. In theory that sounds very promising.

A Mass Effect-esque experience where you shape the way you play, but reading what Levine commented, it seems that the complete experience will be tailored to the choices of the player, not just isolated decisions like Mass Effect or other Bioware titles. It sounds like something that could be promising but very hard to achieve. This writer certainly hopes that Levine doesn’t go in over his head with an over-ambitious project.

It’s going to be sci-fi

What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator Ken Levine - Motorized Patriot

In 2015, during the first influx of rumors and info about Ken Levine’s new game, he commented that his new studio’s first game would be “sci-fi or sci-fi ish”, not continuing any previous franchise. So that eliminates the possibility of a new Bioshock and a new System Shock game. The studio’s description states “wonder and nostalgia” in their future titles. Might this be a hint at an old-school sci-fi without the gimmicks of some newer sci-fi franchises? Hopefully.

Difficulty

What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator Ken Levine - Big Daddy, one of the hardest enemies in the original BioshockWhat we know at this point is that the gameplay will be significantly harder than what the studio has done before this. The studio states that it wants to “craft experiences where the gameplay is as challenging as the stories” and the senior animator Seth Kendall says that it has a “real focus on making core games for core gamers”. Maybe this has something to do with the recent success of titles like Dark Souls, NiOh and Bloodborne where an excruciating difficulty is an integral part of the experience.

It will be brimming with ‘intriguing characters’

What we know about the new game from Bioshock creator Ken Levine - Elizabeth, one of the most intriguing characters in gaming
Levine has a lot of experience with this particular point. Be it the engaging speeches of Andrew Ryan about equality in society or the racism-fueled orations of Zachary Comstock, Ken knows how to write interesting, deep and complex characters. What he can also do is make those characters work from a gameplay perspective and we have the best imaginable example of that– Elizabeth.

Elizabeth and the way she worked from a technical standpoint in Infinite was basically flawless, she did not get in your way and was helpful in every combat encounter, opening rifts to spawn turrets or even throw you ammo and Salts. The character was so well developed that it was impossible not to get attached to her as a character. She seemed real, and my future replay of Infinite will prove that once again.

Conclusion

Not much is known about this title, hopefully we'll get some info on this year's E3 which will be held in Lost Angeles on June 13-15.

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