BioShock 2 was officially announced today and my response to the news teeters between blissful excitement and anxious dread. I found the original to be a stellar title. It was not exceedingly phenomenal, but it did a lot of things very right. It’s story and atmosphere were a brilliant breath of fresh air. If BioShock doesn’t show gaming’s potential as an art form, I don’t know what does. If the forthcoming sequel can deliver just half as much of an immersive world as the first, I will be happy.

Isn’t that the problem with sequels to acclaimed works? It is so difficult to live up to the original. Time only breeds nostalgia and compounds the dilemma. I say making the game only half as excellent would be good enough, but that is only half true. A different IP half the caliber of BioShock would indeed be great, but something branded BioShock will now only be remembered as a success if it exceeds the original. I hope 2K has what it takes to do so.

BioShock’s ending(s) left the game with little to go on, and I can’t really imagine a direct chronological sequel being any good. The game could be taken to the surface, but that would destroy the best aspects of the game. Many speculate BioShock 2 will manifest as a direct prequel, chronicling the rise and inevitable fall of Rapture. This would leave many of the important aspects of the game intact, but I believe most of this story has already been told in the original. I also think any such gimmick such as a second underwater utopia or some such twist would be lame.

I am unfamiliar with the System Shock series, but I know BioShock is often referred to as its spiritual successor. Now that BioShock has cultivated a successful name for itself, I don’t see why 2K could not do something similar. Create another spiritual successor, something in the same vein but altogether different at the same time. Don’t dumb down BioShock with a derivative subtitle and try to build upon a towering skyscraper; the chances of it toppling are too great. Instead, tear it down safely, and use just its foundation to build an ever greater masterpiece.

Setting will be key. System Shock was set it the confines of a space station, itself confined by the vastness of space; BioShock it its turn was forced inside the walls of an undersea city, itself surrounded by the ocean. A sense of claustrophobia should be felt in the sequel as well. Perhaps somehow underground in a mining facility, or a quarantined building complex, or a submarine or airplane, or a prison. The atmosphere of Rapture was undeniable in its success.

A story to match would be equally important. Coming in at the end of the narrative like in BioShock could work again, but I think a different, yet still intriguing approach would be more effective. Something like a skipping view of a social collapse. You are repeatedly taken away from the action through loss of consciousness, or confinement, or something presumably more interesting that what I can come up with. And the twists and kinks in the story really pushed BioShock to awesome levels. We would need some oh-my-god and I-never-saw-that-coming moments. If the skipping narrative concept was employed, and later you found out you weren’t drugged or knocked unconscious, but that someone is actually controlling time, and you were acting in those lost times. You know, but better than that. I think dystopias are never ending depots of great stories and that BioShock 2 could be set in another, but not necessarily. I could go either way on that aspect of the story. As far as a theme of altering, I think mechanical and AI was explored in System Shock, and genetic splicing in BioShock, so something new should be implemented in the sequel. Perhaps something along the lines of psychology and drugs that alter the brain chemistry could work well. And sociology could be explored. Think of the interactions between the splicers and other residents of Rapture. Would if you could have a hand in controlling those interactions. Locking doors, hypnotic commands over the loudspeaker, or releasing agents in the ventilation systems, etc. Whatever the story, large and overarching themes must be present.

Gameplay need only be minutely improved upon. Focus should not be implementing a multiplayer mode, but on story and atmosphere. That is not to say innovation here would be unwelcome. I’ve always considered the possibility of a game where you degrade over time. Most games have you leveling up and gaining gear and powers. What if you start with all you need, as say an operative in of the aforementioned facilities, with full power and control of those around you and the environment, but over time you lose your gear, and become psychological weak from the consistent mental assault, and by the end of the game when more operatives finally arrive, you are just another messed up soul in their experiments. You know, but way better than that. I digress. BioShock’s shooter elements, and and puzzle solving, and such was fine, but tweaks would be nice. A better AI, evolving puzzles, etc.

Let’s just hope 2K can bring the excellence. Ken Levine, the brain child behind BioShock is not directly tied to the sequel, but I believe will have some involvement and some of the original staffers will be present, so I do have hope even though a different studio will be handling it. God speed BioShock 2, for the love of me, would you kindly live up to my expectations.?

Take a stand!

1. Well I made it about half way through and gave up.

   — B · Mar 12, 11:22 AM · #

2. I wrote it and even I wouldn’t want to read it. I think I blacked out and when I came to, there was this long winded rant about how to not mess up BioShock 2. Weird.

   — Adam · Mar 12, 02:32 PM · #

Commenting is closed for this article.