Poll: The New Bioshock

[MercurySteam]

So as I'm sure you're aware by now, we have a new Bioshock coming out in a couple of years, although there's no ocean, plasmids, splicers, Andrew Ryan, Big Daddies or even Rapture for that matter.

It's called Bioshock Infinite [www.bioshockinfinite.com].

Teaser Trailer:

Description:

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter currently in development at Irrational Games, the studio behind the original BioShock (which sold over 4 million units worldwide). Set in 1912, BioShock Infinite introduces an entirely new narrative and gameplay experience that lifts players out of the familiar confines of Rapture and rockets them to Columbia, an immense city in the sky.

Former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt has been sent to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned in Columbia since childhood. Booker develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt must learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.

Pluse, here's a good read about Bioshock Infinite by the lead Gamer Designer at Irrational Games:

Spoiler

Ken Levine:
Keeping secrets is hard.

The last three years for me have been dominated by a single question: ?What are you guys doing there??

Some of you were pretty certain it was an X-COM game, which I can now safely say it is not. It is also not part of the Freedom Force, SWAT, X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, Kingdom Hearts or Yar?s Revenge franchises. The time for discussing what Irrational Games is NOT doing is over.

Today we announce BioShock Infinite.

That?s right, this is a BioShock game.

It?s a sequel.

But it?s also not a sequel.

Let me explain.

At Irrational Games, we believe that in order to fulfill expectations, you have to defy expectations.

When we completed the original BioShock, we felt we had said all we wanted to say with Rapture, but we weren?t done with the idea that is BioShock. BioShock is so much more than a story of a single place or a single time. We had so much more we wanted to say.

There are two core principles for us that define a BioShock game. First, it has to be set in a world that is both fantastical and yet also grounded in the human experience. Second, it has to provide gamers with a large set of tools, and then set them loose in an environment that empowers them to solve problems in their own way.

It would have been easier for us to go back to the well. We could have taken the easy route. We could have simply done more of the same, but we would not have been true to ourselves as game developers. Making the original BioShock was hard. We challenged ourselves every step of the way, and we tossed aside many elements and ideas simply because they weren?t good enough.

So when we started the sequel, we said to ourselves: ?We want to expand on those core principles, but beyond that, there are no sacred cows. Everything else that people know or think they know about BioShock is open for negotiation.?

You will find yourself in a completely new world. Columbia is not an unknown secret city at the bottom of the sea. It?s a creation of an America transforming from a regional agrarian collection of states into a world power with global reach.

You now play an actual character, and not a cypher who is unaware of his own identity. You are Booker Dewitt, a particular character with an established history, with a voice you will hear as he talks to himself and others in the game.

You?ve come to Columbia for a reason: to find a mysterious young woman named Elizabeth and bring her safely out of the city. She will travel with you, interact with you, and react to the situations you cause to happen, and through your relationship with her, we?re able to tell the story of this new and amazing world.

This world of Columbia presents radical differences in scale from what you are used to. You?re not crawling through corridors on the ocean floor, claustrophobic with the weight of the ocean bearing down on you. Instead you find yourself navigating through huge environments, zipping around on Sky-Lines at eighty miles per hour and getting into firefights at ranges of two thousand yards.

In fact, there is so much new and radical about BioShock Infinite that we simply can?t tell you all about it in one revelation. What we present to the world today is merely the tip of a very large iceberg. In the coming months we?ll begin to reveal more of what BioShock Infinite is all about and let the world know why we are so excited.

For now, we want to thank you all for your patience, and for sticking with us all these many months while we labored in silence.The time for silence is over. First up for the fans of this site is another episode of Irrational Behavior with Shawn Elliott that covers the announcement of BioShock Infinite and the work that led up to it. I?m sure you?ll dig it.

Down the road a bit, actual gameplay footage awaits. It?s something you?re going to want to watch more than once. Trust me on this one.

It's looks quite spectacular and I'm really looking forward to it, even though it may not come out till 2012.

So Escapist, what are your thoughts on Bioshock Infinite?

 

[Booze Zombie]

It looks cool but I don't have nearly enough information to judge any part of it right now other than the art direction, which is looking good.

 

[Nukarama]

Long as they keep plasmids looks good.

 

[Ldude893]

Rename it Aeroshock and I'll accept it.

 

[Corpse XxX]

Bioshock is all about atmosphere, lets hope they manage equally good in the skies as on the bottom of the sea..

But so far.. ME WANT!

 

[Eagle Est1986]

Erm.... that's not Bioshock, it's just stolen the name.

It does look good though, I just don't think they need to keep the Bioshock name.

 

[mad825]

if it's harder than bioshock then maybe...I haven't even completed it yet and i'm bored

 

[Aggressor and Usurper]

Rename it Aeroshock and I'll accept it.

I approve of this.

OT: In all seriousness, this does look good. Even if it probably shares absolutely nothing in common with the original Bioshock(s).

 

[rabidmidget]

That looks...AWESOME!

It's even more steampunky than bioshock!

 

[Mr. Grey]

I remain neutral. I haven't enough information to make proper judgment yet.

Rename it Aeroshock and I'll accept it.

The term bio in Greek can mean "one's life", so if we follow this line of thought Bioshock can mean "A shock to one's life." And as shock can mean "to strike or jar with intense surprise, horror, disgust, etc." Then Bioshock is an appropriate name to this current installment.

The infinite I have a problem with, I don't want to be infinitely shocked... that might kill me.

[sub]I got the joke, I just wanted to bump it a bit further.[/sub]

 

[Fenring]

If it leads to Chris Remo's (now at Irrational) BioShock 5: The Moon (as foretold in the holy word of Idle Thumbs Podcast 26: Liftin the 'Bargo, which as correctly predicted SkyoShock), then I'm all for it.

Seriously, I think this pretty cool. I wasn't interested in BioShock until everyone told me how great it was, and I still found it a little underwhelming. I'm actually excited for this.

 

[EHKOS]

I liked it better when the big daddies were mysteries and not organs.It looks extremely badass but the story is the same as the second one. I look forward to the world but not really anything else. I wish it had a better story.

 

[Axolotl]

Looks brilliant in my mind. Maybe I just like weirdness but a city in the sky is even cooler than a city beneath the sea in my mind.

 

[Daniel_Rosamilia]

Well...

Looks like Irrational is geting more of my cash if I have any when that comes out.
But wow, a city in the sky, with Big Daddies that look really creepy?
The possibility of dying from falling? (I wish that was in the first 2, but with drowning instead)
ME LIKEY

 

[legion431]

Erm.... that's not Bioshock, it's just stolen the name.

It does look good though, I just don't think they need to keep the Bioshock name.

Think about it, if they changed the name, some people might think it was ripping Bioshock off, and would then lose some of its appeal.

I ,however, think it is a brilliant idea, so much potential here. lets just hope it's as good as its prequels.

 

[masseyguy911]

Well I think it looks good. A lot of potential in this idea, but still to early to really say anything else about it.

 

[Mr. Gency]

Rename it Aeroshock and I'll accept it.

Halolz called it Skyoshock. Good enough?

 

[Extraintrovert]

I have no opinion on the game itself, considering I have learned to not assess things without adequate information (I don't actually follow that lesson, but I have learned it). I will say however that the trailer was spectacular, and I will now watch it again.

 

[1blackone]

The people who keep saying its not Bioshock are fail. If anything its MORE Bioshock than Bioshock 2, since that was made by a different studio and strictly isn't canon. Its scary to me that people confuse setting with storyline. So what if its in the sky, isn't it still written by the same writer as the first?

The writers of the 1st one SAY THEMSELVES its a prequel...

Using that twisted logic, if you didn't think the ice planet of Hoth in Empire Strikes Back fit the desert setting of the 1st title, then it shouldn't be considered Star Wars. EVEN when its written by the same person and THEY say its canon.

"Aeroshock"? Really? Then explain whats "Bio" about an underwater city. Using that childish logic, the first game should've been called "Watershock".

The game being centered around genetics and its juxtaposition against the individual in society is what makes it "Bio". And judging from the developer interview, the premise falls right into this vein.

Please, people. We don't get cookies for being the first to not like/like it, me included. Let's actively critique the new material presented rather than judging the entire plot based upon something as superficial as how far you can see into the distance while playing it.

 

[Vrex360]

I really don't know how to feel about this. I mean I was among the people who cried boo at the announcement of a Bioshock 2 set in Rapture so the idea of a third Bioshock that has nothing to do with Rapture but is rather a fantastical steam punk world in the clouds that just borrows a few similar themes just feels like even more of an unneeded sequel.
I mean think about it, imagine if they made a sequel to King Kong that then didn't feature New York, Skull Island, Dinosaurs or a Giant Gorilla and was set in a completely different location notable only by having some new monster take King Kong's place and have no emphasis on continuation of that plot.
Would you still think it could be called 'King Kong 2'?

Just to be clear I do not think this is a bad idea for a game. If we want to have a story of a city in the clouds then I say go for it and yes it is true that they have said and done everything that can be said and done in Rapture but maybe that means they should abandon the Bioshock label altogether and just call it as someone else suggested 'Aeroshock'.
I mean Bioshock was the spiritual successor to System Shock. Why can't Aeroshock be the spiritual successor to Bioshock?

I am just curious though, without the dystopia, Big Daddies, gene altering substances, Little sisters, questions regarding humanity, philosophy and the Genetic Civil War.... exactly what 'themes' are there left to explore in Columbia enough to even give a connection to Bioshock? The 1930's art design and music seems to be one and the general philosophy of building a new city away from the rest of society but truly if that is all then I see very little connection between this and the first Bioshock.

Like I've said before, Bioshock was a masterpiece that had the strength to be a tightly self contained immersive experience. The addition of the sequel only endeavored to mess that up and now an obscurely connected 'sequel' just feels like it's forgotten its own roots.

I'm not saying that this doesn't look like a great fantastic and interesting game but the fact is if you label it with Bioshock, people are going to expect Bioshock stuff. No plasmids or Little Sisters is something people will notice. I wouldn't use the Halo label and then make a game about a war in Modern Europe.
All I'm saying is, it looks amazing and odds are the game will be a great interesting new spin and it is interesting to go from the bottom of the sea to the top of the clouds. But I just think that maybe using the label 'Bioshock' is a little innapropriate. Especially if there are no plasmids, remember 'bio' is short for 'biological' which is what Plasmids are.
Ultimately if they called it 'Aeroshock' or 'Cloudshock' and called it the next in a 'trilogy' of '-Shock' games, then I would be more impressed.