Originally published on Diehard GameFAN
Fresh off finishing work on the much-anticipated BioShock 2,
the teams at 2K Marin and Digital Extremes have surfaced from the
depths of Rapture for a quick breath of air. Thankfully, during this
time, Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon and Hoagy De La Plante from 2K Marin
and Mat Tremblay and Jesse Attard of Digital Extremes were onhand to
field a mob of press questions on Friday in recognition of the finished
product, which will be hitting store shelves on Tuesday. After the
roaring success of BioShock, these team members have had some
pretty big shoes to fill in this sequel, in which the single-player
portion of the title takes place following the events of the first.
However, after much work on the title, both companies came out
confident, spilling a load of details and insight on next week’s big
release.
Right off the bat, 2K Marin foresaw its biggest challenge: Creating
a new experience that surpassed the original without stepping on the
toes of the original release or the BioShock’s rabid fan
base. While the members of 2K Marin and Digital Extremes agreed the
biggest challenge was implementing multiplayer in a game built as a
single-player experience, the developers of the single-player campaign
noted pulling off the sequel effectively was still no easy chore. With
a small core of members having a hand in the original title, creative
director Jordan Thomas stated a team was built from scratch.
On the subject of the pressures of matching the success of the
original title, Thomas stated the fact the original was so well
received was perhaps the biggest pressure of producing the sequel. It
was noted members of the Friday panel did have experience on previous
games with titles such as Deus Ex, Deus Ex 2, Thief III and Project Snowblind
being mentioned, but instead of focusing purely on the past, the two
teams had a lot of work and expectations on their shoulders. “We built
a team from scratch and it was mentally challenging because we were
going against the weight of our own expectiations,” he noted. “Everyone
was a fan of the first game and the pressure led to a lot of
second-guessing and aiming to please everyone.”
Before moving on to all of the new additions to be pumped into the
title, the teams had to take a step back and see what worked in the
original title. Two of the biggest premises to return included the
mystery-driven story along with the moral choices. “We wanted to keep
the player’s choices … while growing the ecology of the world,” said
McClendon, the lead designer of the project. “We wanted to expand upon
the idea of the world being self-sufficent and keep everything
acceptable and friendly to a wide audience. We wanted to respect
anything the player decided on in the original game.”
It was stated that neither ending, based on the ethical choices of
the player in the first game, was considered as “canon” for the story.
Instead, the hope is that players will carry their morality from the
first game over to the second. However the teams still treated the path
of events very seriously and the game’s lineage unfolds in a manner
that does the first entry justice.
“BioShock had an extremely full mythos,” stated Thomas.
“Adding new history into that canon was a huge challenge. It was
something we took very seriously. The writing team had to become
painfully familiar with the first game in order to prevent
contradictions.”
The goal in the sequel was painted out be surpsing to the player
without removing what happened in the original entry, which is what the
team would have referred to as a “simple-minded reboot.” Once again,
the Little Sisters are running rampant in Rapture and moral decisions
lie in your relationships with these ADAM-infused entities. “We wanted
to focus on choice,” noted Jordan. “The player is granted freedom and
can make a number of ethical decisions that shape the plot and how the
story unfolds.” One of the main goals of story progression this time
around, however, was in shaping the game well before the end, as it was
carried out in the original title.
Not everything is new with the mythos, though, as De La Plante did
indicate a small handful of characters and themes will be returning to
the sequel, including Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum, along with the very obvious
inclusions of the Big Daddies and Little Sisters. The one certainty De
La Plante did spell out was the fact Andrew Ryan is dead.
“Through Rapture, you can see Ryan’s legacy and see his messages and
ideals around the game.” he noted. “In this way, Rapture is a character
of its own. (Ryan’s) story ended in a satisfying way. The player ended
the game with conquest or redemption and we needed to allow the story
to conclude and not interfere with that.”
After Jack Ryan leaves the “utopia,” the opening of the massive tower
vacuum has allowed Rapture to evolve and feature the story elements
introduced in the sequel. Fast forwarding to 1970, Rapture is now under
the guidance of Sofia Lamb, who operates under the reverse philosophies
of Andrew Ryan. Instead of focusing on the individual, Lamb stresses
collectiveness in society, implementing vibes of Karl Marx and John
Stuart Mill into the game’s philosophical tones, which still reflects
writings such as those seen by George Orwell and Peter Watts. While a
lot has essentially remained the same in BioShock 2’s premise and themes, though, the gameplay has been retooled to take the sequel beyond the original.
The most dramatic departure is obviously in the shift of the
player’s role. Instead of Jack Ryan, players are placed directly under
the mask of a prototype Big Daddy, a mechanic that 2K Marin admitted
was one of the very first items decided upon for the sequel.
“Making this game was challenging and we felt changing the
protagonist was the best focus,” said Thomas. “It provided a fresh
perspective and it was hugely requested by fans. Most importantly,
though, he has a purpose: He’s out in search of his original Little
Sister.”
As a prototype, this Big Daddy does differ from those seen in the
original entry. “In the original single player game, the Big Daddy was
powerful, but slow,” recalled Thomas. “We just couldn’t do a game at
such a slow, trudging pace – (the prototype) is more agile than the
classic daddies and he can utilize the plasmids. He also has free will.
The encounters with Big Daddies are still as rewarding as they were
before, though. The ‘rumbler’ is a new type and the Big Sister is more
challenging. The game’s situations are not always meant to be an even
battle.”
Big Sisters, implemented as a new face of terror in the sequel, are
Little Sisters that have matured physically based on an overabundance
of ADAM. They embody an awkward transition into adolescence and feature
a softer edge (detailed by items such as ribbons on their baskets or
innocent drawings), but still carry quite the mean streak. However,
this doesn’t mean the Little Sisters have been pushed out of the title.
In fact, they are crucial element to BioShock 2. When a
player encounters a Little Sister, not only can they be harvested for
personal ADAM, but the player can adopt them in their search for more
dead bodies full of the material. If the player allows the Little
Sister to harvest from a body, it will be up to the player to defend
her from incoming dangers. If players really sink low into morality,
they can adopt, allow a Little Sister to absorb ADAM and then harvest a
double dose of the precious entity. Such decisions are what really
shapes the game, according to McClendon.
“It really undermines the moral value to force players into a specific morality choice,” he commented. “(BioShock 2) makes the choices around them a little more gray. It can be a little more rewarding to harvest in BioShock 2.
You can be starved for ADAM if you do not adopt and you will have tons
if you adopt then harvest. We’re hoping the choices are a little more
reflective of the choices that go on in your head with such complex
moral choices.”
Outside of the big baddies, the 2K Marin also noted even the general
enemies have received a boost in performance thanks to reworked AI and
players will be encountering these battles with more frequency. It was
noted players will see some ambushes and the enemies are just a lot
smarter overall, using cover, throwing grenades and effectively
traversing ledges. Diversity also allows the enemies to be more
threatening against your Big Daddy, with brute splicers throwing large
blocks of concrete and being able to go toe-to-toe with you and other
splicers that can climb walls and ceilings. The team even admitted the
final boss from BioShock was something the original didn’t do very well so BioShock 2, without throwing out any spoilers, is “taking a different approach.”
However, thanks to being a Big Daddy, players will find they have
more tools at their disposal to counter these threats. A lot more
character growth has been implemented into the sequel with three
upgrade levels to every single weapon, the ability to “dual-wield”
plasmids and weapons and, of course, the trademark Big Daddy drill. The
dual-wielding was admitted to being one of the very first mechanics the
team implemented when doing early work with the BioShock toolset and the final results have the teams pleased.
“The Big Daddy really worked to our advantage.” noted Thomas. “Jack
could go down quickly and by people’s expectations, (it) would be more
durable, so there is more survivability. There are fewer stumbling
block to your tools and with varying difficulty levels and internal
play testing, we have made sure the levels are balanced. Everyone asked
for the drill and that was something we put in, but it needed to be
robust. We worked on upgrades and it became a core tool that was
rewarding and visceral to use. With the way tools combine in defensive
scenarios, we’re pretty happy with the end results.”
As mentioned, every weapon has three upgradable levels, which gives
players something to work for and each changes up the game style a
little bit. For example, reaching level three with the drill adds a
magnetic coil, which can be used to reflect projectiles. Also, new
plasmids have been worked into the experience for both the
single-player and multiplayer modes with new single-player skills
including a scout ability to leave your body and explore ahead for a
short time. It was noted the single-player plasmids are meant for the
players to use to have fun at the expense of punishing the AI while
multiplayer plasmids need to be, “fun to use on others as well as fun
to have them used on yourself.” Jesse Attard lead multiplayer
programmer for the project at Digital Extremes stated the mode will
feature a plasmid that allows players to move at extremely fast speeds
and tackle enemies, one that allows players to become invisible and
another that will freeze enemies into blocks that can be thrown around
for more damage.
The combinations of attacks between plasmids and weapons is the goal
of the teams involved, creating tactical and defensive gameplay. Other
small tweaks to the gameplay include a simpler hacking system
integrated into the core gameplay, forcing players to balance combat
and hacking as simultaneous actions. Also, the research camera has been
changed into a video camera that not only records subjects, but also
judges how the player combats it and rewards the player accordingly.
The vita chamber issue from the first game has been looked at as well,
giving players the option to turn them off and while combating a Big
Daddy, if the player dies, the enemy’s Little Sister will heal them to
eliminate the cheap tactic of respawning to whittle down the Big
Daddy’s health bit by bit.
Perhaps the biggest departure from the original title is in the fact
players will get to explore a little more of Rapture by being able to
traverse more of its outside environments. All of the environments are
brand new, presented with improvements to shading and rendering and
implementing areas the team imagined “players didn’t see the first time
around.” 2K Marin did toy with possibilities such as implementing a
flooded Port Frolic, but the team didn’t feel it worked out; however,
the multiplayer mode will feature some familiar environments exclusive
to that mode.
“(BioShock 2) is the same style in art with new
environments and more art,” said De La Plante. “We created new
manifestations of that style as reinvention was contrary to our goal.
We played on an environment that was already strong and tooled with
them a little bit. The setting of Rapture will never be new, but
changing that wouldn’t work.”
Seeing Rapture from the outside will also allow players to not feel
confined as the team noted the enclosed areas of the original made the
title never feel safe so, perhaps, players couldn’t fully explore the
beauty of the surroundings. The player will also encounter characters
that are normal human inhabitants and these characters help progress
the narrative.
The multplayer portion of the game was developed externally by
Digital Extremes and actually takes place in a civil war storyline
preceding the original title. The civil war explains the transition
from utopia to dystopia and Attard felt utilizing the story in
multiplayer as opposed to creating a full-fledged prequel was a perfect
fit for the series.
“An honest prequel would be a very different game.” he explained.
“We felt it didn’t speak directly to the values of the first game. The
civil war and going from utopia to dystopia, translating those events
into multiplayer was extremely honest and the competition over ADAM was
compelling to us.”
The multiplayer aspect will feature modes such as the “civil war”
team deathmatch, “capture the Sister” (similar to capture the flag) and
a free-for-all “survival of the fittest.” Some of the modes will allow
the player to become a Big Daddy, which comes with its additional
strengths (a rivet gun, stomps and proximity mines) and weaknesses
(doesn’t regenerate health, bigger and slower target). Unfortunately,
there is no support for system link or LAN, but online, the game will
accommodate for up to ten players. Taking place prior to the events of
either game, the multiplayer mode will feature unique characters and
players can learn more about them by unlocking diaries.
Obviously, taking the foundations of a single-player title and crafting
a multiplayer experience from that was quite a task for Digital
Extremes. Attard noted the team not only had to contend with a proper
networking code and making sure the game was accessible, all the while
not sacrificing the feel of the game’s universe. For example, he felt
it would be out of place if an announcer called out a headshot;
instead, a headshot may do something such as shooting a player’s mask
off their face. Balance was another concern and Digital Extremes has
noted many focus groups and interview have helped them identify areas
to improve the mode and make it more fun. Perhaps the most intriguing
aspect of the mode for fans, though, is in the familiar Rapture
environments that have yet to be ravaged by the civil war and the
events of the two single-player games.
“Rapture is rich with narrative elements,” said Temblay, the art
director of multiplayer at Digital Extremes. “With the experience of
the single player, there is so much to look at and experience and
that’s what made Rapture. Rapture is pristine and new before the fall
and the single-player mode freed us up to go back with multiplayer
while the other mode drove the story of Rapture forward.
Looking at the sequel, 2K Marin did comment on the direction the
team had to take in developing for all three platforms – Xbox 360,
Playstation 3 and PC – simultaneously. The original title landed on the
PS3 much later than the other formats and the teams shared the goal of
compromising with the strengths and weaknesses of each format.
“We had a goal to make each format an identical experience,” said
McClendon. “We don’t want to reward or punish someone based on their
system.”
Commenting on the delay into 2010 for the title, both companies
stated the extra time allowed for more balance and polish and Digital
Extremes noted the delay allowed it to place in four more multiplayer
modes that weren’t originally going to make it in the original 2009
release. Giving the title more time allowed 2K Marin to take a long
look at the early moments of the game in order to bring forward the
best impression for new and veteran BioShock players.
As a wrap-up to the panel, on an aside, even though Thomas did not jump on board the development of BioShock
during its planning stages, he shared one of the proposed premises of
the original title focused on World War II, with Nazis having a secret
lab underwater for use in inhumane experiments. Also, 2K Marin
commented on the collector’s edition, stating the pressed soundtrack
vinyl was felt to be a more meaningful collector’s item and better sets
the tone of the game.
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