BioShock 4is being developed at a new studio set up by 2K just to tackle the project. Cloud Chamber has severalBioShockveterans onboard, but notably lacks series creator Ken Levine. Several job listings for the studio even indicate that the design of the nextBioShockmay diverge significantly from previous installments in the series.
In fact,BioShock 4is beginning to look like some of the more recentAssassin’s Creedtitles. Here are some of the waysBioShock 4can take a different road fromAssassin’s Creed, despite seemingly heading down the same path.
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The Assassin’s Creed RPGs
Ever sinceAssassin’s Creed Origins, Ubisoft’s series has increasingly added elements from RPGs. While older games in the franchise told totally on-rails narratives in segmented explorable sandboxes, the last three games have prioritized player choice, consequences, and more expansive open worlds.
InOrigins,Odyssey, andAssassin’s Creed Valhallaplayers have more choices from the get-go. They can choose their player character’s gender, even though Ubisoft has confirmed certain options to be canon, like female Eivor inValhalla. Player choices in-game also have an affect on the arc of the story in a way they never would have in previousAssassin’s Creedgames. Eivor’s relationship with their brother Sigurd inValhallais based on a few key decisions throughout the game. These choices ultimately determine the end to Sigurd’s story, and by extension the tone of Eivor’s ending.
Across the last threeAssassin’s Creedgames, players have had multiple dialogue options, different romance options, and ultimately far more agency within the story than the preset plots ofAssassin’s Creed’s past. There’s evidence thatBioShock 4may mark a similar turn in the dystopian sci-fi series' design. Job listings on theCloud Chamberwebsite for the positions of Senior Voice Designer and Systems Designer included requests for experience that hint at some of the features that may be included. These listings asked for experience designing RPG-style dialogue systems and sandbox worlds respectively.
Just last week aCloud Chamber job-listing for a Senior Writerposition requested “someone who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting,” supporting the evidence thatBioShock 4will be open world. There are some key ways, however, thatBioShock 4’s apparent turn to a branching dialogue system and a more open world can distinguish itself fromAssassin’s Creed’s.
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BioShock And The Theme Of Freedom
Players have more of an effect on the world ofAssassin’s Creedthan ever before, but the impact they’re able to have is done in a deceptively unimpactful way. Sigurd’s ending inAssassin’s Creed Valhallacertainly impacts the final note of the historical fiction plotline. Nonetheless,Sigurd and Eivor always trap Basiminside the Grey, which means that no matter the player’s decisions, Basim is always able to emerge from the Grey inValhalla’s modern-day storyline. The areas that players are able to affect are never those which have a significant impact on the overarching strokes of the plot, they’re only able to change smaller details within that plot.
This might sound appealing to Cloud Chamber at first. After all,BioShockgamesare known for their strong narratives. Giving players too much ability to affect the overarching plot could detract from some of the character-driven storytelling and well-executed twists the other games are known for. IfBioShock 4is going to remain true to the spirit of the previous games, while integrating RPG features like branching dialogue and an open world, it should go in a totally different direction fromAssassin’s Creed.
TheBioShockgames have always been deeply invested in the idea of choice and free will. InBioShock 1, the player famously discovers that the player character Jack is under the influence of mind control. What the player assumed was just them completing video game objectives was actually Jack following orders from Frank Fontaine, using the code phrase “would you kindly.” This comes to a head whenRapture’s founder Andrew Ryandemands Jack beat him to death using the same phrase, while espousing his Objectivist philosophy and claiming that “a man chooses, a slave obeys.”
BioShock Infiniteis very interested in exploring the player’s lack of choice and agency within the story as well.Booker DeWittis faced with several choices throughout the game, but they often have little to no effect on the turn of events at all. Towards the start of the game, for example, Booker finds himself at a fair in Columbia where he is handed a baseball and told to throw it at an interracial couple who have been arrested and put on display as an attraction. The player can choose to throw the ball at the couple or the announcer, but before they can do either the mark on their hand is noticed and a fire fight breaks out.
Later inInfinite,the Lutece twinsreinforce the game’s seemingly determinist philosophy. The player is asked to flip a coin, which lands heads. It is then revealed that the coin has landed on heads every single time it has been flipped. IfBioShock 4is going to give players more freedom and choice than ever before, it needs to give them far more freedom to affect the plot thanAssassin’s Creeddoes.BioShock 4then needs to use that freedom to explore anti-determinism with the same thematic focus as the linear plots of previousBioshockgames.
IfBioShock4’s player suddenly has a huge amount of choice and freedom, the story and its different branching possibilities need to be united by a focus on the meaning of choice itself.BioShock 1andBioShock Infinitemade their lack of true choice a significantly important part of the story and its themes. IfBioShock 4is going to take an RPG turn, these new mechanics need to be reflected in the philosophy the game is exploring. If Cloud Chamber does that,BioShock 4could stay true to the spirit ofBioShockdespite the changes that appear to be taking place in the series.
BioShock 4is currently in development.
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