BioShock: Irrational Games Interview

Kikizo talks to BioShock boys Joe McDonagh and Joe Faulstick to discuss the stunning title that could change the way we think about first person shooters.

Page: 1  2  3 

Page 2

Kikizo: Can you tell us more about how there are multiple solutions in the game, does that make it a little too open ended, how do you address that balance?

Joe F: Well it's difficult to balance, because with the nature of our tools there are unlimited ways to mix and match those powers to your situation - our goal with designing this game was to make a game where the list of choices was actually defined by the player himself, not by the game designer. You're not doing A, B or C - you're doing whatever you want, based on the resources and the tools available.

Joe M:There are multiple solutions for every problem, it's really about the player telling us how he wants to play this game. There's always a number of different things you can do, and it's up to you to decide which of your resources you're going to deploy.

Kikizo: You've put a lot of effort into making the water look great but what's the underlying significance of water in the game?

Joe F: It alienates you. We want the player to feel like they're alone, in this environment, and that's why instead of building a city or a base out in some place, we want to put it in an environment where you feel trapped. The water is encroaching on the city, it's falling apart, and we want the player to feel like they're stuck in there and you've got the desire to get out of the mess before it all comes crumbling down on top of you.

Joe M: I know every developer says look at their water, but it is very important thematically to our game. You're trapped in this doomed underwater world and you've got to escape. It's important to feel like you're an intruder in this world, like you shouldn't be there. System Shock 2 had it with space and now it's water that gives you feeling of feeling like you're walking through a battlefield after people have died, and you feel very uncomfortable. Like going through someone else's drawers.

Kikizo: BioShock seems to have a very unique visual look to it overall.

Joe M: We've gone for an art deco style, which is quite controversial because of course, being game developers we have to rip of Aliens and Blade Runner all the time, because nothing else exists... but we actually wanted to make something really quite beautiful. And I hope also the style contrasts with this kind of destruction of the world, to make it creepy.

Kikizo: How much have you been focussing on things like AI since some of the enemies, you're not supposed to attack all of them and they're all going about their own things...?

Joe F: Well it originally started off... I mean we've done Tribes and SWAT 4 recently, we've had AIs that flanked, that work together, that flee… and we thought we did a pretty decent job on those games, but we're trying to think what's the next step with AI, and we realised that AI is not single routines but it's relationships between AIs that the player can manipulate and impact. And so we decided to create this AI ecology, we had the little sisters and the big brothers who are relying on each other, and they won't run on their own free will, but at the same time maybe you don't want to interact or shoot them - or maybe you do need what they're harvesting. It's all about how do you interact with them, and in what matter, in order to accomplish your goals.

Page: 1  2  3 

NEXT PAGE >>