14 DAY TRIAL // Bill Gardner, the user experience specialist working at Irrational Games, says that one original idea for the upcoming BioShock Infinite would have involved setting the game during the Renaissance period, with a different plot and new characters.
The developer tells Polygon that, “I will say that I was actually pushing for something more Renaissance, but within six month Assassin’s Creed 2 was announced and I was like ‘OK, well they beat us to the punch’.”
He adds, “We cut off enough things to make five or six full games. It is alarming. I mean, it pains you when you are talking about cutting one of your babies but ultimately you got to look at the final piece. A year later the audience is not going to care and eventually you don’t care.”
It’s unclear whether the six games’ worth of content would have all been set during the Renaissance period or if Gardner is talking about all the potential ideas that Irrational had for BioShock Infinite before it committed to the current idea.
Ezio was one of the most loved characters in the Assassin’s Creed series, but his games were focused on action and exploration.
This leaves an opening for a more story-driven title like BioShock, which could deal with the philosophy and the power structure of the historical moment.
Infinite is set on the floating island of Columbia, which was created to show off the technological superiority of the United States and broke off from the country in rebellion.
The player will be Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton detective who explores Columbia in order to save a little girl called Elizabeth.
The game is expected to explore themes ranging from religion to racism.
BioShock Infinite will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 on March 26 all over the world.