14 DAY TRIAL // The BioShock games have always relied heavily on their narrative and on strong performances from voice actors but for the upcoming Infinite game the development team is trying to bring the voice actors involved into the writing process to make sure that the story grows organically.
Talking to Gamasutra as part of a bigger interview Ken Levine, who leads Irrational Games and the development process for BioShock Infinite, stated, “So, I try to go in quite flexibly, and I usually go in and get what I know I need. I get what's on paper. And then I say 'Well, let's try something else,' or Troy or Courtney pipe up and say 'Hey, what if we did this?' I think it's foolish of me not to embrace that.”
The developer is referring to the two voice actors who embody Booker, the detective, and Elizabeth, the superpowered little girl, who are at the center of the Infinite experience.
Levine added, “There is one sequence in the game, where I hadn't written it at all, and I sat down with them in Seattle, and I said, 'Look, this is a scene I'm having a problem with. What do you guys think about this?' And they were very, very helpful in helping me think about that scene.”
The developer was afraid of spoiling the crucial scene for those who plan to play BioShock Infinite but says that the current version is heavily influenced by the way the voice actors have managed to channel their characters and then offer feedback to the writing team.
Ken Levine has experience working in theater and believes that this has managed to shape the way that he approaches video game writing and development.
BioShock Infinite is set to be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 at some point during the year.