Ken Levine Reveals BioShock's Elizabeth Will Be Major Political Player

The leader of Irrational Games has offered some more information on the political situation on Columbia, the flying fortress, and on how the existence of main character Elizabeth has created a conflict.

Speaking to CVG Ken Levine, who is the leading developer working on BioShock Infinite, has said, “When you arrive in Columbia, Elizabeth has been trapped in this tower since she was a little girl – and you bust her out. That’s essentially the catalyst that heightens the conflict. You really turn the heat up in a way that it wasn’t before.”

He added, “The Vox Populi believe that the city is corrupt, so they want to demonstrate to the workers and the downtrodden of the world that this symbol of American imperialism has to fall. A prophecy says that if Elizabeth falls then the city falls with her. So they want her dead.”

Traditionally video gamers have been vary of the escort mission, which usually meant the player had to do extra work in order to make up for the failings of the characters who were controlled by the computer.

But while showing BioShock Infinite at both E3 and Gamescom this year the developers at Irrational Games have made it clear that Elizabeth will be a fully fledged character that has a power set that at times is more important than that of the detective the players control.

Levine has also revealed that the relation that Elizabeth has with her mechanical bird like captor, Songbird, is inspired by a real life victim of abuse that the developer had known and who was tempted to return to her abuser.

BioShock Infinite will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 at some point during 2012.

A standalone BioShock project for the PlayStation Vita handheld is also being developed.