14 DAY TRIAL // With Bioshock 2 coming up in what seems like a plasmid's throw-away, there's still a lot about the game that remains a mystery. We know that we'll get back into Rapture and we know that there will be plenty of Big Daddy and Little Sister action, (OK, that phrasing sounds a bit weird), but pretty much everything else that matters is unknown. So, to help mankind, 1UP decided that the game required a closer look, and where else could it get it if not from the very people that are making the title. As such, 2K Marin lead designer Zak McClendon and art director Jeff Weir were invited over a coup of whatever-they-fancied to talk things through as far as the game went.
“The goal for accessibility is always that people don't notice,” McClendon said. “They just play and the game tells them things and they sort of pick it up as they go. I think for somebody who hasn't played BioShock before, they'll definitely be surprised by the world. And the world of Rapture is definitely one of the most exciting things you can experience if you haven't played BioShock before.”
But the game promises to surprise and emotionally involve us in the world of Rapture right from the beginning. The story and the idea of making moral decision were two of the core principles of the title, and Bioshock 2 plans to do the same thing, and conflict and controversy are the best ways to stir up emotions.
“I'm actually fine with someone in our studio saying, 'this is crap; it's horrible,' as long as someone on the other side is saying that they love it and they think it's the coolest thing ever,” Weir added. “But I think that's the important thing of art -- it needs to make a statement, and it needs to say, 'I'm this, and I'm strongly this.' I don't think gray is a good place for art to be.”
As for direct interaction and multiplayer, 2K has cooked up a lot of new things and it promises that a lot has changed. The main thing it learned, as we did as well when playing, was that the gameplay mechanics of Bioshock were very well suited to fit a team sport, but there wasn't a proper way to express that in the title. How exactly these changes and learned lessons will be applied in the game we haven't been told yet, but, most likely, from the sound of it, the wait is more than worth it.