Bioshock 2 Developer Conference Call Q&A

Bioshock 2 Developer Conference Call Q&A

Setting the Stage

Before diving right into the Qs and the As, Jordan Thomas gave us a brief rundown of what to expect from Bioshock 2. Nothing too surprising here if you’ve kept up with the coverage online, but good information nonetheless. First, Bioshock 2 takes place ten years after the events of Bioshock. The protagonist of Bioshock, Jack, is gone, as is the antagonist, Andrew Ryan. Neither ending from the original Bioshock is considered canon, by the way. The developers mentioned that they thought the endings of Bioshock were solid and they didn’t want to disturb them, a point I heartily agree with.

So, this time around players take the role of a Big Daddy, a prototype Big Daddy actually. Known as Subject Delta, this Big Daddy isn’t like the ones we encountered in the original Bioshock. Subject Delta is much more agile, for one thing. He also has a mind of his own, unlike the other Big Daddies. He awakens from his slumber at the start of the game and his ultimate goal is to find the Little Sister he was bonded to. The question of who he is is answered throughout the game’s mysterious story.

The antagonist this time around is Sofia Lamb. In the absence of Andrew and in the chaos that ensues after the original Bioshock, she becomes the leader of Rapture. Her altruistic ideas differ greatly from Andrew’s and she has her sights set on the free-roaming Subject Delta. We were informed that she is based off of a John Stewart/Karl Marx personality.

Now as far as multiplayer goes, the setting is before the events of Bioshock. Across seven modes and ten simultaneously player online support, players will get to experience some familiar, and new, settings from the original Bioshock. Interestingly, the multiplayer component has a story of its own that is told through audio diaries that players unlock as they play.

Hypnotized Brute

And Now, the Single Player Q&A

I figure the best way for me to take this information from note form to an article is to clean up my notes and still leave things in a Q&A format. Keep in mind I am paraphrasing, not exactly quoting, the question nor the answer from 2K and Digital Extremes:

-What aspects from the original Bioshock did you want to keep and what did you improve on? We wanted to keep player choice and give the player the ability to play they want to play (either straight-forward action or more in depth, etc.). We’ve changed the upgrade path for Plasmids and weapons and we also made the hacking and research components much more fluid than what was in the original. Players can now use Plasmids and weapons at the same time (dual wield). Also, instead of having to stop the flow of the game to do a mini-game to hack, players must hack while still actively in combat. As for the research aspect, you now “tag” an enemy and record them with a video camera for 30 to 45 seconds. Then, your overall recording is scored, not just a snapshot as
was the case in the original
Bioshock.

-Any returning characters? Expect to see at least Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum, mother of the Little Sisters. She was a genetic scientist who helped developed ADAM.

-Why are players cast as a Big Daddy? Why not bring Jack back? Jack was not brought back as the endings in Bioshock were satisfying and they had closure. The decision to make players a Big Daddy for Bioshock 2 was something decided early on. Lots of fans wanted that, and it changes the gameplay quite a lot.

-How is Subject Delta different from the other Big Daddies? He’s more agile, can use plasmids, and has free will; those are the biggest differences.

-Are Big Daddy fights still a part of Bioshock 2? Will they be easy now that you’re also a Big Daddy? There will still be Big Daddy fights, and they will still be considered like mini-boss battles. And now, Little Sisters will heal Big Daddies when they are injured, so you really have to plan your battles and beat them in one succession, otherwise, depending on what difficulty you’re playing on, the Big Daddies can heal up while you’re respawning.

-What role do Little Sisters have in Bioshock 2? Besides being crucial to the story (Subject Delta must find his Little Sister), you can also still Harvest and now also Adopt Little Sisters. When you Adopt one, it can take you to corpses and harvest ADAM for you. While doing so, you’ll have to defend it, just like you saw Big Daddies do in the original Bioshock.

-As far as Harvesting/Adopting, has the moral balance been changed, or? We’ve made it harder to be
good; if you’re really ‘bad’ in Bioshock 2, you’ll earn a whole lot more ADAM, but there’s a balance to be found.

-How has Rapture changed? It will still be recognizable, there was an established art style set in the first and it didn’t make sense to change it. That said, there will be a lot of surprises. Furthermore, in the single player campaign, every area will be new and you will not revisit any areas from the original Bioshock.

-How are Vitachambers different this time around? Players have the option to disable them from the start of the game. And as far as Big Daddy fights go, Little Sisters can now heal them, so you have to plan to be able to encounter them and defeat them in one go rather than relying on being able to use Vitachambers to beat them.

Bioshock 2 allows players to walk on the ocean floor. What are the advantages of that? Primarily to be able to see Rapture from the outside. There a few secrets out there too.

-Are there more Splicer encounters in Bioshock 2? There are in fact more encounters with Splicers, but, you’ll also find more non-Spliced-up NPCs to talk to. This is to help reduce the sense of isolation in Rapture. Many people said that the first game was primarily Jack and a bunch of Splicers, by adding more NPCs this time, we hope to dissolve that sense of isolation.

-How has Splicer AI changed? Splicers will now set traps, attack in groups, ambush, take cover, and jump and climb over ledges. All of them can throw grenades, too. They are more diverse as well, including new types like the Brute Splicer that can go toe-to-toe with a Big Daddy.

-Will Bioshock 2 have a better final boss? We’ve taken a very different approach to what was done in Bioshock.

-What’s new from a combat perspective? Players dual wield now (plasmid and weapon at the same time), all weapons and plasmids have been revamped as well. You also have the drill function of a Big Daddy. Hacking and Research have been adjusted to where they don’t interrupt the flow of combat anymore. The upgrade paths have changed in that each can be upgraded three times. The third upgrade is to be sought after because it makes a major difference in how the weapon or plasmid functions. For example, the Rivet Gun is upgraded with a larger clip size, then it does more damage, but the third upgrade will set enemies on fire if you hit them with it repeatedly.

-What was the toughest challenge in making Bioshock 2? Besides having the legacy of the first to live up to, adding multiplayer.

-What changes were made to the game engine? It’s mostly the same, but changes were made to the shader technology and we also tweaked it to allow the ability to walk on the ocean floor.

-How many new Plasmids are there and how many combos can be made? There are some Plasmids for single player only and some for multiplayer only. A “Scout” plasmid has been added that allows players to leave their body and scout the area up ahead (Editors Note: Sounds like Force Projection from JK: Mysteries of the Sith). Multiplayer has a Plasmid known as Aero Dash that allows players to run really fast and there is also the Houdini Plasmid to allow or invisibility and teleportation. The amount of combinations are nearly endless.

-Are there multiple endings? There are, and the choices you make throughout the game go towards which ending you will have. In other words, the final decision doesn’t come right at the end of the game, it’s being created all along by the player.

Machine Gun To Face

Multiplayer Q&A

-How many modes for multiplayer and how many players? There are seven modes and support for ten
players. No offline, LAN, or System Link modes are included, online only.

-How is Ranking done? Players must collect ADAM to rank. Hacking turrets, picking up viles, and examining corpses are all ways to earn ADAM.

-Is there a Big Daddy random spawn in every mode? No. The Big Daddy random-spawn doesn’t make sense to have in all of the modes.

-Is built in voice chat included? Yes.

-Any form of cooperative mode? Just team based games like Civil War and Capture the Sister (a spinoff of Capture the Flag).

-How do players unlock more about the story of the multiplayer component? As you play, you unlock audio diaries from the different multiplayer-specific characters that reveal more and more about the story of the multiplayer component.

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