[News] Bioshock 2 announced

Eurogamer reports that Bioshock 2 has been announced for a Q4 2009 release.
It's being developed by 2k Marin, so probably / obviously NOT by the same people who did the first one.
Not sure what to say about this. Given the scale of development usually needed for a game like Bioshock, I highly, highly doubt the release date is even closely realistic. Which is okay, who believes in release dates anyway?
And then, it's not done by the same people who did the first part. Okay, given that a return to rapture is rather unlikely, unless it's a prequel, a diffrent team might not hurt the idea of the game too much.
Given that there have actually been tremendously good sequels developed by other people than the ones doing the originals, this might not be that big of an issue, as long as this doesn't become a rushed cash-cow game to milk the franchise a bit.
Fingers crossed.

I've yet to play all the way through the first one, I can tell it's an amazing game... but a sequel? I don't think that game's made for with a sequel in mind, really. Especially since it's made by a different team team... I hope it doesn't flop, really.

But, then again, we really dont' know anything about it... so, who knows what'll happen.

Given that 2k Marin was just recently formed and noone knows the offical staff of the group. I would say that there is a good chance that many of the people who originally worked on Bioshock could easily be apart of the team doing Bioshock 2. Hell, as far as any of us know, It could be just Ken Levine and Crew who are making it.

but please stop with the speculation that it is gonna suck because it isn't headed by the original developers. No one knows who works at 2k Marin besides 2k themselves.

Also a Bioshock sequel could turn out be excellent. Yes, it wouldn't work well if they did a direct continuation from the end of the first game, but too many people tend to forget that the events that led to the fall of Rapture and the power struggles between Fontaine and Ryan were never properly explained in-depth. Plus they didn't explain the Big Daddys, and a bunch of other stuff. I think it is most likely gonna be a prequel to the first game which would be amazing.

Well, yeah, if it is a prequel, it really would be nice, if done right. It would be nice to see what happened to Rapture to make it the way it was in the first game.

I just mean by the possiblilty of the game flopping is that... if the original team's really not working on it, then the new team may not be able to capture the "feel" that the original had. I'm not saying it's automatically gonna suck, I'm just saying it makes me a little more skeptical about it.

Originally Posted by Frozen Memories

Well, yeah, if it is a prequel, it really would be nice, if done right. It would be nice to see what happened to Rapture to make it the way it was in the first game.

I just mean by the possiblilty of the game flopping is that... if the original team's really not working on it, then the new team may not be able to capture the "feel" that the original had. I'm not saying it's automatically gonna suck, I'm just saying it makes me a little more skeptical about it.

2k has already annouced that Ken Levine will be apart of it. If you dig around and take a look at 2k Marin, you'll see that it is affiliated with 2k Boston in the same way that 2k Australia is. Also, before the formation of 2k Marin was offical, rumors were circulating that part of the Bioshock Dev team was to branch off and make their own 2k studio and then boom 3-4 weeks later, 2k Marin is born.

The sequel could definitely be a great game--if they make the gameplay challenging, the story engaging, the interactivity more than a sham, and put the whole thing out on the PC exclusively. Pretty much if they remade Bioshock to be a true System Shock 2 sequel and not the cruel joke that it turned out to be.

One thing's for sure though, I'm not buying it when it comes out. I don't think I've ever been as let down by a game as by Bioshock. I even bought a new PC for it, damn it.

Originally Posted by Iwata

2k has already annouced that Ken Levine will be apart of it and if you dig around and take a look at 2k Marin, you'll see that is affiliated with 2k Boston in the same vein that 2k Australia is and before the formation of 2k Marin was offical. Rumours were circulating that part of the Bioshock Dev team was to branch off and make their own 2k studio and then boom 3-4 weeks later, 2k marin is born.

Oh, really? That's good, then. I don't know if another team could have worked on the game with the same amount of... success? as the original team.

Well, regardless, as long as they remain in line with the original Bioshock's standards, I'll be happy, then.

Originally Posted by Iwata

but too many people tend to forget that the events that led to the fall of Rapture and the power struggles between Fontaine and Ryan were never properly explained in-depth. Plus they didn't explain the Big Daddys, and a bunch of other stuff. I think it is most likely gonna be a prequel to the first game which would be amazing.

The thing is, these are things that shouldn't be attempted to explain too much, as they're unlikely to pull it off well. Whatever they'd come up with couldn't hope to be as plausible as anything you've cooked up in your head, precisely because it's unexplained. There's a danger of going the way of Lost with the more you explain, the less interesting it gets.

They actually DID explain most everything about the game.

Little Sister - BioShock Wiki - Rapture walkthroughs, locations, secrets, weapons, characters, and much more!
Big Daddy - BioShock Wiki - Rapture walkthroughs, locations, secrets, weapons, characters, and much more!
Andrew Ryan - BioShock Wiki - Rapture walkthroughs, locations, secrets, weapons, characters, and much more!
Frank Fontaine - BioShock Wiki - Rapture walkthroughs, locations, secrets, weapons, characters, and much more!

The only thing I think that they COULD go more indepth with is the Fontaine vs. Ryan conflict.

This information you posted had to be inferred in-game, seeing as how it wasn't explicitly stated in the game itself. Which is sort of "to formula" regarding the various "Shock" type of games. I think a lot of people let the mythos get to their heads regarding System Shock 2 and Bioshock. The very appeal behind the events isn't in watching them unfold, but discovering them in the aftermath, as already pointed out. I wouldn't really care to see a prequel, because I know what happens in the end. Stephen King tried to attempt this sort of story telling with "Wizard and Glass", and the book was a fucking terrible read up until the last few chapters where we actually didn't know what was going to transpire in the overall plot.

I don't know what the sequel will be, but I'm hoping it's along the lines of System Shock 2 from System Shock 1 where we hit a time leap bringing us to similar events and possibly people. But... speculation and such. Bleh.

Originally Posted by surasshu

The sequel could definitely be a great game--if they make the gameplay challenging, the story engaging, the interactivity more than a sham, and put the whole thing out on the PC exclusively. Pretty much if they remade Bioshock to be a true System Shock 2 sequel and not the cruel joke that it turned out to be.

One thing's for sure though, I'm not buying it when it comes out. I don't think I've ever been as let down by a game as by Bioshock. I even bought a new PC for it, damn it.

I did the same mistake. Bioshock isn't a PC game. It's a console game. Thus it's by far not as good on PC as on console. Believe me, I've just been as let down by the game as you have, until I played it on the 360, and LOVED it there. As long as you can let the whole "omg it's been dumbed down 4 consolez!" mindset let go. Took me, well, having my own 360 to do it, so I know what I'm talking about.

Of course they won't develop it for PC first, at least I highly doubt that. There's too little money in it. I don't blame them. Bioshock like games are hugely expensive to make. And as long as you don't play it on the wrong platform, its an incredibly good game.

That said, even if it's not made by the same people who did the first one, it can still be great. Just remember System Shock 2.

I wasn't too nuts about Bioshock either. The shooter aspect felt, I dunno, "twitchy." I was running it near max specs smoothly, but it just didn't *handle* well for some reason. I couldn't get in to it, but the atmosphere was okay.

I would've preferred something more PC-exclusive, but it seems that folks will do their best to capitalize on profit with some games (see: Oblivion, Bioshock 1, Kane & Lynch, etc amid other games).

Originally Posted by Gechmir

I would've preferred something more PC-exclusive, but it seems that folks will do their best to capitalize on profit with some games (see: Oblivion, Bioshock 1, Kane & Lynch, etc amid other games).

The PC Gaming market is a gigantic joke. The only people who'd want this kind of series to be PC-exclusive are the morons who hate good games and want this kind of stuff to go the way of the dodo thanks to the PC scene.

That being said, I am utterly thrilled about this news as I thought the first game was amazing, and I wasn't even really hyped for its release. It was something I picked up on launch day and was genuinely surprised by.

It's true that there's no virtually such thing as a PC game anymore. In terms of content orientation and charting new thematic and conceptual territory, if it doesn't sell with the console set it certainly won't be bothered with for an ailing PC audience. Oblivion was a classic example: a console game ported to PC instead of the reverse.

All exclusivity is shit for gamers, but what's just as bad is when sales revenue dictates that we can't have anything more adult than what the /v/irgins will flock to.

In before elitism, pissing eskies, etc

There's still plenty of PC games designed for PC and aimed at the PC gamer market being released, Civilization games, Supreme Commander, flight simulators, point & click adventures, The Witcher etc etc, you're just unlikely to hear about them since all the advertising is focused on consoles.

Sure, they won't sell huge amounts, but they're there and being released just as well. I was surprised by how many point&click adventures are still being published.

But then, the really big releases are generally designed with consoles in mind and then ported to PC as is, low resolution support and simplified controls and all

The PC Gaming market is still there. Even if Valve is pretty much the last dev that's really doing truly PC-centric games that I care for.
There still are a lot of PC games that won't do well on consoles. At least, YET they won't. World of Warcraft being the prime example, dozens of other online games as well.
That's where the PC market is at right now. Though if I'm not mistaken even the upcoming heavyweight MMORPGs like Age of Conan will be released on console as well - and thus raise the question for me, wether they have been developed with the console as the primary platform.

Before this thread escalates in any direction, let me state that neither PC gaming nor console gaming are "the one and only way". I used to be much more PC-centric, as I said.
I've become somewhat of a purist when it comes to on which platform a game "should" be played. And given that most interesting games these days are developed for console and then ported to PC (one way or the other...), I play most games that I could also get for PC on the console. Saves me a lot of anger, and the people around me (and on teh internets) a lot of nerves.

And now we're way off topic. Somehow. O_ô
I wonder what was up with that fan/concept art stuff for a supposed Bioshock 2 that appeared on... Was it Kotaku or Destructoid... a few days back. Sheesh. Mind leaking. Let me see if I can still find it.

Originally Posted by surasshu

The sequel could definitely be a great game--if they make the gameplay challenging, the story engaging, the interactivity more than a sham, and put the whole thing out on the PC exclusively. Pretty much if they remade Bioshock to be a true System Shock 2 sequel and not the cruel joke that it turned out to be.

One thing's for sure though, I'm not buying it when it comes out. I don't think I've ever been as let down by a game as by Bioshock. I even bought a new PC for it, damn it.

Propped.

They sell it as an RPG, trying to fool us who like System Shock 2. Its just another FPS. How do you do a mutated 50s futuristic vintage superhuman game? They tried too hard in this regard and failed. Those who were so "impressed" by the story are too used to their shooters that are on par to the Unreal Tournament games' "storylines." I for one will not be buying this rootki--I mean, game. It was best left alone as System Shock 2, but hey, dumbed-down console fanboys thought it was the game of the year, so someone's gotta capitalize on their stupidity.

Quote:

but hey, dumbed-down console fanboys thought it was the game of the year, so someone's gotta capitalize on their stupidity.

This whole PC versus Console debate is a fucking embarrassing joke that got old 10 years ago.
Let it die already.

ANYWAYS TO GET BACK ON TOPIC:
I heard that this kid had drawn conceptual artwork for a possible sequel before it was officially announced,
and now 2K games is talking to him about a job with the new studio.

Bioshock 2 Fan Art Catches Eye of 2K Games |

You can see the artwork there. I gotta say I wouldn't mind seeing something like it implemented, but I'm sure 2K Games has their own ideas.