I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Zelnick. It makes me much more confident and excited about the quality of Take-Two titles in the future. Look at Activision completely driving the Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk franchises to the ground. Even EA has wised up a little bit too. (Non sports-games withstanding)
Take-Two Chairman and CEO Strauss Zelnick:
“My belief is that even a very, very high quality, annualized franchise runs the risk of burning customers out. ‘I’ve seen that five years in a row, I’ve had enough,'” he said. “If we had to use a film analogy, we’d like to be James Bond. You may have to wait a few years in between, but you’ll always want to see it.”
“I think that’s a more valuable approach and we’ve proven that for Take-Two that works.”
“Come on, there’s no way he’s doing another Bioshock title. This is just to tell us it was from the people who made Bioshock… ahhhh crap.”
That was the first thing that went through my mind as I watched the Bioshock Infinite trailer this morning.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the original Bioshock game. It had amazing visual style, fun gameplay, and a thought provoking plot. It was just a game that didn’t need have a sequel, much less turned into a franchise.
I applauded director Ken Levine’s decision to not be involved with the competent, but ultimately unnecessary Bioshock 2 released earlier this year. Good for Ken for preserving his integrity in not caving to publisher demands for a cash cow sequel.
My initial nerd rage reaction stemmed from the apparent betrayal of my self-created game designer integrity code. But then I watched Joystiq’s video interview with Levine.
It’s quite apparent that the Irrational Games crew is not cutting any corners with Bioshock Infinite. Brand new engine. No re-used assets. Nothing forced into the game from the previous entries in the franchise if it didn’t fit.
Levine made an interesting comparison to the Final Fantasy franchise in that each entry has some recognizable elements, but generally are completely original settings, characters, and plot.
This rang true with me. I think I can deal with “SkyoShock” or “MoonShock” games if they’re not glorified expansion packs utilizing the same characters and plot elements. There are actually some really cool moments in the trailer and the setting definitely hasn’t been explored too deeply (if it all). Color me cautiously pumped for this when it comes out in 2012.
My only concern now is if these Bioshock titles settle into a neat little checklist including some of the following:
Upgradeable Plasmid-like powers
Fantastical Steampunk setting with a questionable dictator making you think about a particular branch of philosophy or ideology
“Controversial” morality choice leading to different endings, but mainly just achievements
Mysterious protagonist who finds out who he really is via a plot twist in third act
Ok, this may all be a bit cynical, but the worry is legitimate. Fortunately, Ken Levine has gathered enough goodwill with me from his previous games that I’ll believe in him to create something wondrous with Bioshock Infinite.