Ken Levine Defends BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea Length

[Andy Chalk]

Ken Levine Defends BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea Length

BioShock creator Ken Levine says the Burial At Sea DLC is meant to offer "a whole new experience" rather than a lengthy one.

In his review of the first part of the Burial At Sea DLC for BioShock Infinite, Paul Goodman describes it as "too damn short [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10730-BioShock-Infinite-Burial-at-Sea-Review]," saying it clocks in at around two hours, "even if you do some exploration on the side." If you hustle, you can wrap things up even faster.

But Levine said it's about "quality over quantity," and while he thinks that players who "dig deeply" should be able to squeeze at least three hours out of it, he also acknowledged that it's not particularly long, and it's not for everyone.

"I think there are definitely people who are like, 'Well, I want hours and hours of gameplay'. I think if that is your primary metric, this probably isn't the thing for you," Levine told Eurogamer. "If you want to feel like, 'Wow, I just got a whole new experience' - that's what you get out of this."

Levine said Burial At Sea can't compete on length with something like Minvera's Den for BioShock 2 because while that DLC reused existing assets, Burial At Sea features a completely rebuilt Rapture. "[From early on] we knew we wanted to do something with Booker and Elizabeth and we had a sense that Rapture could be the thing. And probably foolishly we thought we'd go back in and 'kitbash' a load of BioShock 1 assets. Then we thought no, god, that's a terrible idea, that's not fair and it's not going to look good," Levine said.

"We have this new engine so we should take advantage of it. And, hey, let's make all the shops and build 3D scenes out of the window which we never had in BioShock 1. And let's put people in the world and make it all huge and shiny and build everything fresh - or almost everything fresh," he continued. "So yeah, we got carried away a little bit, I won't deny it. But, hey, I don't want to work on something that I feel is kind of a B in quality. You might as well go for it. The company is okay with it, so why the hell not?"

Still, two hours? That's pretty damn short. BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea [http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/burial-at-sea-ep1] comes out tomorrow.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-11-ken-levine-defends-bioshock-infinite-burial-at-seas-episode-1s-length]


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[Reaper195]

$15 bucks for two hours of something that probably should have come out about six months ago?

I'm fine with the length if the content is good. I'm not fine with the price, the fact that we're going back to fucking Rapture (Done with that place after the fetch quest cluster fuck the first game was), or the fact that as somewhat that bought the season pass, I'm fucking disgusted with having done so considering what's been offered...and it's the only time I ever thought buying a Season Pass wouldn't be bullshit.

 

[Ticklefist]

I'd planned to spend my day playing this tomorrow. Now I wonder if it'll hit at midnight so I can bang it out before bed.

 

[Frostbite3789]

its dlc. thats acceptable.
stop making mountains out of molehills.

Oh. Well it's just DLC, I guess it gets a pass. Guys, everyone calm down, it's just DLC.$15 worth of DLC. Nevermind I just finished Missing Link for Dues Ex: HR, which was like $10 maybe I think? And I clocked a few hours with it.

 

[deathbydeath]

its dlc. thats acceptable.
stop making mountains out of molehills.

No, it isn't (at least not at that price). You can purchase Bastion for just as much, which is three times as long (and presumably has far more actual replay value and possible experimentation than BaS) and far more unique and original than Burial at Sea.

OP: The ideas that Burial at Sea is "something we haven't seen before" is bullshit, and I feel comfortable saying that never having played Infinite or this DLC.

 

[tzimize]

God I hate DLC. I really REALLY hate DLC.

 

[Another]

I dunno. Maybe if I was getting both episodes for 15 dollars, I'd be onboard. But if part 2 is also about 2 hours, that's 30 dollars for four hours. That's not to say that if it's really high quality that it won't be worth it, but it better blow my goddamn mind at that price.

 

[BartyMae]

its dlc. thats acceptable.
stop making mountains out of molehills.

Oh. Well it's just DLC, I guess it gets a pass. Guys, everyone calm down, it's just DLC.$15 worth of DLC. Nevermind I just finished Missing Link for Dues Ex: HR, which was like $10 maybe I think? And I clocked a few hours with it.

go on.

and tell me if it has something to do with the fact that it came out on october 2011.

there are other games that were suprisingly good but short and maybe some of you didnt pick up the episode one in "the Burial at Sea: Episode One" title.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/10/25/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-release-date-announced/
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-ep-1-is-2-3-hours-long/1100-6415495/

Not entirely sure if it detracts from your point, but I was curious and went ahead and looked up its original price [http://web.archive.org/web/20110812132814/http://store.steampowered.com/app/107100/]. Still $15.

 

[Smooth Operator]

So you blew your budget on pretty and now we are paying for it... I think not, let us know once you got the complete game put together at a reasonable price.

 

[Story]

Jeez that 2 hour experience is seriously $15?!
Now I would understand if it was $5, like I first thought, but at $15 it can't really justify itself. Quality experience or no, sorry Levine.

 

[SlightlyEvil]

Hmm. Honestly, I'd be OK with this if the price were around $10, but $15 for 2 hours is kind of silly.

 

[TheCaptain]

Kinda feels like a goddamn waste, doesn't it? A "fully rebuilt" rapture should've significantly more to offer than being hurried through it within two hours...