Players Pick the Pace in Bioshock Infinite

[gregoryg]

Players Pick the Pace in Bioshock Infinite

Rather than tossing players into a constantly-moving explosion festival, [http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Infinite-Xbox-360/dp/B003O6EB70/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285259175&sr=8-1] will allow players to explore and choose exactly when they move forward.

Pacing is an important consideration when telling any sort of story, and a number of games over the past few years have used frequent action pieces and well-placed explosions to make the player feel like they're in the center of an action movie. While this approach has worked well for games like Uncharted 2, a few fans expressed concern after watching the heavily-scripted trailer released for Bioshock Infinite last week. However, in an interview posted today, the game's creators insisted that players will be able to set their own pace as they explore Infinite's floating dystopia.

During the interview, Shaun Robertson - the lead artist on the game - stated, "No, it's definitely not going to be one giant action sequence." He added that the recent ten-minute gameplay video, designed to introduce viewers to the protagonist - Booker DeWitt - and the flying city of Columbia, merely had "some demo-ey things in there that help progress the action."

While the game will have a few action events to propel the plot forward, playing Infinite is not going to be like "watching a movie and going from big moment to big moment to big moment."

Instead, the player will be in charge of deciding when the plot should move forward. According to Robertson, "It's very important to us that the player has time to explore. For those who enjoy the environment, they can explore and take as long as they want. For those who just want to blow through it and get the story done, well they can avoid all the exploration areas and just plough through the story as quick as they can."

These sentiments should be welcome news to players fascinated by Bioshock Infinite's floating dystopia. I think that having the freedom to explore each of Columbia's crumbling hallways before moving on to the next area will make the plot all the more captivating.

Bioshock Infinite is currently slated for release at some point in 2012.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-23-bioshock-infinite-not-heavily-scripted]

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[Zhukov]

These folk are making all the right noises.

Well, except for that "2012" bit, but hey, what can ya do?

 

[Pandora92]

Awesome, now I can play through it it at my favourite pace, nice and slow lol.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

This is good. I loved it in Bioshock how you would wonder off somewhere and you might have been placed in certain areas where little sequences of events (unrelated to the story) would unfold (Such as you that room with all of those white statues, you go to the end and pick up a tonic, turn around and they are gone. Or the most memorable one in the surgery, you see the shadow of a man, you go towards it and then the man disappears only to jump you as you try to leave. I shat bricks) It was very tense and at points frightning.If they can deliver something like that again I would be very happy.

 

[sephiroth1991]

Its always nice to choose my own pace and not having somone yelling "Get a move on Fatty!!" metaphorically speakin

 

[HentMas]

These sentiments should be welcome news to players fascinated by Bioshock Infinite's floating dystopia. I think that having the freedom to explore each of Columbia's crumbling hallways before moving on to the next area will make the plot all the more captivating

probably, but they have to "work" it right, give us a reason to explore, not like "Mafia II" where you "could" but ended thinking "what for!?"

if they can make it as "you can because you might find *stuff* and *more stuff*" i think it should work, i mean, things that are usefull but not "necesary" to the story.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

So, I know my objective, but can backtrack to dick around and search for anything I missed, like in Bioshock 1?

Because one of my few issues with BS2 was the lack of backtracking, and I was hoping these guys, the original devs, would NOT take that cue from "2K Whatever".

 

[Raregolddragon]

Now how much freedom are we getting here are we talking something as grate as Fallout3 or just a little more freedom than the second game.

 

[Zing]

I wasn't a huge Bioshock fan, mostly because of the setting, many people loved it, I didn't really like the whole underwater thing. But Infinite looks really cool.

 

[Tartarga]

How the hell do they keep finding new ways to make me more excited about this game? I love being able to explore my surroundings, even if there isn't really anything there to look at.

 

[Shockolate]

I speculate it will be somewhat like Halo: ODST's campaign, except not with flashbacks.

I'm probably wrong.

Can't wait for this to come out. Do want!

 

[BobisOnlyBob]

So, I know my objective, but can backtrack to dick around and search for anything I missed, like in Bioshock 1?

Because one of my few issues with BS2 was the lack of backtracking, and I was hoping these guys, the original devs, would NOT take that cue from "2K Whatever".

Based on the trailer, some backtracking won't be possible after certain thresholds, or at least, the area you return to may be a LOT worse for wear on your return. Most likely there will be points where you aren't able to backtrack, but once you have the appropriate abilities and tools, crossing the bridge you devastated the other day to go back should be possible.

All speculation, of course.

 

[Jared]

Thats good - So we move, as we want to move? Dont we already do that in a way kinda

 

[Tim_Buoy]

How the hell do they keep finding new ways to make me more excited about this game? I love being able to explore my surroundings, even if there isn't really anything there to look at.

they're watching you they're watching all of us through our electronics the're tracking me right now must warn the world they will make anyone who knows the;re real plans disappear (door breaks down in the distance) on know they found me)
OT:im so excited for this game i loved the first 2 and i cant wait for this one

 

[Internet Kraken]

How are they going to make this work with Elizabeth constantly following you? Exploration with an AI has never worked very well, at least from my experience. They often get lost and confused when you decide to go off the beaten path. If you truly have a ton of freedom to explore Columbia, I don't know how they're going to make Elizabeth's AI work properly. Especially when it seems like all of her powers currently rely on scripted events.

Of course this is all assuming they weren't exaggerating the amount of time you actually spend with Elizabeth. They made it sound like she was going to be with you for a huge chunk of the game. Though considering the role of Bat Daddy in the story, I'm guessing she is going to be conveniently kidnapped throughout the game. And during these times, you are suddenly allowed to explore all the areas to your hearts content without the AI getting stuck on a park bench. I actually hope it turns out this way, since Elizabeth is the thing I currently hate the most about Bioshock: Infinite. I'd love to be able to explore the city of Columbia. I've never been partial to airships, sky cities, or really anything that pertain to some form of steam punk. Yet the design of Columbia has intrigued me. It may be the only thing I like about Bioshock: Infinite, but it is a pretty big part of the game. Hopefully over time my opinion of the other parts of the game will also be raised.

 

[Zero=Interrupt]

But the gameplay clip featured elsewhere looks like a "constantly moving explosion festival." Does this mean there's going to be an option to interact with the crazies in the bar before they start firing and zombie-swarming you?

 

[samsonguy920]

These folk are making all the right noises.

Well, except for that "2012" bit, but hey, what can ya do?

Hope it comes out before December so you get some play in before it all hits the fan.
OT:Sounds cool as long as it doesn't go into full sandbox mode ala Fallout 3. It is too easy to lose focus in that sort of environment and then just lose interest.

 

[Thorvan]

Awesome! One of the things that the original Bioshock had above most modern shooters, was that it encouraged exploration, giving the player genuinely interesting set pieces and story bits as a reward for the extra time spent exploring Rapture. Although a lot of games give rewards for exploration, most of the time they're just caches of extra ammo, which is kind of unintuitive as that's the last thing a "spray and pray" player (who probably needs that ammo) would want to do. Hopefully they manage to recreate this feeling in Columbia, which is such a beautiful city already.

Also, as far as I can tell from the demo, exploring also nets you plasmids. PLASMIDS THAT LET YOU SHOOT CROWS FROM YOUR HANDS.