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Bioshock Dev: "We Would've Loved To Have Done Better"

Both Bioshock games are awesome. Don't let anyone tell you different.

But the creators of the first title say they made some mistakes, and they plan to address such errors in the creation of the upcoming Bioshock Infinite. Irrational Games' Shawn Robertson told GamerZines that there were lots of things they "would have loved to have done better." In all honesty, Robertson said the team thought the entire game could have been improved upon and they "ripped the game apart after we shipped." Despite all the critical acclaim and fan appreciation, it seems the designers faced "hardware, time and budget constraints," and they weren't entirely happy with the finished product. Well, live and learn, right? Robertson gave an example of how Bioshock Infinite will improve upon the original Bioshock (remember, Levine and Co. didn't work on Bioshock 2):

"One specific example I can give you is, BioShock was mostly underwater corridors and lots of enclosed spaces, there weren't many problems you couldn't solve with a shotgun or by using electricity. We didn't really encourage people to use all the tools they had.

In looking at BioShock Infinite we realised that we want people to be creative and think about different tools that they can use in different varieties of ways. If we do our job well, every person that you ask about how they played through BioShock Infinite will have a different answer."

In our opinion, 2K Marin did improve on certain gameplay aspects in the sequel, but in truth, there really wasn't much wrong with the original. It did feel a little cramped and a little dark at times, but the airy Infinite setting ought to open things up. And anyway, it has "Bioshock" in the title. Hence, as a rule, it's going to...you know, rule.

Related Game(s): Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite

Tags: bioshock, bioshock infinite, irrational games

8/27/2010 10:32:52 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (22 posts)

BeezleDrop
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 10:57:42 AM
Reply

The very thing that will make Bioshock Infinite much better than it's predecessors is how they are going to focus on the Single-player experience. I did have fun with Bioshock 2's MP, but I felt it could have been cut to focus on the Single player aspect more, hell, if they traded MP for Co-op I would have loved that as well.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:00:37 AM

Eh, Bioshock 2 is one of those games that I don't think was affected by MP at all. The campaign was actually longer than the one in the first Bioshock, and they really did refine the gameplay. In terms of the latter, I'm convinced the sequel was better.

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coverton341
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:24:08 AM

What's kind of funny to me about the MP in Bioshock 2 and the thought that it even slightly held back the single player experience, in my eyes anyway, is that I honestly forgot there was a MP aspect to the game until I read this comment.

I have Bioshock 2 on the 360 because Gamestop suckered my room mate into buying that version because it was "better" and well, I don't pay for Live so I have never played the MP.

At no point during playing through the single player campaign did I think they could have done it better if they had not involved MP. Especially since, as Ben said, the single player campaign is longer than that of the first game.

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Jawknee
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:53:57 AM

Stupid gamestop weasels. Both versions are identical.

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 12:26:04 PM

Yeah, both versions of Bioshock 2 were pretty much the same.

I totally forgot about the MP as well but then again...I don't really ever play MP to begin with. ;)

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FM23
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 5:14:54 PM

Bioshock 2's gameplay was definitely better than the first. The multiplayer to me didn't affect anything. Funny thing is the MP is an after thought even though this is the aspect of the game that got more advertising than anything. Tried it one time and never came back. Not a MP fan, but certain games have me addicted like Tranformer WFC, but Bioshock 2 MP was just weak in my opinion.

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kevinater321
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:39:53 AM
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Is bioshock 1 and bioshock 2 developed by the same devs? If so then why didn't they just fix all of these "problems" in the first one in the second. imo the second isn't as good as the first.

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Jawknee
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:49:05 AM

Read the whole article.

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kevinater321
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 12:30:51 PM

Ahh thanks ;)

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Jawknee
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 11:51:14 AM
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I thought they were both fine as is. The graphics could be better I guess. Nothing a new engine won't fix.
Last edited by Jawknee on 8/27/2010 11:53:04 AM

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NeoHumpty
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 12:39:29 PM

I preferred the story from part 1, but the gameplay of 2. For some reason the surround sound was a lot better for me in the first one, too. I could hear when someone was behind me. That seemed to go away in part 2.

As for Infinite, I will be playing it, but I kinda liked the cramped feeling of the first two. It added to the atmosphere. My jaw dropped when I saw the new teaser trailer, though. Looks gorgeous.

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CharlesD
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 12:55:52 PM
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Can't wait for this one :)

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JackC8
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 1:23:24 PM
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Sounds good. I think that having a lot of options to choose from is one of the most important things in creating a really interesting gameplay experience. That was one of my favorite things about Red Faction Guerrilla - you could go in guns blazing, or use a vehicle to drive through everything, or fire rockets from a distance, or use your jetpack to get on top of a hill and snipe from there. And you'd often have to combine all those strategies together to make it through a mission successfully.

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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 1:26:09 PM
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I just bought part 1 and am enjoying it quite a bit but I understand what he's saying. Like I said to Chimeran92 (Why did he stop posting here anyway?) It was sorta foolish for them to just call it an FPS, there are some good RPG elements in there as well that I could see getting more attention in Infinite. I know, FPS sells like hotcakes, but I probably wouldn't have waited so long to get into the series if I didn't think that's all it was. I knew the story would be cool cuz I played the demo, but it played out like a typical bothersome assault on the player (probably in order to stress that FPS aspect).

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madmike
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 1:37:00 PM
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i really liked the first bioshock. But i never played the second cause i didnt think there was much else they could do with that setting. I had hoped they would change the setting for bioshock 2. And now im getting my wish with bioshock infinite

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Lawless SXE
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 1:37:06 PM
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I don't mind it really. At least the game had a semblance of a weapon wheel, so you could use whatever weapon you wanted. And corridors is the rule when it comes to shooters, you just need to find a way to make it not seem like corridors, which I think KZ2 ruled at.

Bioshock Infinite sounds awesome though. With the new 'open' environment, focus on variety, and Irrational's previous story efforts, I can well believe that this is going to be one of the best of 2012 without even being able to think of a single other game coming out in that year. And I'm going to be getting the second game in about two weeks. Just have to find time to play it...
Peace

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Alienange
Friday, August 27, 2010 @ 6:43:10 PM
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Robertson makes a nice comment there. Glad to hear devs aren't all completely full of themselves. The guy has an absolutely fantastic game on his resume and he STILL wants to improve. Good on him.

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___________
Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 3:06:54 AM
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bioshock had by far the better story, but everything else, level design, character design, environments, gameplay, everything besides story was far better in bioshock 2.
yea, it could of been better nothings perfect but it was certainly dam close!
add in a few extra levels to increase the length, add in true next gen graphics and i cant see how you could make bioshock 2 any better!

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frostface
Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 7:05:21 AM
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Ok can someone tell me why the first Bioshock got all this critical acclaim? I picked it up again 3 days ago after trading it in months ago and said I'd give it another try. So far all I'm remembering is the reasons why I traded it in in the first place.
I'm gonna keep playing so as to give it a fair chance of impressing me, but I really do not hold much hope of that happening.

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amzngskillz
Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 9:36:49 AM
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@frostface wait until you get to the part when you meet Andrew Ryan personally. A most unusual game segment.

@________ I agree, the story in part one was superior but combat, gameplay, etc was better in part 2.
@Madmike - the plasmids were way more powerful, more variety in enemies, and you actually got to go outside underwater so cool!

The multiplayer was wack. The characters skines looked too stupid. To me it seemed like the campain was shorter in part 2 to the contrary.

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CHAOS THEORY X
Saturday, August 28, 2010 @ 12:26:24 PM
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Both games were far too easy, even on the hardest mode. I eventually got the ability to use practically endless plasmids at the cost of no weapons....breezed through

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Robochic
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 2:17:37 AM
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I really enjoyed both bioshocks and can't wait for the next one getting out of the water and being in the sky will be very interesting can't wait to see what is to come.

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