As he gears up to the release of his new first-person-shooter ‘Judus’ in March 2025, former ‘Bioshock Infinite’ creative director Ken Levine has described the 2013 title’s story and gameplay as “a very, very long corridor”.
‘Bioshock Infinite’ creative director Ken Levine has said the title’s narrative and gameplay was “basically a very, very long corridor”.
The 58-year-old developer helmed the 2013 first-person-shooter during his time at Irrational Games, and has now admitted that the title’s story and gameplay was a very linear experience.
Speaking with GamesIndustry.Biz, Levine said: “‘BioShock’ and ‘BioShock Infinite’, if you look at them from a development standpoint – and this may be a bit alienating to some readers – but they’re basically a corridor.
“A very, very long corridor with a bunch of trigger points that make story elements happen.”
However, Levine – who now heads up Ghost Story Games – said his upcoming shooter ‘Judus’ would differ to ‘Bioshock Infinite’ by giving players more “agency” with their story and gameplay choices.
He explained: “‘Judas’ is made very, very differently and that makes it much more hopefully reflective of players agency, but also much, much harder to make.”
Even so, Levine added opting for a more open gameplay and narrative experience was a “trade-off” because it can make the development process more complex.
He said: “The more control you give the creator, the easier it is for the creator to give the people what they would perceive as a very gettable story. The more agency the player has, the more work it makes for the developer.
“In ‘Judas’, we’ve really chosen to lean into that and try to really provide an opportunity to give players what they expect out of us in the story, but also open it up in a way that they’ve never seen from us before – but that is a lot of work.”
Bioshock Infinite’s gameplay and story was ‘a very, very long corridor’, director Ken Levine says
