Sat, Feb 06, 2010 | 18:03 GMT
2K Marin’s prepared for fan criticism over BioShock 2
BioShock 2′s creative director, Jordan Thomas, has revealed that the game may “foster much more dissent than the first”, in terms of the “nostalgia to novelty” ratio; thus, the team is preparing itself for such criticism, along with backlash from fans over the much-hyped return to Rapture.
Because 2K’s returning to a much lauded game with a sequel, the development team was prepped from the start for some fan backlash, despite the respect it has shown the subject matter.
“Well, since the early days, I’ve been candid with the team about the fact that no matter what we finally produced, we had to be comfy with the idea that a lot of people would disagree with our core creative choices — internally and externally,” he explained to D’toid. “For a lot of people, the idea of a sequel to BioShock will always be an abstract ideal, against which any physical experience (with realistic limits) must pale. It’s the nature of fan enthusiasm, I think, to hold a special place in our hearts for things that are novel, and originality certainly drove the first game’s success.
“Candidly, I think BioShock 2 will foster much more dissent than the first by its very nature — we’re going to see some critics and fans who adore the particular ratio of nostalgia to novelty that we happened to choose, and that’s grand. But there will be others who wanted Something Else so badly that they’ll crack open the backyard shed, gaze longingly at their favorite torches and pitchforks, and march on Novato. We had to make our peace with that over two years ago, scary as it is.
“Now that isn’t to say our game is perfect and we’re these misunderstood creative martyrs — even if we weren’t being compared against that First Love effect, we’d have strengths and weaknesses like anybody.
“Generally speaking, the argument that a sequel to X is doomed can only settled by a group of people who, themselves, were excited enough to return to that mythos that their passion is self-evident in the work itself,” offers Thomas. “You can’t please everyone, but I’ve found that at the end of the day, if you take the problem of familiarity seriously — and try to empathize with the audience — you can offer a compelling experience in any setting.
“Personally, I found Rapture to be an extremely fertile setting for a new adventure — along the lines of something like Silent Hill, subjectively different takes on the same town — provided that the story had a different focus. In this case, a more intimate family struggle against the backdrop of an ideological war interested the team emotionally, and we threw our hearts into it.
“But we were honest with ourselves that our target was a meaningfully weighty new story within the world of Rapture — a fresh perspective to follow Irrational’s epic, but not a reboot. In some ways, that choice was about respect.”
Nice words, there. BioShock 2 is out next week, and so far it’s getting nice reviews, and the soundtrack is pretty good too.
12 comments
#1
Telepathic.Geometry
06/02/10, 6:23 pm
Something about this spiel worries me, it’s almost like he’s readying himself for failure.
#2
Phoenixblight
06/02/10, 6:27 pm
Yes because its recieveing so far very high scores. That just part of his job even if this was not a sequel you have to prepare for criticism.
#3
NiceFellow
06/02/10, 6:28 pm
Seems like everyone’s trying this approach to trying to negate criticism ahead of launch.
We’re hearing this about Fable 3 and other as well.
Also, he needed worry about novelty, I’ve actually played System Shock 1 & 2 so there was no major novelty in Bioshock apart from the art deco style (which was nice).
@2 this seems more aimed at the gamers/forums rather than reviewers, at least to me.
#4
onlineatron
06/02/10, 6:41 pm
I was worried for this game… but the IGN review soothed my nerves by saying the story is in many ways better than the original…
That I gotta see!
#5
AHA-Lambda
06/02/10, 6:49 pm
Yeah I was worried bout this but not really anymore
#6
No_PUDding
06/02/10, 7:13 pm
Does anyone give a shit?
This game is the equivalent on the care meter as Dark Void, and, I dunno, Bayonetta? And Darksiders. And MAG. Thats being generous, just Dark Void.
Just this game couldn’t do a single thing to interest me.
#7
Psychotext
06/02/10, 7:42 pm
You didn’t rate the first one though… and yeah, plenty of fans of the first care.
#8
No_PUDding
06/02/10, 8:11 pm
I know, it drives me mad that I somehow missed that kind of experience, which is why I am speaking provocatively.
#9
Bulk Slash
06/02/10, 9:09 pm
What’s a ‘”nostalgia to novelty” ratio’? Should I interpret that as them cutting corners and re-using levels and models from the first game? I must admit, in most circumstances I’m not a fan of seeing recycled materials to cut corners and save time.
Thomas could just mean references to characters and brief glimpses of places we saw in the first game, in which case I’m not too worried. I think we already know the plasmids from the first game will be making a comeback, but I don’t have a problem with familiar weapons. It would be like making a Gears of War game without the Lancer.
#10
Moonwalker1982
07/02/10, 12:02 am
As soon as i saw gameplay videos of BS2, i thought it was Bioshock I. It’s looking very similiar, but that i dont really mind that much. What i definitely would mind if they simply put you in exactly the same locations. But from what i heard and read, that’s definitely not the case.
#11
Phoenixblight
07/02/10, 12:20 am
Well it is still the unreall engine which you can’t expect that much of a difference graphically.
#12
polygem
07/02/10, 12:24 am
ok then…i guess i´ll just stay hyped about bs2