BioShock 4will see a lot of changes come to the beloved dystopian franchise. A new studio named Cloud Chamber will be tackling the project, and while the game will see many developers from pastBioShock’s past returning, series creator Ken Levine will not be involved.
This has left many fans wondering aboutBioShock 4’s direction, including whether it will return to the cities of Rapture or Columbia, or if it will venture somewhere new. Here’s whyBioShock 4should take the risk and throw players into a brand new setting, leaving Rapture and Columbia behind.
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BioShock 4’s Big Challenge
BioShock 4is faced with the uniquely difficult task of distinguishing itself from the first three games. The twist ofBioShock Infiniterevealed that, in some ways, the stories ofBioShock 1andBioShock Infiniteare the same versions of events playing out across different timelines. “There’s always a lighthouse,” explains Elizabeth, “there’s always a man. There’s always a city.”
The reveal thatBioShock Infinitewas connected to the continuity of the first two games at all was a huge twist, but now it risks holding backBioShock 4.Cloud Chamberwill need to make sure that players aren’t going into its new game expecting a replay of the lighthouse-man-city formula.
Taking players to a new city could hint at the “there’s always a city” part of Elizabeth’s multiverse theory, but by avoidingRapture and ColumbiaentirelyBioShock 4could at least begin to get fans to consider its plot as a standalone story with its own stakes.BioShock Infiniterevealed that Rapture and Columbia are intimately connected, but if the series is going to move beyond that twist it needs to go back to its roots with a dystopian setting which seems truly unexplored.
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Philosophy And Setting In BioShock
A new setting would also allow one of the other key parts of anyBioShockgame to flourish - philosophy. BothBioShocksettings seen so far have been built around and used as explorations of specific philosophies. Rapture’s descent from underwater Randian utopia to a dystopian free-for-all nightmare is a clear rebuke ofAndrew Ryan’s Objectivism. Columbia’s religiously fundamentalist and nationalistic society is used to critique American exceptionalism, imperialism, and racism.
BioShock 4needs a new philosophyto put under the spotlight. To do so, it needs to build a setting with politics and aesthetics designed around that philosophy. If players return to either Rapture or Columbia they will likely find that those places now have less to say not because they were bereft of ideas the last time around, but because the settings already made their points in previous games.
Cloud Chamber appears to be bringing some big changes toBioShock. Job listings on the studio’s website have even hinted thatBioShock 4may be integrating RPG featureslike an open world and a branching dialogue system. With all these changes coming to the franchise, returning to a familiar setting may be a tempting tie to the older games to helpBioShock 4feel familiar.
IfBioShockis really going to match the storytelling ambition ofBioShock 1orBioShock Infinite, however, it needs to take the leap and send players somewhere new. Rapture was under the sea and Columbia was in the sky, leaving some to wonder if the nextBioShockwill be set in space, underground, or on an island. Choosing a new setting will be one of Cloud Chamber’s biggest challenges, but if the game is going feel as original as the firstBioShockthen tackling that problem head-on will be vital.
