Actions of BioShock protagonist debated by characters in sequel

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 6th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Considering the dichotomy of the moral decisions (see: good or evil) offered to the silent hero of the original BioShock, many have wondered how the upcoming undersea adventure, BioShock 2, would take his actions in the first installment into account. Without a save game import feature (ala Mass Effect 2), how could the sequel register the player's decisions in the original? The answer was recently revealed by Bioshock 2's creative director, Jordan Thomas: Ambiguity, my dear Watson.

Speaking to MTV, Thomas explained that, "the things that he did are being fiercely debated by the splicers, because we wanted to support any of the choices the player could have made in the first game." He later added, "It's become kind of a religious question; what he did at the end of BioShock 1." This plot device is probably for the best -- if the splicers in Bioshock 2 knew about our actions in the first game, all they'd debate about is why we spent ten hours wandering aimlessly around the city, desperately hunting for audio cassettes.

Tags: 2k-australia, 2k-games, 2k-marin, bioshock, bioshock-2, choices, morality, plot

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 6th 2009 4:05PM

This sounds similar to the way it worked in Knights of the Old Republic II. Revan's path and decisions from the first game were established early, based on a few conversations with other NPC's.

Imadogg @ Nov 7th 2009 3:18AM

That's the first and only thing I thought of.

Mr.ESC @ Nov 6th 2009 4:11PM

-Hey remember that other dude?

-Oh yeah you mean that mude guy that shot everywhere and ate stuff laying on the ground?

-Yeah what is the deal with that guy?

-I don't know man but I'm not letting that freak get close my daughter.

Preston @ Nov 6th 2009 4:15PM

So what if we played through more than once to get multiple endings? Schizophrenic splicers?

Neebs @ Nov 6th 2009 4:23PM

I don't think you read the article. There is no save game import, the dialogue is just written with ambiguity. (i.e.., "I don't like what he did at X.")

Elette @ Nov 6th 2009 9:03PM

Asif they weren't that already.

Draco Basileus @ Nov 6th 2009 4:39PM

I'm confused as hell!

I thought Bioshock 2 was supposed to be a prequel, which takes place before the events of BS1. If that is the case, then no wonder Rapture collapsed on itself. The splicers were caught in some type of wicked Star Trek time/space warp that caused the underwater civilization to implode on itself arguing over the actions of a protagonist that didn't even exist yet.

That, or they ended up making BS2 a true sequel that takes place after BS1.

Reuben @ Nov 6th 2009 4:44PM

You know, I thought that as well. I was fairly certain that Bioshock 2 was a prequel.

Samuel Vimes @ Nov 6th 2009 4:48PM

Bioshock 2 is actually set 10 years after Bioshock.

cjshrader @ Nov 6th 2009 4:55PM

Originally, all the rumors did state it was going to be a prequel.

It was some time ago though that it was announced it was a sequel. I think it's better this way, there are not a lot of mysteries about Rapture's past we don't already know. Its future is still up in the air though.

ccindyderek @ Nov 6th 2009 6:23PM

The campain is a sequel, set around 10 years after Bioshock 1. The multiplayer however takes place before Bioshock 1, during the main fall of Rapture.

Yamagushi @ Nov 8th 2009 3:11PM

I'm confused too. How can this be a sequel??? They said the main character of Bioshock 2 is the original big daddy, which is long before Bioshock 1.

Jack @ Nov 6th 2009 4:41PM

AMBIGUITY? They discuss "any" of the paths we could've taken? Isn't that a bit silly?

TJFadness @ Nov 6th 2009 5:48PM

You misunderstand. Read Mr.ESC's post above.

LegendaryRedass @ Nov 6th 2009 5:05PM

I'm building me a house out of meat and calling it Bioshack.

TJ @ Nov 6th 2009 5:52PM

I guess that makes sense. But how much talking will there be about the actions of your first character 10 years later?

KeenCommander @ Nov 6th 2009 6:49PM

Also known as the Invisible War approach. Which, in case anyone forgot, FAILED miserably. Even if the game was still decent.

The Good Soldier Svejk @ Nov 6th 2009 9:17PM

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the only choice made in Bioshock was whether you harvested or did not harvest the little sisters (or harvested some), everything else was scripted.

How do you introduce ambiguity into that? It's black and white. Either you killed (some or all) or you did not kill any. So are they talking about the scripted events only and how the splicers perceived them? That is not very interesting at all. Certainly not interesting enough to speak about it with MTV.

aol sucks balls @ Nov 9th 2009 4:47PM

Amen to that. I am so sick of people acting like BioShock had a plethora of RPG-like moral decisions to make. It had exactly one, and it had almost no effect on gameplay.

Soliduck @ Nov 6th 2009 9:31PM

So, they argue about what (factually) happened, as opposed to if that outcome was good/bad?

klwillis45 @ Nov 7th 2009 7:02PM

IIRC, original speculation was that B2 was going to be a prequel.
But they debunked that and 2 was a sequel while 3 may be a prequel.

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