Zelnick: BioShock has "long life indeed"

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 June, 2010

But 2K Marin may not develop forever.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick has said that the publisher plans to "support" the BioShock series and that another developer might be involved next time.

"2K Marin is working on XCOM. As it relates to BioShock, we think BioShock is still one of the most important franchises in the industry and we do intend to support it," Zelnick said in a conference call following yesterday's financial report.

"Doesn't necessarily have to be 2K Marin, but we do intend to support the franchise.

"First and foremost we're focused on downloadable content - we intend to continue to support BioShock 2 with further downloadable content. We think the franchise has a long life indeed.

"And 2K Marin's focus on XCOM is just bringing another storied franchise to the marketplace, which is what we're all about."

BioShock 2 was released four months ago in February to solid reviews, including a merry 8/10 from Eurogamer, and has been followed by multiplayer downloadable content already.

2K Marin is working on XCOM, but rather bizarrely the core of the work is being done at 2K's Australian studio, which happens to operate under the group banner of 2K Marin. We don't understand either.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • kinky_mong #1 2 years ago

    Urgh, please don't run this franchise into the ground! The multiplayer in the sequel was bad enough and the approach to DLC so far has been terrible.

  • menage #2 2 years ago

    Screw the haters, the gameplay in BS2 was better than in 1, Storywise is was never going to top it anyway. But I don't see why other franchises get a free pass and this one doesn't.

  • XanderFish #3 2 years ago

    They should have ended it with the first one, there was no need for a sequel. Bioshock 2 was nowhere near as good as 1, I don't even want to start on the multiplayer, terrible idea.

  • Eraser #4 2 years ago

    I think each iteration of Bioshock will be worse than it's predecessor.
    I did enjoy BS2's multiplayer though.

  • M4RV #5 2 years ago

    @XanderFish:

    The multiplayer was indeed terrible, but when it comes to gameplay, Bioshock 2 is by far superior to the original; Not only that, but the storyline never runs out of steam, unlike the original once more, which ran out ( to say the least ) after the big reveal. I for one was surprised and after finishing it, I'm glad it didn't feel tacked on after all...
    Edited by M4RV at 09/06/10 @ 11:13

  • menage #6 2 years ago

    If it should have ended with 1 you could also... like ... NOT PLAY IT.

    Instead of bitching afterwards.

  • HL706 #7 2 years ago

    Never been more disappointed with a game in all my life. I adored BioShock 1 and played it to death, but the second one just didn't capture the magic of what made the first so great. Ultimately, it fel soulless to me - didn't even finish it before I traded it :-/

  • sfp_noodle #8 2 years ago

    It's not about bitching and deciding not to play it. The original was a masterpiece in many gamers eyes. Most agree that it was a game that needed no sequel. Rapture's story was told and finished. The fact that the original was so good meant that even if fans didn't want a sequel, they were going to buy it regardless based on the standards the original had set. But because the sequel was rather underwelming and had a MP mode tacked on, it does not bode well for a hypothetical Bioshock 3. Bioshock 2 didn't really elaborate much more on Rapture so I am struggling to see what a 3rd installment could do.

  • M4RV #9 2 years ago

    ^ ^ ^ ^

    I doubt some of the people who bitch over and over again actually played the sequel... Saying that it didn't elaborate further more on the story of Rapture is an understatement to say the least; Also, the original a masterpiece...?! As I mentioned previously, it quickly ran out of steam after the big reveal unfortunately, not to mention the ending.

  • INSOMANiAC #10 2 years ago

    The second one was enjoyable but not on the same level as the first, the story was ridiculous and the whole 'big sister' thing made no sense in relation to the first game. The secodn one should have followed immediately on from Bioshock 1 or should have been a prequel.

    Im predicting Bioshock 3 to be a prequel where you play as a splicer watching rapture crumble. That would be the way I would go with it anyway.
    Edited by INSOMANiAC at 09/06/10 @ 11:28

  • menage #11 2 years ago

    Uncharted 2 proved to me that a brilliant SP doesn't mean it can't have a brilliant MP as well. Sure BS MP wasn't up to scratch, but that has nothing to do with the SP part as far as I'm concerned.

    And truly, I will admit Bioshock 1 made more of an impact and was bloody brilliant story and settingwise, but as a videogame BS2 offered me more actual gameplay fun than the original did. So that quite balances for me.

  • AgentBalti #12 2 years ago

    Totally disagree that Bioshock 2 was better than 1. Bioshock 2 didn't have as much 'soul' as the first. The story wasn't as compelling, I didn't feel connected to the Little Sisters as much. And boy, did trying to save every single little sister tire quickly.

  • andywilkie35 #13 2 years ago

    Call of Bioshock 9: 60s Warfare

  • menage #14 2 years ago

    Sigh, gameplay WAS better, the rest not I agree, But it sure as hell wasn't bad either compared to a lot of atuff out there. Like Halo or Gears.
    Edited by menage at 09/06/10 @ 11:34

  • cianchristopher #15 2 years ago

    The funny thing is: if they'd left it alone as a one-off game (not a franchise) - we'd be getting comment after comment begging for a sequel. Guaranteed.

    See also: Beyond Good & Evil

  • sfp_noodle #16 2 years ago

    ^^

    I'd rather have a HD remake of Beyong Good and Evil than a sequel to be honest

  • TheTingler #17 2 years ago

    This 2K Marin stuff is like a Monty Python sketch.

    "We've got 2K Marin in charge of Bioshock, 2K Marin here does XCOM, 2K Marin, 2K Marin and 2K Marin are doing 2K Games, and 2K Marin is in charge of the sheep dip."

  • PoundHound #18 2 years ago

    I really liked BS2. 3rd favourite game of the year (or thereabouts) and I'd certainly welcome at least one more sequel. I would, however, like a little bit of a change of scenery, if only for a small part of the game.

  • nickthegun #19 2 years ago

    The first one had a better story, the second one was a better game.

    Good to see they are still focussed on DLC and all the great features and good will it has generated.

  • sneetch #20 2 years ago

    Good point, Cian. I guess the old adage about not being able to please all the people all the time still applies.

    Ultimately it's up to the individual, if you've personally had enough of Rapture or feel the sequel is unnecessary then you're under no compulsion to buy the sequel but you can hardly blame the developers for giving people what they want: more games with that feel especially as developing new IP is so costly, time-consuming and so very, very risky.

    Personally, I bought but haven't finished BioShock 2 but then again I play games in fits and starts - it was six months before I finished the first one - and I really enjoyed being back in Rapture while I was playing it and really enjoyed the story, some day I'll finish it off. Which is rare enough for me.

  • edhe #21 2 years ago

    I don't know what planet people are on when they complain about bioshock 2. It had everything the first had and more. Sure the original will be seen through rose tinted glasses as it was so revolutionary and the second won't seem so good because it will never have that impact but, after Siren Alley, i found bs2 to be a wonderful game and i thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Not touched the MP though, because i'm just not interested.

    They continued the concepts of bioshock, and expanded upon them:
    1) reason to play = the W-Y-K thing. In 2 it's because you're a BD, with a LS whom you are programmed to save...
    2) you don't care about the BD/LS combo so much in the second game because it's not new, that's fine. They're simply a mechanism of the environment anyway, hardly deep.
    3) weaponplay suitable similar yet developed.
    4) Rapture is developed from the character level and the architecture level.
    5) Set pieces not quite equal to bs1, but certainly excellent.
    6) the narrative kept escalating until i was left gobsmacked at the end, unlike 1 where the gobsmack came 2/3 through and wasn't about narrative, it was about the psychology of gaming itself.

    Overall bs2 is a fantastic game, and a worthy partner to bs1 in the world of narrative driven RPGFPS with strong characters and a wonderful location.

    If you skip it, you miss out. If you tried it and didn't get past siren alley then you missed out. If you give it a chance then you'll be rewarded with a game that's better than most.


  • Darren #22 2 years ago

    Unless the next BioShock game goes in a new direction then I won't be in any hurry to play it.

    I thought the first BioShock was amazing, very atmospheric and it kept me playing right to the very end. Loved it. The sequel though felt uninspired, more like an expansion pack than a bona fida sequel, and I got bored half-way through, only completing it out of obligation. Looking back, I think the whole game lacked the mystery of the first, the sense of exploring a strange new place and not knowing what was going on, and didn't have the first game's terrific twist either. Also the final "boss" fight was barely better than that of the first game and just seemed to throw respawning enemies at you for the sake of it IMO. BioShock 2 certainly wasn't awful but I don't think it was a patch on the magnificent first game.

    In fact, I think BioShock was a game that really did not need a sequel at all.

  • Rubarack #23 2 years ago

    They really should listen to the Epic guys suggsestion and branch into Arctic Shock, Desert Shock, Lunar Shock and so on. Take the great ideas and construct new games around them rather than trudging endlessly around Rapture.

  • makeamazing #24 2 years ago

    Yes i think B3 has to be out of rapture, a new place. From the comments from Zelnick, it suggests that the developers seem to have run out of ideas and its time to get a different team on it perhaps...

  • Eraysor #25 2 years ago

    I actually preferred BioShock 2 over the original. I thought the story in both was pretty contrived twaddle, but at least the second game didn't have the "Would you kindly" idea that made no sense at all.

  • menage #26 2 years ago

    Ehm, Would you kindly was freaking genius. probably my best story moment in gaming this gen.

  • Eraysor #27 2 years ago

    I don't understand the point of the "Would you kindly" thing at all though. Regardless of its importance in the plot, the player is never given the illusion that there are other choices or paths to take other than the one determined by Fontaine. At no point do you feel like you could have taken a different course of action were you not being told to do something in particular.

    When Ryan tells you that you have apparently been controlled into your current situation by Fontaine from before the game even started, it had no effect on me at all. What had been controlling the player was the linearity of the game, which was no different to any other common FPS.

  • HL706 #28 2 years ago

    "Regardless of its importance in the plot, the player is never given the illusion that there are other choices or paths to take other than the one determined by Fontaine."

    Way to miss the point! Because of Fontaine's use of the phrase it eliminates the choice completely as you're programmed to carry out the action that follows it.

    Notice that you're given a choice by Tenenbaum when harvesting Little Sisters and she doesn't use the phrase, further reinforcing the notion that you're being controlled by Fontaine.

  • Eraysor #29 2 years ago

    But the key point is that without it, the game would have be no different at all. They could have missed out the "WYK" exposition and you would still have wanted to kill Ryan for trying to kill you, and because of all the things Atlas had told you. The "WYK" device was completely unnecessary to the course of action you take through the game.

  • sneetch #30 2 years ago

    @Eraysor
    But the key point is that without it, the game would have be no different at all. They could have missed out the "WYK" exposition and you would still have wanted to kill Ryan for trying to kill you, and because of all the things Atlas had told you. The "WYK" device was completely unnecessary to the course of action you take through the game.

    Yes, you're right that the game would have played out the exact same either way but with the "would you kindly" influence your actions were driven by the fact that you'd been brainwashed without that you had no choice because it was self-defence. Think of it this way, if you hadn't been brainwashed and you weren't an agent of Atlas, would Ryan still be so eager to kill you?

    Personally, I thought it was a good twist: it made me feel genuinely used and annoyed at having been used.

    Sorry if this a spoiler for anyone but in fairness the game is almost 3 years old now. :)

  • Stomp224 #31 2 years ago

    Jesus christ, the Bioshock 'franchise' suffered enough with one sequel!

    If you ARE going to milk the shit out of it, make sure you hire quality level designers/ Voice over directors and script writers, who actually understand the source material.

    Please.

    If I have to walk into ANOTHER identikit hallway with dual doors that lead to a single corridor, with a poorly scripted monologue being blasted at me that makes no sense on multiple levels, I might hurt somebody.

    Also: Dont throw random philosophies into it. Bioshock 1 worked for a reason, not because its writers could read a dictionary.

  • Eraysor #32 2 years ago

    I agree that when he realised you were brainwashed he would have been very eager to kill you, but at the start he's trying to kill you regardless - he accuses you of being a KGB/CIA spy and lets the splicer hordes try and have their way with you.

    I can see the merits of the plot though, even if I wasn't as affected by it as some. There's no denying the setting is pure genius too.

  • MrE26 #33 2 years ago

    I thought Bioshock 2 was excellent. The opening was underwhelming, & had a big sense of deja vu about it, but it really came into it's own later on & finished very strongly. Kinda the opposite of the original, which started brilliantly then ended with a whimper.

    Having said that, i think having 2 games set in this environment is enough. If they can come up with a fresh way of presenting the world, maybe a prequel showing the rise & fall of Rapture, then it might be interesting, but another game set in the same decaying world just wouldn't cut it IMO.

  • Drill #34 2 years ago

    Bring back system shock! You know it makes sense!

  • metalangel #35 2 years ago

    2K Marin seem determined to become THE studio that runs franchises into the ground with gratuitous sequels.

    Bioshock 2 did not need a sequel - especially not one that retcons some much crap into the story. A prequel, now that would have been welcomed. And no, attempting to appease the fanbase by making the multiplayer (again gratuitous) 'prequel' levels didn't work.

    XCOM does need a reissue, but that doesn't mean making what could stand on its own and slapping the name onto it. For one thing, it simply doesn't fit into the XCOM fiction no matter what you guys might think - if aliens really had been doing all this stuff back in the 1950s then it would have been mentioned in the later games' story even in passing. But no.

    Sorry guys, but you're walking a razor's edge here, and unless your games are absolutely outstanding (very unlikely) people are unlikely to overlook the fact you're basically pissing all over the storylines like the guys in the Orange movie ads.

  • smelly #36 2 years ago

    Bioshock 2 wasnt as good as the first.. and the first was pretty "meh"... So dunno if i'll buy into the hype YET AGAIN for the 3rd one, regardless of what reviewers tell me.

  • AgentBalti #37 2 years ago

    Bioshock 1 - "pretty meh". If it was, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

  • godofpwnage87 #38 2 years ago

    Bioshock 1 was awesome. Bioshock 2 was not as good overall though i did think it had better gameplay being able to dual wield and having better plasmids.

    As for bioshock 3 standards will probably just slip further making it more meh.