No Multiplayer for BioShock

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-01-23 11:22am

One of the most anticipated upcoming single-player shooters will fairly expectedly omit multiplayer functionality, confirmed 2K Games community manager Elizabeth Tobey on the official community site for Irrational Games BioShock. "BioShock features a compelling storyline that revolves around the experiences of one man as he enters the decaying world of Rapture," reads the explanation. "Having a multiplayer component would have compromised the story we were trying to tell so we made the decision to keep this game as a single player experience." System Shock 2, the game to which BioShock is frequently referred by the team and its fans as a spiritual successor, featured a cooperative mode.

More interestingly, the Q&A indicates that the game will feature online content downloads of some kind, which with a lack of multiplayer may entail new story content. It notes that content on the Xbox 360 and PC platforms will be identical, suggesting that any downloads are also likely to be made available for both versions. Finally, it was stated that development is being led on the Xbox 360 platform, with "all decisions on HUD and gameplay situations" being made there before being implemented on PC, in order to avoid PC-to-console translation problems such as the Deus Ex 2: Invisible War team faced with its cross-platform release.

Update: The wording of the answer regarding interface and gameplay design has been to revised to read as follows: "All decisions on HUD and gameplay situations that are made on the 360 will be re-thought and optimized when brought over onto the PC."

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2007-01-23 11:36am

I don't care about multiplayer mode, but I *do* care about HUD and interface.
If I have to wade through another one of those crappy console-straight-to-PC-interfaces, I will have to kill something.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2007-01-23 02:39pm

Deus Ex, we are LOOKING AT YOU. *stare*

Post by **Vympel** » 2007-01-23 06:44pm

I almost had a heart attack when I read the paragraph that was subsequently revised. It probably would've created uproar when it was first posted.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2007-01-23 06:51pm

I never expected it to have multiplayer.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2007-01-23 08:24pm

Never expected one, nor cared if they gave it one. System Shock 1 & 2 were notably marked by their single player, and that is what I want.

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2007-01-23 10:08pm

Well, a cooperative mode could have been fun, but yeah. I rarely play Multiplayer anyway.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2007-01-24 06:11pm

I don't see how a game like Bioshock would have translated to a good multiplayer experience, anyway. Single and multi are very different. Glad to see they focused on the single.

Covenant · Post by **Covenant** » 2007-01-25 02:25am

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:I don't see how a game like Bioshock would have translated to a good multiplayer experience, anyway. Single and multi are very different. Glad to see they focused on the single.

I could have assumed it'd be Co-op mode. Ideally, if it was a game similar to Half-Life where you were often acting along with allies, you could split up at certain points (to add tension) and have there be not enough firearms for both people, forcing you to decide who gets what, limited resources and slots for genetic information while also needing more than 1 person can mount, simultanous events, etc.

But the game is designed to be about one lone person. Making it about a handful would be great and I'd love to play that game, but that game's not Bioshock.