missingtoof

Not a complete shocker, but according to the folks at IGN, the sequel was finally announced today. It was only a matter of time until 2K announced BioShock 2, I guess, but it's good to finally have it confirmed. Along with COD4, this was my co-Game of the Year.

I can only imagine what they've got in store next. What do you guys think?

SteelgearX

Not sure what to think of it. It's almost like getting the sequel to Titanic. Also, it's kind of a strange time to announce a sequel. Why not wait until E3 or some such event?

edstein

I'm nervous about this. While I can't wait for a sequel, switching studios is almost always bad news.

fumanstan

Rumors are that it would be a prequel.

lordwow

I would like to see a more RPGish sequel based around the start of the downfall of the city.

Michael Corvin

Not done by 2K Boston? Not sure how I feel about that. I guess as long as Ken Levine is running the ship things should be alright. It would make more sense to have the same team together to knock it out quicker than a new team.

The million dollar question remains, 360 exclusive?

uncle-frank

hmm, i dunno. i will most likely pick it up, but, im not that excited about the news.

Save Ferris

A SIMS based prequel? A Fall of Rapture a la Dead Rising?

fumanstan

SIMS?

edstein

I do like the prequel idea. I also would have liked to play as a Big Daddy a little longer. Maybe they can do something about that this time around.

msdmoney

I hate to see a sequel get handed off to another team, it usually means they are cashing in on the success. If the original team had been passionate enough about expanding the Bioshock story in a unique way, I would think they would have done it themselves. I would like to see a prequel, the downfall of Rapture.

Hopefully it is still released on the PC.

Giantrobo

Bioshock 2!? With that news I guess I should finish Bioshock 1.

glasschicken

Same here. Halo, Mass Effect and Rock Band have taken over for too long. I have to go back.

Raul3

It has to be a prequel. It can't be a sequel.

Being a sequel it can be a different game from Bioshock 1. It can be a game about living in Rapture. I'm sure Ken Levine can design an interesting game about that. I'd love 2K Boston doing the game but oh well. Still, with Ken Levine the game should keep its quality.

It was noted in the article that 2K released this announcement because of the EA proposal to buy them. So yeah, they want the public to know that they have really good games. So the article says 4Q of 2009, I'd say middle of 2010.

Michael Corvin

I don't know. If they already have it in the works, 4Q of 2009 is two years away. We are talking about a game where basically all the design, models and R&D are already done. 2 years seems like a long time when you consider that. I do expect it being a Thanksgiving title. Without another Halo, MS will be pushing that hard.

So from the launch of the system you would have:
Thanksgiving '05: COD2
Thanksgiving '06: Gears of War
Thanksgiving '07: Halo 3
Thanksgiving '08: Gears of War 2
Thanksgiving '09: Bioshock 2

Not a bad run.

Raul3

Well, if that's true, they have to show *something* in this year E3.

And 4Q 2009 is not 2 years away. We are at the end of 1Q 2008. So we are 6Q away from 4Q 2009.

And I know, it can be done. They can recycle all of the designs, graphics, etc. They look really good, they are part of Bioshock's atmosphere that I expect to see in Bioshock 2. But it's just that I don't Bioshock 2 to be about fighting Big Daddies or something like that. I know that they can just recycle the whole game and just change little bits of the game, but I expect more from Ken Levine.

I know my expectations are too high but I want Bioshock 2 to impact me like the first one did.

Save Ferris

they could do it like a SIMs game. You have control over the workings of Rapture, you have to put down uprisings, manage outbreaks of one sort or another, quarantine areas, grow big daddies and other soldiers. Fight off undersea threats. Then have mini games where you can do first person stuff.

JasonF

I had the same reaction, but I found this article that allayed some of my concerns:

I guess the $20,000 question is what they mean by "some of the people" who created BioShock. If it's everybody but Ken Levine, cool. If it's six guys from a 30-member development team, and only one of those six was important to the development team, that's less cool.

Still, I've chosen to be cautiously optimistic.

fumanstan

Yeah, I remember that from a few months back too which is why I wasn't really worried about this either. I'd also say, if anything, it's unfair to all the other developers to assume that Ken Levine was responsible for all of Bioshock's success.

missingtoof

Going the SIMS route for the sequel would be interesting (possibly adding more gameplay depth), but I think it would somehow take away from how engrossing Rapture's environments can be, especially when experienced as a FPS. I like the feeling of actually being there.

The idea of a prequel -- at the height of Ryan/Fontaine conflict -- before the city and its citizens collapse under the weight of its own power hungry egos, would add alot more depth to the Rapture we already know. As cool as it was to envision what was happening while listening to those recordings, it would be cool to play through one of them (or an event leading up to a recording), like one of the many shootouts between Ryan and Fontaine's people, or witnessing the mass exodus of citizens wanting to return to the surface, and other facets of the overall story that weren't detailed on the recordings from the first game.

I'd like to see how and where it went all downhill for the utopia that Ryan envisioned.

Rival11

While I think it's a great idea to have sequel, I'm not sure about it. As great as the first one was I couldn't stand a lot of the standard old school, typical shooter platform elements..........mainly having to go out and retrieve 7 different objects to complete the contraption - Bioshock did this on almost everyone of it's later levels and it drove me crazy.

But, with that said, the story was excellent and I hope a sequel (or prequel) can have just as much originality charachter & story wise.

cruzness

I read an article a couple of weeks ago that mentioned a few titles and whether they would be multiplatform or not - don't remember where it was. BioShock 2 was said to be for multiple platforms - PC, PS3 and 360.