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Rumortoid: BioShock 2 a prequel showing Rapture's fall?

7:05 AM on 01.08.2008, Jim Sterling 64 comments

Rumortoid: BioShock 2 a prequel showing Rapture's fall? photo
     Bioshock

We all know that BioShock 2 is on the cards, but so far nobody has a clue what it's going to be about. Recently however, a rumor has started cropping up suggesting the game will be a prequel set during the civil war that killed Andrew Ryan's underwater city of Rapture. 

While a somewhat logical move, I don't know how I feel about this. One of the best parts of BioShock was how much of the player's imagination it invoked, and how a bigger picture was detailed through scant resources like audio diaries of Rapture's citizens. I don't know if I'd like to see such wonderfully crafted and subtle little hints exposed in such a way. Does BioShock 2 even need to be set in Rapture anyway? I think not.

As always, this is nothing but rumor until something more concrete surfaces, but it's worth a discussion. What would you think of a prequel? Are you as nervous as I am on such an idea, or are you all for it?

[Thanks, Evo]


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Evo's Avatar
Evo at 01/08/2008 07:08
Yay, my tip worked :D

My brief thoughts - if they continue to set the game in Rapture then I think this is the way it should be done.

Though I wonder how they would be able to work it without setting it in Rapture..
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 01/08/2008 07:11
Evo: Very easily, actually. You can go to a totally different location with totally different characters and just keep some running themes, like the Plasmids and genetic engineering. Set it in the same universe as Rapture, but a different setting. It would work a treat, I think, and be far less predictable than the notion that we HAVE to go back to Rapture.
Evo's Avatar
Evo at 01/08/2008 07:15
Jim: Well that is true, but then you would get onto the question about 'canon' and which ending would be followed?

I think that Bioshock is a great game, but that doing a sequel/prequel would ruin it for us.

Another game taking the essence of System Shock and Bioshock would be best I feel.

Heh just my ramblings :P
Aertyr's Avatar
Aertyr at 01/08/2008 07:19
This is a rare occasion where a prequel is definitely more feasible(and needed) then a continuation of the story. Do , Do want.
Boolean's Avatar
Boolean at 01/08/2008 07:20
What about Sim City + Rapture?
BlackDove's Avatar
BlackDove at 01/08/2008 07:21
Yeah, I would have liked to have been there when it was working as a utopia.
Aertyr's Avatar
Aertyr at 01/08/2008 07:22
@Evo A prequel/sequel is always good for a game, developers frequently just get ruing by the pressure of living up to the first game. Who knows, Bioshock 2 could be even better then the first. Considering the the first one though, they have a lot to live up to.
GeneralWong's Avatar
GeneralWong at 01/08/2008 07:24
I don't know, i liked the idea of a ruined city under the sea. The atmosphere it created was amazing, i think if the city was remade during the destruction of its society then it would lose it atmosphere. Becoming more of a civil war game then a dark fucked up game. I know there gonna cash in no matter what on the success but as-long as they keep the same high standard im sure il will be a great game.

Be cool as-long as it got Andrew Ryan in it and no Fontaine.. his a dick.
atheistium's Avatar
atheistium at 01/08/2008 07:34
I'd personally like to see Rapture building it's self back, and then a slow painful downfall :p
How they do it I don't know, but it would be awesome :D Like seeing rapture as what it was originally before it got ruined and torn.
DOOM's Avatar
DOOM at 01/08/2008 07:39
It will be freaking amazing!
Y0j1mb0's Avatar
Y0j1mb0 at 01/08/2008 07:39
I must be the only one that thinks this game doesn't NEED a sequel. I Love Bioshock for what it was..a game marching to it's own beat. Now they gotta milk it.

Move on with something else to wow us.
wiiwillovercome's Avatar
wiiwillovercome at 01/08/2008 07:47
A prequel would be pretty sweet. Maybe you could play as Andrew Ryan on land and him getting the ideas for Rapture - but then there's no enemies...hmmm...should be interesting.
Jarmer's Avatar
Jarmer at 01/08/2008 07:52
Ever since I beat this game I was thinking about what they could do next, and this did creep into my mind.. BUT I like some others kind of hoped they would go to a new IP.

IF they are insistent upon making more Bioshock games, then this should be the only way to go.
DrLilo's Avatar
DrLilo at 01/08/2008 07:54
You've hit the nail on the head imo. A playable version of that same subtly crafted back-story players slowly paced together in the first game, wouldn't be nearly as intriguing a gaming experience, and would sort of ruin the first game...
Wobachuki's Avatar
Wobachuki at 01/08/2008 08:05
I agree with yojimbo, I'm sure it'll never happen but I don't want to see Big-Daddy branded Mt.Dew. ....on second thought a plasmid themed cola would be awesome! bring on the whoring!!

Even though I'd have my concerns about smearing such a good title with a second iteration of bioshock I'm pretty confident in the team's ability to deliver.

mmmm, Speed Boost-Berry!! more delicious than beating a little sister's skull in with a wrench!
BigPopaGamer's Avatar
BigPopaGamer at 01/08/2008 08:10
I don't like this one bit. I really enjoyed Bioshock and sometimes it's better to just let it stand and not "milk the cow" as so many companies have tried to do with their games or Hollywood does with movies (Live free or Die Hard anyone?)
Comrade Snarky's Avatar
Comrade Snarky at 01/08/2008 08:29
"Does BioShock 2 even need to be set in Rapture anyway? I think not."

To your question, Jim, a question: is it still BioShock if it doesn't take place in Rapture?

Granted System Shock took place on Citadel Station whereas System Shock 2 took place on the Von Braun/Rickenbacker, but there wasn't an entirely huge difference between these settings. I'm not really sure such a close analogue for Rapture exists.

Honestly, BioShock's setting was the best aspect of the game, in my mind. Many elements of the gameplay, and even a few plot devices (Atlas=Polito, anyone?) were borrowed or adapted from earlier games, particularly System Shock 2. The concept for BioShock's plasmids, for example, is directly ripped from SS2's "Psi powers." This is not a slight on the game; Irrational/2K billed the game as a spiritual successor to SS2, after all. My point is merely that plasmids do not make BioShock particularly unique.

The game's setting, however, is all its own. Rapture was the single most original and immersive game world I have seen in years...maybe ever. So I pose another question: If BioShock 2 is not set in Rapture, will I want to play it?
Comrade Snarky's Avatar
Comrade Snarky at 01/08/2008 08:39
Sorry to double-post, but I should mention that I do like the idea of a prequel to the game (perhaps because I don't like to think about the aftermath of either of BioShock's personally disappointing endings). I am uneasy, however, about the possibility that the game could lack the sense of rich detail and history that BioShock achieved by giving the player glimpses into Rapture's past, but never making that history entirely explicit. Even so, I think the idea could work in the hands of great storytellers, which Irrational/2K have shown themselves to be.
covah's Avatar
covah at 01/08/2008 08:41
I think they have no other option in making a prequel because the ending of bioshock didn't really leave anything open, it just dug them in a hole. Either you saved the little girls and all had a happy ending, or some splicers came up. Even if they were to say "well lets assume everyone got the evil ending" I doubt they could make a true sequel to the game with that. So the natural way to look at "well shit, we're in a hole" is to do something BEFORE the original game

I'd play it, I think the downfall and seeing rapture go from good to bad would be really interesting. But at the same time, it probably wouldn't be as good because its not like they could make an entirely new rapture.
9to5's Avatar
9to5 at 01/08/2008 08:41
my initial thoughts were that a prequel would be a bad idea (would playing in a pristine Rapture be as much fun as a decaying one? how much earlier could you set it and still have the plasmids and splicers?) but can you imagine Bioshock 2 without Andrew Ryan in it?
Origim's Avatar
Origim at 01/08/2008 08:42
I really dont want to see another Bioshock. The game can stand the test of time all by itself without a bunch of crappy follow ups that wont be as good. Although if 2K/Marin is going to do it any a prequel has the most potential.
Surf314's Avatar
Surf314 at 01/08/2008 08:44
IMO either you do a prequel or you do a story about rebuilding and innovate in the way you can shape how it is rebuilt (have you make decisions about the rebuilding, pick sides in factions and have to root out opposing elements). The former would be more of a Bioshock experience the latter would be more of an evolution and could go either way as far as better or worse. You wouldn't be as helpless, as in it wouldn't be a on rails story that you are just a helpless part of, but there is an amazing potential to screw it up. Building it back up and having it fall again would probably just make it feel like they recycled the first one.
daddy gamer's Avatar
daddy gamer at 01/08/2008 08:54
1) Not every game needs a sequel/prequel

2) I think that not enough game developers use the Zelda/Final Fantasy logic: Just because you make a sequel to a franchise doesn't mean it has to follow the story line. So make a Bioshock sequel, but have it be about something totally unrelated. You've left Rapture perfectly...let my imagination stay where it's at with it.
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 01/08/2008 08:59
I'd have to take a pass.

I can't see that game being any better by making it different. We'd be playing through the same city, same environments, obviously very little Big Daddy killing. That stinks of fail.
wardrox's Avatar
wardrox at 01/08/2008 09:03
YES

that is all.
Flakor's Avatar
Flakor at 01/08/2008 09:32
Frankly, I wouldn't mind that prequel, but its just the idea of BioShock 2 as a sequal that has me worried. I just don't see what it would be about, I mean if its a sequal based off the 'good' ending wouldn't all the Splicers be dead by then? If its based off the 'evil' ending then it would make a little more sense but it would be the first one all over again...the main character of BioShock 2 taking out Jack.

Whatever, if its a prequal I'll survive
brad drac's Avatar
brad drac at 01/08/2008 09:33
Do not want sequel/prequel. If one must be made however, I'd like a sequel that ignores both endings, and continues the story with [insert malignant government agency here] discovering rapture after a decade or so of it being abandoned, and harvesting all it's neat gadgets and doodads. The player could start out in the research facility the stuff was taken(which would hopefully be located somewhere even slightly near as interesting as rapture), where everything surprisingly enough went wrong. The player going back to raped husk rapture at the end could be an effective finale. I don't think a prequel set before rapture was ruined would be as good. There couldn't be the same sense of clastrophobia and decay, which would be a major negative impact on the atmosphere.
GrayFox's Avatar
GrayFox at 01/08/2008 09:47
Yeah, it makes so much sense to do this. I personally cannot wait. I just hope they do it right without Levine, but I have my doubts.
dprime's Avatar
dprime at 01/08/2008 09:53
I think they should do it somewhere that Rapture is a happy place and they have to fight off attacks from the CIA and the KGB.
Cheeburga's Avatar
Cheeburga at 01/08/2008 10:15
Dear god yes.
Although I don't like the idea of a prequel.
Justin Villasenor's Avatar
Justin Villasenor at 01/08/2008 10:16
Another possibility could be something like Rapture Wars, which would could play like Halo Wars but with different groups of splicers instead of covenant and human troops.
Zanch's Avatar
Zanch at 01/08/2008 10:20
For anyone who's played through Bioshock, this oughtta be filed with under Captain Obvious.
king3vbo's Avatar
king3vbo at 01/08/2008 10:49
I dont want a prequel or a sequel, but a prequel is worse. Imagining how shit hit the fan is one of the best parts of Bioshock.
CaffeinePowered's Avatar
CaffeinePowered at 01/08/2008 11:09
So, If Bioshock ripped everything off of System Shock 2, would Bioshock 2 rip everything off of System Shock 1?
cap123's Avatar
cap123 at 01/08/2008 11:25
I think if they developed the story around the character you played as' personal experience, rather than a key character in the fall of rapture it would be good. So, not too much insight on what's going on as to not ruin everyone's personal vision of rapture, but a very closed idea of what's happening with saving your family or something, while being ignorant to the politics, like what the citizens probably actually had.
xper's Avatar
xper at 01/08/2008 12:03
the reason bioshock's ending(s) is the ay it is, is because ken levine didn't want the two endings part, and that his vision for the game's story was to have it be done with. he's not working on bioshock2 because that was not his vision or intention.

but thats a good thing. bring in other visionaries to make bioshcok2 just as unique as the original. though i doubt that will happen.

bioshock wasn't meant to be a franchise. i don't want a sequel/prequel. i want another game from ken levine.
Topher Cantler's Avatar
Topher Cantler at 01/08/2008 12:14
Jim, why have your commenters failed to finish the song? This is unacceptable. Ahem.

Mah luvva staaands on golden saaaaaannds

Aand watches the ships

that go saaaaaiiiiiiillin'
ian_esq's Avatar
ian_esq at 01/08/2008 12:56
Bioshock Galaxy!

every franchise needs to visit the cosmos.
Ratcliff's Avatar
Ratcliff at 01/08/2008 13:03
The great thing about Bioshock was the the twist in Ryan's office, with a prequel, we know the story already.
vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 01/08/2008 13:21
Fuck arguments.

A prequel would kick ass and I'm done!
moot button's Avatar
moot button at 01/08/2008 13:35
it would be cool to actually see the utopia's decline into madness and decay. from the first plasmid being abused to the new years party we witnessed the aftermath of. maybe from atlus' point of view? then again it would be cool to have another setting. an arctic research facility/city, with some gene-spliced wildlife, and more man vs elements story. gotta keep the vending machines though. i love to hate that effing clown "heheheeeh"
D-Nez's Avatar
D-Nez at 01/08/2008 13:37
part of Bioshock's feel came from the destroyed utopia. Not sure how it would feel walking around rapture if everything is pristine and perfect. wouldn't feel like Bioshock to me. But hey, if 2K can do, then I'd gladly eat my words. Ken Levine not being involved is of concern. Much of the time when you have other people work on a franchise(more in movies but its seen it games now too) it losses part of what made it special. I'd like to see him involved even as a producer. Bioshock should have his stamp of approval.
Bus's Avatar
Bus at 01/08/2008 13:38
Decades after the original game, Rapture breaks free of its constraints holding it to the bottom of the ocean. Once at the surface, its technology is appropriated by the entire world. The age of the splicers is born. I see a Children of Men with people that can shoot lightning from their fingertips. Suicide bombers who can teleport. So on. It's cheesy, I know. Done right though, it could be good.
Pariah's Avatar
Pariah at 01/08/2008 13:50
I agree with Bus. Government exploitation of the remnants of Rapture. Set in modern times, play as one of the little sisters that escaped. Everyone loves playing as girls right?
Remo's Avatar
Remo at 01/08/2008 14:04
Bioshock: the phantom Daddy
KilgoreTrout XL's Avatar
KilgoreTrout XL at 01/08/2008 14:22
That's a horrible idea, and I doubt it's true.

The best part about Bioshock was discovering, through audio diaries and otherwise, just how everything went so wrong. I mean, that's mainly what the damned game was already about!

Why make a new game where you play through the story you just got finished telling?

But I'd probably buy it anyways.
Corak's Avatar
Corak at 01/08/2008 14:42
I'm torn here. Part of me wants to play another bioshock game, prequel, whatever, as long as it had that same immersive feel. But can a prequel to such an immersive game accomplish this? Or would it feel like a re-hashed game put out to draw on the success of the previous one? I'm guess it will feel like the latter. But another part of me feels it should be left to stand on its own. Yup great game, and just leave it at that and move on.
kawitchate's Avatar
kawitchate at 01/08/2008 15:07
but Jim, if they set it somewhere else then they can't reuse assets and get the game churned out in less than a year and a half! you're not thinking bottom line sir.
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