After months of speculation and several weeks of teasers, Irrational Games has finally unveiled the future of the mysterious “Project Icarus.” By means of a trailer that was released earlier today, Irrational revealed that the game will be known as Bioshock Infinite and that this game is expected to be released for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012.
Irrational indicated that Bioshock Infinite will act as a prequel to the other two installments in the franchise, but that it will not share the same ideological subject as the first two games in the Bioshock franchise. The game is set in 1912 aboard an air-city known as Columbia, which was originally intended as an utopia for the American elite but has become entwined in an international conflict.
Players will take control of Booker DeWitt, who is tasked with rescuing a woman known as Elizabeth from the aerial city. The missions takes a turn for the worse as Elizabeth turns out to be at the center of a conflict that is currently raging within the city, and DeWitt and Elizabeth must cooperate to escape the city together. It is currently unclear if this will involve opportunities for cooperative gameplay.
Though the setting of BioShock Infinite predates the events of the previous two games and the discovery of ADAM, Irrational has indicated that players will nevertheless have access to Plasmid-like abilities. Reports indicate that these powers appear to be fueled by Crow-shaped statues. The debut trailer for the game can be found below.
The whole concept of a “death star” city floating in the sky with giant props at the base screams Miyazaki’s “Castle in the Sky.” Seeing the robot hands in the trailer didn’t help that.
That said, I’m still highly interested in the game. I just wish they tried something completely different…or System Shock 3 (though I think EA has the rights to that series).
Beautiful trailer :D!
An allusion to Miyazaki-san is never cause for sadness, but always cause for jubilation! All games should attempt such homages!
Oh, I’m not mad about it. I’m just stating how apparent it seems :D!
Chris have you Steam Boy? Cause part of that trailer reminds me of that anime (the whole Steam Punk style, the robots, and the floating city). I was also thinking of the same thing with Laputa, but Laputa (Castle in the Sky) is based on an old tale by the same name, so Miyazaki just animated the story (yeah, same thing goes with Howl’s Moving Castle).
This is interesting. Reminds me of a few animes I have watched.
It is cool that they are going to a different location entirely (as much as I love Rapture, it needs a rest, unless they really let you explore the city to its fullest) and it is flying to boot. I also like the Steam Punk Style, as many games don’t seem to use that motif at all.
This has piqued my interest greatly. I am also glad that they didn’t use ADAM since it comes from [spoiler] slugs on the sea floor.[/spoiler]