A new job listing at games developers Cloud Chamber could hint at an open world BioShock 4. Cloud Chamber have been long rumored to be working on BioShock 4 though 2K Games has yet to officially announce the title. However, even just looking at the developers website Here, gives you a BioShock feel. I’ve been a huge fan of all the BioShock games as is my The Cantina co-host Kyle Malone. It feels like years we’ve been talking about what we’d like to see in a BioShock 4.
However, this latest news, has me slightly, worried, frankly, though since then I’ve decided not to panic. A new job listing, as identified by the good people of Bloody Disgusting, has talk of an open world setting. Below is the relevant info as reported by the outlet.
For starters, the description for a Senior Writer role lists someone “who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting.” Furthermore, the winning candidate will be tasked to “brainstorm primary and secondary mission content with design.”
Unreal Engine 4 experience is “strongly desired” for a Senior World Designer role, which is for someone who “enjoys creating the little moments” in the game that “delight the player, enhance the Narrative of the world, and make the game world feel alive, encouraging players to stay and explore.”
Further indications of the title moving to an open world environment can be seen in the listing for an AI programmer, who will “create a vision for a meaningful AI urban crowd system and the systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI”.
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So why the worry? One of the aspects I disliked about BioShock: Infinite was the setting. Columbia was a cool place and all, but I never got that scary claustrophobic, trapped in feeling like I did with the BioShock games set in Rapture. There is something amazing about an underwater game, you can have great visuals with tiny play spaces. I think that’s why Kyle and I both hoped that Bioshock 4 would move to a city in space.
However, I realized one could argue that BioShock was open world to begin with. BioShock might seem pretty linear but even from the final moments of the game you could journey back to almost the very beginning looking for items you may have missed. There was only a few sections of the map in the very beginning that were inaccessible after a certain point. BioShock and it’s sequels also has plenty of side stories. Ok, not compared to a game like GTA5, or The Witcher 3, but the were there. Much of the story of the BioShock games was also revealed in the collection of Audio Diaries. Some of those were only accessed after playing side missions or exploring well outside the linear pathways.
I also remembered that the BioShock games were designed for the PS360 generation and we are now two generations beyond that. Therefore, crowd scenes could be something a lot easier to utilize in certain circumstances. Do you think an open world BioShock 4 is being hinted at here? Would you be happy or displeased if that was the case? Would you kindly leave your thoughts below in the usual place.
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