Bioshock 4is likely still a few years out, but anticipation had been fierce even before its announcement in 2019. With how well the series has been received so far, it faces the difficult task of reaching the high bar set by the franchise’s previous entries, but leaving behind what the other games have established may be the way it could live up to these expectations.
Said to be calledBioShock Isolationby leaks,BioShock 4will allegedly take place during the 1960s in an open-world Antarctic city called Borealis. It sounds like a perfect backdrop for a series so well-known for its extraordinary settings and creative blueprint. However, the way this blueprint was established in the series' canon could be its downfall. It might, then, be best to create its own standalone universe, while still preserving the things that made pastBioShockgames so great.
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Why BioShock Infinite’s Multiverse Was Its Weakest Element
BioShock 4could potentially be a better game if it leaves behind the universe - or universes - established at the end ofBioshock Infinite. WhileInfinitewas a fantastic game in its own right, its attempts to tie together the entire franchise’s universe fell kind of flat, leaving the creation of more questions than it answered. The climactic death of Booker erasingComstockfrom existence doesn’t tie into the narrative that even this ending is trying to weave. It also leaves the paradox of Elizabeth disappearing afterwards, which means she would never have been able to kill Booker and prevent him from becoming Comstock anyway.
Some argue that these points come from not fully grasping the story, but it’s more an issue of the innate problems created by using multiverses as a narrative tool. Having infinite timelines means that, even with Booker and Comstock gone, there are still infinite universes where Elizabeth doesn’t kill him, andthe city of Columbiastill comes to be. There’s a fine line between complex and convoluted, andInfinitefinds itself a bit too much on the wrong side of it. The fact that there are about as many fan-made timelines as there are universes in the game is a testament to this.
BioShock 4 Should Focus On Crafting Its Own World
Importantly, this isn’t a dismissal of the formula of the game. As Elizabeth puts it, “There is always a lighthouse, there’s always a man, there’s always a city” is a pretty great premise for the game.The cities ofBioShockserve as incredible silent characters of the story, changing as the game progresses and full of some of the best environmental storytelling in the medium.
Likewise, the villains deserve of their fame, too. Even the idea that accepting baptism causes Booker’s change to Comstock, by rehabilitating his crimes after superficial atonement rather than any real remedy, is a striking piece of storytelling. Similarly,Andrew Ryan’s philosophy coming from Ayn Randis presented in a way that adds amazing depth for those familiar with the ideas, but still leaves a story compelling enough for those unaware of the real-world inspirations. Politically and sociologically critical themes being so well incorporated into a game is rare, yetBioShockmanages to do so repeatedly.
In these aspects,BioShockexcels. Its character stories, world-building, and gameplay tie it all together. These are the things thatBioShock 4should play into. Where the series went wrong was clumsily shoehorning this into the story viaBioShock’s multiverse,instead of letting it exist as an implied blueprint for the game. Letting these extraordinary stories stand on their merits allows them to have more gravity, instead of the implication that they’re just one among infinite realities where all things are possible.BioShock 4could therefore have a more impactful narrative by taking place in its own timeline, disconnected from but respectful to the games before it.
