Ken Levine: The GamesRadar Interview
The brain behind BioShock talks about hacking DNA, creating true horror, and the rise of "fart gecko"
GR: We understand that Plasmids give the player special DNA-powered abilities, like a fiery touch or telekinesis. Are these permanent upgrades to your character or can you swap them at will? Since you're basically hacking your own DNA, is there a risk in using them?
KL: You can swap them out whenever you find a Plasmi Quick (a genetic ATM of sorts). Is it dangerous? Well, that's a very good question...
GR: We've heard there will be a crafting system, so you can create your own Plasmids. What will you make them out of? How will this work?
KL: This is something we'll start to talk about very soon. But not yet...
GR: BioShock looks like it's being designed as a single-player experience at its core. Will there be a multiplayer component?
Nope. We are focused like a laser on single player.
GR: Why was the game shown on Xbox 360 at E3? We expected to see it running on a PC.
KL: Baby, I never promised you an E3 PC build. In our development process, there is always a PC build before there is a 360 build, just the nature of working with the Unreal engine. We have two teams devoted to making custom versions of the game for the two platforms. I think the reason we wanted to show the world a 360 build is because we don't think a lot of people would have believed the world of BioShock could be built on stock 360. With a PC, everybody knows you can have 28 SLI Nvidias running that sucker. However, we did have a PC build on hand in case anyone wanted to view it on the PC.
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