Top 10 Most Mysterious Games
Ken Levine’s Next Title
With a resume that includes Theif: The Dark Project, System Shock 2, and the BioShock series, Ken Levine has earned his reputation as one of the industry’s most talented developers.
But it’s been over five years since his last game, BioShock Infinite, and although we know for certain that he’s got something in the pipeline, we’ve no idea what it actually is.
Levine has been tight-lipped on his next project, teasing precious few details in the months since the initial tease in 2017. What little we have heard, though, makes it sound very exciting, indeed.
After leaving Irrational Games with several other members of the development team, Levine stated that his first project with new studio Ghost Story Games would incorporate “narrative elements that are non-linear and interact with each other” where “all narrative elements to trigger off player action.”
Levine has spoken of his love for Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor; in particular, praising its non-linear game design via the innovative Nemesis system.
Other inspirations include Civilization, Xcom, and Minecraft, which offer players plenty of choice without resorting to traditional branching narratives seen in series such as Dragon Age, which Levine thinks do not “offer truly player-driven narratives.”
Most recently, Levine stated that the “impetus [for change was] you spent five years on a game which people finish in a weekend.” He went on to say that he was “envious of games like Civilization” and wanted to create a game that players had a longer relationship with.
Assuming he can find the right balance, everything we’re hearing sounds like a perfect recipe for what could end up as Levine’s most accomplished title.
