BioShock FAQ

Last Updated - December 30th 2006

Our BioShock FAQ should answer most of your questions about the game, however we have decided not to include much, if anything, about the content of the game for two reasons. Firstly this could change, and secondly we believe this is something you should find out while playing the game

As such you won't find out anything about the weapons, enemies, number of levels, but you will find out about the developers, the technology and release dates!

If you have some information that you think belongs in our FAQ head over to our Work In Progress thread on our forums and let us know!

Contents

Who is developing the game?

BioShock is being developed by Irrational Games. Both the Quincy (USA) and Canberra (Australia) studios are involved in the project.

Irrational's previous form includes System Shock 2, Swat 4 & expansion, and Freedom Force 1 & 2

Who is publishing the game?

BioShock is being published by Take 2 Interactive, probably under the 2K Games label.

BioShock or Bioshock?

BioShock. There was a report that the S had been changed to an s, however this report was erroneous. 2K Games' own BioShock site confirms this with use of BioShock in the footer.

What platforms is BioShock being released on?

BioShock is being released on PC and Xbox 360. It is not a Windows Vista exclusive game.

What kind of game is BioShock

BioShock is a First Person Shooter. Irrational are hoping to redefine what a 'shooter' is with BioShock.

What engine is BioShock using?

BioShock is using the Unreal engine which has been massively modified by Irrational.

Originally BioShock was being built on an Irrational-modified version of the Unreal 2 Engine known as Vengeance. Since then it has been ported to Unreal 3.0 and has once again been heavily modified.

The game will feature some DirectX10 content for Vista users.

The game also utilises Havok Physics.

When is BioShock being released?

BioShock will be released on the 21st of August in North America and the 24th in Europe. Other markets have not yet been mentioned.

What is the game about?

In the first half of the 20th century an industrialist by the name of Andrew Ryan, built an underwater utopia called Rapture.

Rapture was populated by the world's best and the brightest and was seen as an unbridled success. A undetermined period of time later a new species of sea slug that secreted stem cells was discovered in the ocean surrounding Rapture.
This allowed the inhabitants of Rapture to enhance physical and mental capabilities and to heal old wounds.
These stem cells, known as Adam, became so sought after that a war to control the substance broke out between Andrew Ryan and one of Adam's original discoverers, a scientist named Fontaine.

The war was eventually won by Ryan, however the population, having modified themselves to survive the war, was changed forever. They were now addicted to Adam and depended on it for their survival.

The game starts as the player's aeroplane crash lands in the ocean near Rapture ten years after society collapsed.

Is BioShock the sequel to System Shock 2?

No. While Irrational has promoted BioShock as a "spiritual successor" to the game design style and atmosphere achieved in System Shock 2, neither BioShock's world nor its story have anything to do with System Shock's world or story. BioShock's gameplay mechanics are also new and original and not specifically based on those from System Shock 2.

Is Eric Brosius the Audio Director for BioShock?

Eric Brosius left Irrational Games around two years ago to focus on more music and sound oriented games at Harmonix, most notably Guitar Hero. Irrational has stated that they took great care in choosing his successor, well aware that his contributions were critical to the quality and atmosphere of games by Looking Glass Studios and Irrational Games. His successor was named as Emily Ridgway who's previous games include SWAT 4: The Stetchkov Syndicate with Irrational and Destroy All Humans! with Pandemic Studios.

Is there multiplayer included with the game?

No, BioShock is a single player game only. Irrational have said that they preferred to make a fantastic single player game than a mediocre one that includes a multiplayer component.

Thanks to these forum members for help compiling this:

  • Twist
  • Vicarious