As a BioShock fan, Judas' promise of influencing the story and characters sound amazing – but what will that look like at launch?

GamesAs a BioShock fan, Judas' promise of influencing the story and characters sound amazing – but what will that look like at launch?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. GamesAs a BioShock fan, Judas' promise of influencing the story and characters sound amazing – but what will that look like at launch?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Ghost Story Games) The first encounter with a Little Sister in BioShock has always stayed with me. As the young girl cowers away from you, you’re pulled in two directions: do you take advice from Atlas, your guide through Rapture, who tells you to take their Adam in the name of survival, or do you listen to Doctor Tenenbaum who beseeches you to free them? Then the decision is put in front of you - one that you’ll have to make several times throughout BioShock - “choose whether to rescue the Little Sister or harvest her”. I came to the game a handful of years after it originally released in 2007, and knowing very little about it at the time, I can still remember sitting on this choice. I had no way of knowing what this would do in the long run, and the words of both characters, who seemed to have different motives I couldn’t yet discern, hung over me. And now with the narrative FPS Judas, which is coming to us from the creator of BioShock, I can’t stop thinking about just what it might deliver in this respect thanks to the recentJanuary State of Play. With afresh look at the game, creative director Ken Levine also detailed in aPlayStation blogthat we’ll be able to directlyinfluence how the story unfolds as well as our relationships with the characters. If it really will build on the characters and choices that I found so engrossing in BioShock in new ways, just what could that look like? Friend or foe? (Image credit: Ghost Story Games) “Characters have always been the driving force in every game we’ve ever made,” Levine says in the blog. “Whether fighting beneath the ocean to assassinate Andrew Ryan or escaping a city in the sky with Elizabeth, these personalities have always been at the heart of our stories. But what if you could choose between who to befriend and who to stab in the back?” That last question there really gets my eyebrows raising. What if we could? The BioShock games often presented us with characters with murky motivations, and it wasn’t always clear who you should, if anyone, put your trust in. It always felt like, after the big revelation of the first game, the follow-ups continued to test this idea and make you wonder whether you should have any alliances, or just look out for yourself. It’s why I enjoyed having Elizabeth alongside me in BioShock Infinite. You may not know everything about her, or what’s going on from the outset, but she soon became a character I wanted to put my faith in. (Image credit: 2K) Choice-driven combat(Image credit: Team Ninja)Rise of the Ronin’s martial arts and ranged weapons are going a long way to realizing my Sekiro meets Bloodborne fantasy Choice-driven combat (Image credit: Team Ninja)Rise of the Ronin’s martial arts and ranged weapons are going a long way to realizing my Sekiro meets Bloodborne fantasy (Image credit: Team Ninja) Rise of the Ronin’s martial arts and ranged weapons are going a long way to realizing my Sekiro meets Bloodborne fantasy In Judas, it’s said that our only hope of survival is to “make or break alliances with your worst enemies”. How that will actually play out in practice remains to be seen, but with BioShock bringing to life characters that aren’t always what they seem, or are ostensibly out to help you only to switch gears later on, I’m keen to see how this idea might actually work. In the first BioShock, for example, you were faced with the choice surrounding the Little Sisters, while BioShock 2 revolved around similar decisions from the perspective of a Big Daddy, as well as around certain key characters and their fates. Overall, it always felt like these choices led to one big outcome - with Infinite being a bit more confusing than most as it veered into multiple dimension territory. But it would be interesting to see if Judas is a bit more nuanced in how it handles choice and consequence throughout the story, with some perhaps pertaining to specific characters we choose to ally with or stab in the back. Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more In fact, what Levine goes on to say in the blog suggests we’ll have more direct influence over the story from moment to moment this time around: “With Judas, we wanted to craft an experience where these decisions and how the story unfolds is up to you. Because you, as Judas, are the driver of every event in a story with a new cast of characters to get to know - and change - in ways you haven’t experienced before in our games.” With recent releases likeBaldur’s Gate 3really steering the ship when it comes to choice and consequence, particularly in terms of how much variety and freedom there is, it sounds as though Judas is putting more stock in how we shape each event, and how we influence the characters - and that’s already speaking to me on a conceptual level. Of course, it’s always best to temper expectations until we can see how impactful or nuanced the choices will be, or how much agency we’ll actually have in the upcoming narrative FPS. After all, games are constantly changing throughout development, and theBioShock series was no exception. While this may not beBioShock 4, Judas looks every bit like BioShock in space, and from the sounds of it, I’m hopeful it will build on choice and characters in new, novel ways that will make the most of its “disintegrating starship” setting. Look ahead to more exciting future releases with our roundup ofnew gamesfor 2024 and beyond. 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of tension” 1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension” 1 Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension” 2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package” 2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package” 2 Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package” 3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure” 3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure” 3 Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure” 4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years” 4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years” 4 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years” 5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths” 5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with 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insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 3 Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action” 4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien” 4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien” 4 The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien” 5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite” 5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite” 5 Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite” 1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat” 1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti 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tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands” 4 Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands” 5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place” 5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place” 5 Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”