BioShock
Game » consists of 33 releases. Released Aug 21, 2007
- PC
- Xbox 360
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox 360 Games Store
- + 5 more
- Mac
- PlayStation Network (PS3)
- iPad
- iPhone
- Nintendo Switch
Venture into the mysterious, Utopian underwater city of Rapture and discover what has turned it into ruin in this first-person epic.
This Original Pitch For BioShock Is Bananas
The only way to get your weekend started properly is to read old design documents and pitches for the games you love. Thoughtfully, the folks over at Irrational Games have released part of the original game pitch for BioShock! It's a fascinating look at what BioShock was originally perceived as, especially since this pitch was created five years before the game was released. Oh yeah, and the game described in this pitch is wildly different from the BioShock released in 2007.
What changed in the five years between pitch and release? How about the fact that BioShock was originally not about Rapture? According to the pitch, there is no underwater city of any kind. Instead, BioShock was originally going to take place on an island, and you were sent to rescue a lady, but there's a cult on the island and genetic mutations extracted out of animals and weapon customization and...
Oh, who am I kidding? Stop reading this story and go to the Irrational site to check out the first part of the pitch document. Irrational will be releasing more of the pitch in the near future, complete with commentary from the developers involved with the game's design and production. You should read it! I want to read it again! I'm out! I got reading to do!
Here's a fraction of the pages from that BioShock pitch. Would you kindly go and read the rest?
Totally bananas! What do you think about the game that BioShock might have been?
The only way to get your weekend started properly is to read old design documents and pitches for the games you love. Thoughtfully, the folks over at Irrational Games have released part of the original game pitch for BioShock! It's a fascinating look at what BioShock was originally perceived as, especially since this pitch was created five years before the game was released. Oh yeah, and the game described in this pitch is wildly different from the BioShock released in 2007.
What changed in the five years between pitch and release? How about the fact that BioShock was originally not about Rapture? According to the pitch, there is no underwater city of any kind. Instead, BioShock was originally going to take place on an island, and you were sent to rescue a lady, but there's a cult on the island and genetic mutations extracted out of animals and weapon customization and...
Oh, who am I kidding? Stop reading this story and go to the Irrational site to check out the first part of the pitch document. Irrational will be releasing more of the pitch in the near future, complete with commentary from the developers involved with the game's design and production. You should read it! I want to read it again! I'm out! I got reading to do!
Here's a fraction of the pages from that BioShock pitch. Would you kindly go and read the rest?
Totally bananas! What do you think about the game that BioShock might have been?
So it's like Dr. Moreau mixed with what BioShock would eventually become? Fits with what it became, in more ways than one. Specifically, two.
"It's a fascinating look at what BioShock was originally perceived as"
Don't you mean "conceived as"? But yeah, that's nuts. This doesn't seem to resemble the game we know and love at all.
" Man, THIS premise should've been used for Bioshock 2, would've made that game way cooler. "You mean a rough idea of how the first game would have gone had the process of this lil thing called 'development' not interfered? Not a deep interesting story that compliments the first game? Yeah, sure. Makes perfect sense :/
" "Vanilla weapon archetypes (e.g slug thrower, missle launcher, chemical projector, etc.) that are found around the island can be molded into more powerful, customized versions (e.g fully automatic acid tipped armored piercing assault rifle, etc.)" Why did they not keep that!!?!? "It was too good at neutralizing alkaline-based enemies.
""Vanilla weapon archetypes (e.g slug thrower, missle launcher, chemical projector, etc.) that are found around the island can be molded into more powerful, customized versions (e.g fully automatic acid tipped armored piercing assault rifle, etc.)" Why did they not keep that!!?!? "
Alot of these things in game pitches are not really feasible to do (at least all at once) when it comes to actually developing the game.
What an odd sounding game that pitches. If that had been released I dont think I'd have been as interested. One of the things I liked about Bioshock was how different the world is. I mean, damn, its an underwater city in the 50s run by a eccentric mad man who loses control because we as humans can never be satisified so when given the opportunity we manipulate the world enough to destroy it.
This pitch sounds generic but very ambitious as well (i read the whole thing). There's also some things missing from it but that isn't really important, just something I noticed.
Seriously, if writing a pitch is that easy I may have the wrong job. This is like a rough draft for one of my insane stories. The environmental changing thing they outlined was an interesting concept. I dont know how that could possibly work (which is probably why it was ultimately canned) but on paper it sounds amazing. If that could ever be done with an actual use in the game that wasnt contrived it might make for an interesting game.
I can see how they got to where they did from this as far as mechanics and even somewhat in the way the population of rapture are (as the people of rapture worship the flesh, vanity, greed, and other such evils to a degree that could be considered a cult in a way). This pitch also shows how the second game comepletely missed the mark.
Very fascinating to read that.
This seems like a great game idea, but it doesn't seem like it'd have as many iconic moments as BioShock; but maybe that's just me, either way it's cool of Irrational to release this look into early BioShock, and I continue to be super excited for whatever they're cooking up now.
I have to say, this pitch is certainly interesting, but I'm glad Bioshock turned out the way it did. This original pitch sounds too much like the first Far Cry for my liking.
@miva2 said:
http://www.unseen64.net/" saved it, i'll read it later, but it looks really interesting. i'd like to see more of this. the rest of the pitch and also pitches of other known (or perhaphs unknown) games. that would be awesome "
" @emkeighcameron said:What I mean is that I found Bioshock 2 had a suck-ass story and wasn't nearly as interesting as its predecessor, so yeah. This story sounds way cooler to me than what BS2 tried to do." Man, THIS premise should've been used for Bioshock 2, would've made that game way cooler. "You mean a rough idea of how the first game would have gone had the process of this lil thing called 'development' not interfered? Not a deep interesting story that compliments the first game? Yeah, sure. Makes perfect sense :/ "
" @sofacitysweetheart said:I thought the story in the sequel furthered the legend of Rapture and its inhabitants pretty well. Especially considering what the first game left us with." @emkeighcameron said:What I mean is that I found Bioshock 2 had a suck-ass story and wasn't nearly as interesting as its predecessor, so yeah. This story sounds way cooler to me than what BS2 tried to do. "" Man, THIS premise should've been used for Bioshock 2, would've made that game way cooler. "You mean a rough idea of how the first game would have gone had the process of this lil thing called 'development' not interfered? Not a deep interesting story that compliments the first game? Yeah, sure. Makes perfect sense :/ "
" @emkeighcameron said:WELL I'M SURE AS HELL NOT GOING TO TOLERATE A DIFFERING OPINION ON THE INTERNET" @sofacitysweetheart said:I thought the story in the sequel furthered the legend of Rapture and its inhabitants pretty well. Especially considering what the first game left us with. "" @emkeighcameron said:What I mean is that I found Bioshock 2 had a suck-ass story and wasn't nearly as interesting as its predecessor, so yeah. This story sounds way cooler to me than what BS2 tried to do. "" Man, THIS premise should've been used for Bioshock 2, would've made that game way cooler. "You mean a rough idea of how the first game would have gone had the process of this lil thing called 'development' not interfered? Not a deep interesting story that compliments the first game? Yeah, sure. Makes perfect sense :/ "
*PUNCH*
Wow, if they actually followed their original pitch, the game might have been good...
It goes to show you how desperate console gamers are for a good game when they take a shitty, and dumbed-down version of System Shock 2, and consider it good.
What do you expect from the same people who buy God of War, or Halo?
I'm going to be honest, that games sounds like something I would like a lot more than BioShock if they delivered on all the promises.
I would love to see this game released, even if it's not the original idea. There are a few ideas I don't love, per se, but it's still sweet sounding.
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment