Levine reveals the psychology behind Bioshock Infinite
We've seen the hypnotic 15-minute trailer for Bioshock Infinite, but much more lies beneath the floating surface of Columbia. Levine revealed the method behind Irrational's madness in a lengthy interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun this week, discussing the stress to make Infinite perfect and the trials of living in a dream within a dream.
Levine wants the story and AI behind Elizabeth to run so smoothly that players fall in love with her, which means innovating her every motion with a mix of scripted scenes and environment-induced emergence. Levine said Irrational are also taking a psychological approach to the player's relationship with Elizabeth, through the heady ritual of self-sacrifice:
I started thinking about how a very sick patient often rapidly feels an intense bond with their doctor, because they're in danger. The same is true of people in combat. This tuned us to the nature of sacrifice, and to what a character wants and will sacrifice to get it. Elizabeth wants to control her own destiny and she'd rather die than not control her own destiny. We thought that this was something people could empathize with, but we also thought that sacrifice rapidly builds connections between people.
After that, the interview takes a decidedly philosophical "Is this all a dream? Why are we here? Who is the boss?" turn, but if you're interested check out the full interview on RPS.
