Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Shock! Irrational’s New Game Looms Close

By Alec Meer on August 3rd, 2010 at 11:12 pm.

That’s the studio formerly known as 2K Boston formerly known as Irrational to you. As in Ken Levine’s original-name-reclaiming bunch: the developers who made System Shock 2, SWAT 4, Tribes Vengeance, Freedom Force – and, of course, Bioshock the first.

And there’s that Pandora’s box opened. The important news, though, is that Irrational are finally taking the lid of whatever their new project is next week. Several years in the making, massively mysterious: whatever it is, whatever it’s like, it’s bound to be a big old chat-magnet.

The reveal’s coming on the 12th, specifically, and will be heralded by a CGI trailer. Whatever could it be? For the longest time it was rumoured to be the XCOM remake, but it turned out earlier this year that 2K Marin and Australia were tackling that. Oh look, another Pandora’s box.

So: whaddaya think it’s going to be? Irrational asked their most devoted the same question, and have rounded up the best fan-guesses into this here podcast. Not sure why anyone bothered guessing though, when it’s quite clearly going to be a remake of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude.

__________________

« | »

, , .

105 Comments »

  1. 03/08/2010 at 23:16 Freud says:

    How tedious to announce they are next week will announce something. Pointless fluffy hyping.

    • 04/08/2010 at 00:14 Shih Tzu says:

      I notice that you are now aware of it and have even been sufficiently engaged enough to post a comment about it. Pointless fluffy hype? Or entirely effective fluffy hype?

    • 04/08/2010 at 08:33 cliffski says:

      its effective fluffy hype, but it is still not news. It is still irritating, and would be good if so much games news was not an announcement about when the date of an announcement is going to be announced.
      can I buy the game they are mentioning yet?
      No
      So can I take any action that gets me the game soon?
      No.
      So I do wonder why i should care.

    • 04/08/2010 at 08:54 Tei says:

      But, if announcing the announcing of the game get more sales wen the game finally release, then it make sense for his marketing departament.

      And people want to know something is in the making.
      And people love hype, people is not stupid that way, and know hype is mostly a gullible sentiment, but love it anyway.

      Blizzard has a unannounced MMO (not based in prior IP). The day Blizzard announce that will announce what that MMO is about in the next BlizzCon (or something) the whole Internet will explode.

      T2 seems one of the largest studio still doing AAA games for the PC crowd, so what these people release will be a “theme talk” for months.

      In short:
      It don’t need to make sense for you wen make sense for the other people.

    • 04/08/2010 at 09:30 Baboonanza says:

      I don’t think the complaints we’re about the press release, that’s just PR doing what PR do, but the fact that it was reported here for no real purpose.

    • 04/08/2010 at 10:02 AndrewC says:

      What with the Internet, the ecology of games-culture is discussion. Endless gamers bumping around online haunts looking for things to discuss. These sorts of things are the results.

      It’s all our fault!

      (Also: Wooo! I think Bioshock is good!)

    • 04/08/2010 at 18:09 Pantsman says:

      @Cliffsky:
      A very good point. Perhaps then you should take a page out of my book, and just not care. Which would preclude being irritated. :P

  2. 03/08/2010 at 23:16 Jimbo says:

    Skyshock.

  3. 03/08/2010 at 23:17 a.nye.123 says:

    So this is an announcement to announce that there will soon be an announcement.

  4. 03/08/2010 at 23:17 a.nye.123 says:

    So this is an announcement to announce that there will soon be an announcement?

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:22 a.nye.123 says:

      Arg. Double-post; how might one delete such a thing?

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:26 dalziel86 says:

      This is an announcement to announce that your announcement announces that this is an announcement of an announcement that there will be an announcement.

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:52 Torgen says:

      Yo dawg, we heard you like announcin’, so we put an announcement in your announcement so you can announce about your announcement while you’re announcin’

      or something.

    • 04/08/2010 at 05:09 eclipse mattaru says:

      Ah, RPS, you disappoint me. I expected this crap from the tards at Gamespy or Kotaku, but you? Look, this is me, disappointed on you: =(

      And to make matters even better, the announcement will come in the form of a pre-rendered cutscene. So we’re not even going to see the f’ing game proper.

      As I said: =(

    • 04/08/2010 at 08:57 Duoae says:

      @ eclipse mattaru

      Unless that’s your real name RPS won’t respect your disappointment anyway.

      ;)

  5. 03/08/2010 at 23:18 Psychopomp says:

    It’s clearly going to be a gritty Freedom Force FPS

    Your superpower is bullets

  6. 03/08/2010 at 23:19 Daniel Rivas says:

    Bioshockville. It’s a facebook game.

    Calling it.

  7. 03/08/2010 at 23:19 Cael says:

    I hope it’s not System Shock 3, cause they’d only butcher it.

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:22 Daniel Rivas says:

      EA owns System Shock, so I think it’s safe to say it isn’t.

    • 04/08/2010 at 21:48 BAReFOOt says:

      You mean by extrapolating from SS1 over SS2 to Bioshock moves you straight to idiocracy? Yep, agreed. But then again: http://xkcd.com/605/ ^^

      I think some mentally healthy people (= don’t believe in “IP”) should make a SS3, and put it up via torrent. Only question: How to make money from their service, without the infected IPiods fucking it up?

  8. 03/08/2010 at 23:22 Justin Keverne says:

    HypeShock…

    But seriously, I’ve liked everything Irrational have done so whatever this is I’m almost certain to buy it.

    In the Podcast Shune Elliot also mentions a gameplay demonstration that the public will get to see shortly after the press but I can’t help wishing they’d release that before the CGI trailer. The way they released an in-game walkthrough video of BioShock as one of the first promotional materials was a really smart move. Now we’re back to traditional CGI fluffy trailers first and then actual gameplay weeks later.

    • 04/08/2010 at 14:19 Bhazor says:

      Well that happened with Bioshock, a pre-rendered cinematic followed by that great “Hunting the big Daddy” playthrough.

  9. 03/08/2010 at 23:35 jeremypeel says:

    Umm… I know cynical witticisms are important and everything, but this is really bloody exciting, right?

    Think that needs to be established early on.

  11. 03/08/2010 at 23:37 Jeremy says:

    I think we’ll see a new IP being thrown at us… hasn’t that been the rumor anyway? I can’t imagine they will revisit any of their previous work, unless they magically picked up Thief rights through their Looking Glass connections? Is that even possible?

    Honestly, whatever it is I am excited, the people at Irrational are connected to quite a few amazing games, even when they weren’t AT Irrational.

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:57 jeremypeel says:

      Thief 4 is currently in development, bru. At Eidos Montreal. Of Deus Ex 3 fame. Not sure what to think about that yet, but Irrational certainly (and sadly) aren’t making it.

      I’m really hoping for a new IP to be honest; something that shows Irrational are taking advantage of their newfound massively, massively financially successful status to push things forward like we know they can.

  12. 03/08/2010 at 23:42 Cooper says:

    Game company in shock announcement that they are currently making a game!

  13. 03/08/2010 at 23:42 James G says:

    ElectricShock: In a steampunk setting you use the newly discovered power of electricity, to gain dominion over the rampaging clockwork automata

    CultureShock: An Ex-US Naval officer attempts to integrate in 1940′s Mumbai (well, Bombay then I suppose) after the end of the war after being forcibly ejected from the Navy and fleeing before he could be court martialed.

    AfterShock: An exciting and informative edutainment title about the geology of our planet. Defeat your enemies and adapt the environment through controlling seismic shifts, and volcanic eruptions.

    ShellShock: ‘When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous snail.’

    • 03/08/2010 at 23:46 Metalfish says:

      I, for one, would welcome more Kafka-esque games.

      Will I have to invest points into my shell to protect me from apples?

    • 04/08/2010 at 00:16 Sonic Goo says:

      “I, for one, would welcome more Kafka-esque games.”

      Fight your way through a massive bureacracy, mastering procedures, gathering documents and arguing with bureaucrats until you reach… The Castle.

    • 04/08/2010 at 01:15 Gabe McGrath says:

      Actually, you got the plot of Culture Shock wrong.

      CULTURE SHOCK: A squad-based FPS, with a cover system. Take control of a team of space marines as you travel back to 1994, hoping to get your groove on with Australian eurodance group “Culture Shock”.

    • 04/08/2010 at 01:18 Jad says:

      I seriously want to play all of those games. Particularly the CultureShock one.

      Also: wow, I haven’t seen the word “edutainment” in years. Its hard to believe that people actually wrote that word in all seriousness back in the day.

    • 04/08/2010 at 22:00 BAReFOOt says:

      Are you kidding? Every TV station has a “edutainment” show nowadays. Usually more wrapped advertisement showing a factory from the inside, with all the evil and bad stuff not shown. But the “word” is very alive in those businesses.

      Yes, I know… What’s a TV station? Is that a website? ^^

  14. 03/08/2010 at 23:43 JohnArr says:

    I’ve got 50p on a Syndicate reinvention. Dunno who’s got the IP at the moment though, maybe that’s why the bookies gave me such good odds.

  15. 03/08/2010 at 23:53 ManvsPanda says:

    Co-op with 3 AI mates in underwater city, where I can punch big daddys in the face and order my team mates to handcuff little sisters.

  17. 04/08/2010 at 00:13 Acosta says:

    PhotoShock, a game where even Alec’s total lack of finesse to deal with Photoshop (Paint?) won’t matter at all.

  18. 04/08/2010 at 00:18 yhancik says:

    Loom, it’s a Loom prequel !

    Alec knows all about it and hid it sneakingly in the title.

    • 04/08/2010 at 13:45 Tei says:

      “Loom 2″

      Described by most people like “Like if Braid and Portal has a child” and “…a very solid puzzle-action 3d game with strong story elements”.

  19. 04/08/2010 at 00:19 Sonic Goo says:

    To be honest, I’m more curious what Monolith is up to. They didn’t make FEAR 2 themselves, so that means their last game is from 2008…

    *hoping for NOLF3*

  20. 04/08/2010 at 00:27 manintheshack says:

    But do they own Syst3m Shock?

  21. 04/08/2010 at 00:45 bhlaab says:

    If it’s exactly like Bioshock I am going to be annoyed

  22. 04/08/2010 at 01:00 deanimate says:

    Horseshock
    A game where you can eat horses

  23. 04/08/2010 at 01:41 JohnnyMaverik says:

    Cultureshock, not steam punk, not cyber punk, but plain old punk, set in an alternative universes 70′s London.

    In all seriousness I can’t f***ing wait to find out.

  24. 04/08/2010 at 02:17 lurk says:

    I don’t really care what their big announcement is, as long as it has “oh also Freedom Force 3″ at the end.

  25. 04/08/2010 at 03:28 Xeon06 says:

    Swat4 was one of my all time favorite games, so I dearly hope it’s another tactical shooter like that they’re announcing.

  26. 04/08/2010 at 03:57 Flakfizer says:

    They’re rebooting the good old 1950′s FBI shooters we love so much.

    Unfortunately they’re making it an isometric, squad based tactics / strategy title where you protect a modern earth against alien invasion.

    How dare they etc.

  27. 04/08/2010 at 06:24 Dude says:

    Shodan’s Sings the Blues.

  28. 04/08/2010 at 06:49 Risingson says:

    The Shockwave Rider: the videogame.

    Yes, let me dream.

  29. 04/08/2010 at 07:04 Renzatic says:

    Shockshock – The newest game by those people who apparently sold us all out for shiny gold coins and….KEN LEVVVINNNNEEEE HOW COULD YOU! I DIDN’T SEE ONE SINGLE BRAIN EXPOSED SPACE MONKEY THE ENTIRE TIME I PLAYED BIOSHOCK! AND YOU CALL YOUR CRAP GAME A SPIRITUAL SEQUEL! FIE, I SAY! FIE!

    Actually, I dunno. I haven’t played Bioshock. I’m just hopping on the bandwagon here.

    Oh, and what’s Shockshock about? I dunno.

  30. 04/08/2010 at 07:42 Sam Crisp says:

    Bioshock… 2?

  31. 04/08/2010 at 07:48 CyberBrent says:

    ShoeShock

  32. 04/08/2010 at 08:19 Tei says:

    Steampunk Medieval: King Arthur in SPAAACE.

    Merlin sends King Arthur to the future, only to ends in a post-apocalypsys landscape next to NEW VEGAS. King Arthur has to recreate the circle table and fight the neomutants that want to wype the land of humans. To do so, and using a old nuclear missile, he gets in space where he hijack a space station and hack into a computer network (using minigames) to shot at the neomutant base with a grid of X-Laser satellites.

    • 04/08/2010 at 08:33 Renzatic says:

      I would buy this game. Buy it with money.

    • 04/08/2010 at 10:16 Tei says:

      Snake Plissken: Escape from the Court of the King Arthur.

      After nuking the world in the medieval ages, Snake Plissken is teleported to the medieval ages, and captured by the pictus. Now he, and King Arthur (that has also ben captured by the canival pictus) has to escape caves infested by canivals and legendary beast to return to Camelot.

    • 04/08/2010 at 10:20 Tei says:

      ** SPOILERS **

      The game will end with King Arthur (that is a asshole) get eaten by a giant red snake (that he thinks is a dragoon), and Snake taking his gold hat, and stealing his identity.

    • 04/08/2010 at 20:18 Spinoza says:

      If Guinevere is in , I am in too

  33. 04/08/2010 at 08:30 Ragabhava says:

    Next week I will post an interesting comment about this.

  34. 04/08/2010 at 09:08 coldwave says:

    Shocking Shock

  35. 04/08/2010 at 09:50 Ian says:

    “Not sure why anyone bothered guessing though, when it’s quite clearly going to be a remake of Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude.”

    Walker would be enraged if somebody had the audacity to mess with his most favourite game.

  36. 04/08/2010 at 10:01 jon_hill987 says:

    Next week I am going to announce the date of a big announcement I am going to make where I will announce the date of an announcement..

  37. 04/08/2010 at 10:05 Number47 says:

    I am not enitrely sure what the game will be, but I am sure that it will have that same massmarket appeal (read console crowd pleasing) that Bioshock had and what made it, in my opinion an inferior game to System Shock 2. The reason Irrational made Bioshock more “accessible” and playable on consoles was to reach a wider audience, and with the financial success of Bioshock I doubt they will revert to System Shock 2 style of making games

    • 04/08/2010 at 11:32 Kommissar Nicko says:

      Shockshock will be the title where you, John Everyman, go to your job at the Minitrue and dumb down PC games for the console masses. One day, you decide that enough is enough, and begin to undo the damage that has been wrought (Shock 1). The ending will be ***SPOILERZ*** that the dumb is necessary, and no John, you are the dumb (Shock 2).

    • 04/08/2010 at 11:33 Kommissar Nicko says:

      Oh fie, that was supposed to be for Renzatic.

      I guess it’s tangentially related.

  38. 04/08/2010 at 10:05 jakobsbror says:

    I’m announcing that sometime soon I’ll say something interesting.

    me guessing a new mmorpg set in generic fantasy land. Medievalshock: Magicland.

  39. 04/08/2010 at 11:05 Diogo Ribeiro says:

    You know.

    Irrational said they’d premiere the trailer on the 12th of August.

    Konami said they’d have a launch party on the 12th of August, to celebrate Dance Dance Revolution coming to PS3.

    I don’t think it’s a coincidence.

  40. 04/08/2010 at 11:06 pierec says:

    Ultima Underworld 3!

  41. 04/08/2010 at 11:24 Slamelov says:

    Deep Cover?, the unfinished project from Looking Glass and Irrational Games in 2001?

  42. 04/08/2010 at 11:38 FF says:

    Personally I wouldn’t mind a graphically improved and a bit more sophisticated Freedom Force, either.

  43. 04/08/2010 at 11:40 terry says:

    They couldn’t tease me more if they posted an animated gif of Ken Levine’s coquettishly batting eyelids.

  44. 04/08/2010 at 11:55 Dawngreeter says:

    Shopping Cart Races with diplomacy mini-games based on marbles. Mark my words.

  45. 04/08/2010 at 12:17 MrTambourineMan says:

    If it’s Bioshock 3 I’m gonna get medieval on their asses!

  46. 04/08/2010 at 13:02 Slamelov says:

    EA owns the IP of the Ultima games.

  47. 04/08/2010 at 13:03 Hunam says:

    Back to the Futureshock.

  48. 04/08/2010 at 13:04 MadMatty says:

    you know im a great fan of System Shock 1 and Swat 3! – Bioshock? —pppprrrrrrrrrrffffffffffffffffffffff…. (Raspberry)

  49. 04/08/2010 at 13:23 Gumbomasta says:

    in an episode of “Irrational Interviews”, Levine mentions that he’s been doing a lot of work with “robots”. My guess is that it’s a more streamlined Mechwarrior-type game in a semi-open world with Irrational’s storytelling prowess.

  50. 04/08/2010 at 13:23 Ginger Yellow says:

    All you haters, just listen to the podcast. There are some pretty funny suggestions on there.

    In fact, you should be listening to Irrational Behaviour regularly anyway. It’s really well done (Shawn has clearly learned editing skills from Robert Ashley) and provides good insight into game development.

  51. 04/08/2010 at 13:34 Bluebreaker says:

    Shitshock, explore the lineal hallways of shitland.

  52. 04/08/2010 at 13:54 Tei says:

    “Tea Time”

    A game where two dogs drink tea. Microsoft will include the game in the next update for all versions of windows, so you can choose to play minesweeper, teatime or solitarie.

    It will quickly grow has the most played game EVER in the history of videogaming.

  53. 04/08/2010 at 14:44 rciton says:

    Wow, that’s obscure. As long as you can program data-eating worms and loose them upon the phone network, I’m in!

  54. 04/08/2010 at 18:16 bananaphone says:

    Suppose it’s too much to hope for another Tribes? I thought Vengeance was excellent, know the MP got some slagging but the single player campaign is a surprisingly fun sci-fi shooter.

  55. 04/08/2010 at 19:17 DaveyJones says:

    Irrational, would you kindly make a true rpg/fps hybrid based on the Bioshock mythos, set during the time when shit really started to hit the fan in Rapture? Bonus points for making it optionally open-ended.

  56. 05/08/2010 at 04:03 Trousers says:

    ^ lawls

    wait…I would buy that, like right now. You should work in games.

  57. 05/08/2010 at 04:05 Trousers says:

    ^ That was directed at the “Bioshock 5 : Moon” comment.

    erm. Toodles.

  58. 05/08/2010 at 12:02 c. todd [phylum sinter] says:

    I’m going to go with Boboshock – the first fully immersive Clowntown simulator. Feel the horror as a dystopian pastel circus world floods your psyche with confetti and creepily painted old men.

    Can you survive the surly taunts of the mysterious Bobodan?

Comment on this story

XHTML: Allowed code: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Respond to our gibber

Read our finest words

Telltale On ‘Weird’ Experiments, Revisiting Comedy

Search for clues

Play indie, mods, demos

Browse the archive