As rumors percolate for the long-anticipated BioShock 4, developer Cloud Chamber has a gigantic legacy to live up to. The BioShock games are still relevant nearly a decade later, with popular games from Atomic Heart to We Happy Few taking more than a few cues from the critically acclaimed FPS series. While this new studio aims to reinvigorate the franchise once again, other teams like Arkane Studios have continued to develop titles in the same genre that the original BioShock was inspired by - the immersive sim. Here, Cloud Chamber has a key opportunity to make BioShock 4 just as in-depth as Arkane's Prey, another sci-fi FPS rooted in this classic formula.
Although Prey is several years old at this point, it did benefit from being on newer systems than the last BioShock entry, BioShock Infinite. After a long series hiatus, Cloud Chamber would be wise to learn from other, newer games in the genre, especially seeing how much Arkane pushes its simulated worlds to their absolute limits. Like BioShock, Prey took place in an alt-history setting where dangerous, experimental substances fuel superhuman powers. Going beyond that premise, however, shows that Prey's gameplay could serve as an innovative model for a darker BioShock 4 storyline.
How Prey's Sci-Fi Horror Can Influence BioShock 4
A part of what made the original BioShock so immersive was its dark atmosphere. The Splicers, the mutant remnants of Rapture's people, were humans affected by ADAM - a deep sea substance used in the creation of gene-altering Plasmid serums. Throughout the first game, players discovered how Rapture unraveled as a society no longer constrained by ethics or law. Prey took a similar approach with alien Neuromods which granted powers comparable to the BioShock franchise's Plasmids, and both had stories that revolved around science gone wrong. In this regard, BioShock 4 has an opportunity to build upon its predecessors by invoking the sci-fi horror elements of Arkane's Prey.
With a sequel, Cloud Chamber can take elements like Plasmids and transpose them into other retro-futuristic settings, just as Prey did. Because the story of Rapture has already been told, the series will probably move on from those confined spaces. BioShock 4 is already rumored to be more expansive, so there is room for an interactive, technological setting that's yet to be realized. In fact, Arkane could inspire BioShock 4's open world if Prey's Talos 1 space station is anything to go by. Typhon mimics and phantoms blended with that environment almost seamlessly, delivering the kind of tension and foreboding that should be expected in a modern, action-oriented immersive sim.
Where BioShock 4 Could Fit Into the Immersive Sim Genre
Talos 1 was mostly devoid of friendly life forms, but it was engaging because it made players feel vulnerable through frightening Typhon encounters. Prey, for some players, really helped fill the void as the BioShock series went on hold. Now, BioShock 4 can make up for lost time by providing more opportunities for exploration, environmental puzzles, and physics-based objects that make its world feel tangible alongside whatever arsenal Cloud Chamber has planned. If BioShock 4 goes sci-fi, elemental Plasmid abilities could return whilst taking some hints from Prey's Typhon Powers as well.
One creative Typhon Power was Mimic Matter, an ability that let players inhabit or manipulate ordinary objects around Talos 1. While that power may seem useless on the surface, it allowed for unique and sometimes funny solutions to tough challenges. It goes to show that environmental details don't just have to be for show; in immersive sims, they can also be a part of gameplay. These kinds of titles are incredibly unique despite being associated with the FPS genre, and Arkane Studios' Prey might be the industry's stepping stone in realizing the full potential of a larger, or perhaps even more dynamic BioShock sequel.
BioShock 4 is in development.