Multiplayer in BioShock 2 will provide a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction. Set during the fall of Rapture, players assume the role of a Plasmid test subject for Sinclair Solutions, a premier provider of Plasmids and Tonics in the underwater city of Rapture that was first explored in the original BioShock. Players will need to use all the elements of the BioShock toolset to survive, as the full depth of the BioShock experience is refined and transformed into a unique multiplayer experience that can only be found in Rapture.

WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank and occupation!

I'm Allen Goode, and I'm systems designer with Digital Extremes on BioShock 2 multiplayer.

WP: How did Digital Extremes come to work with 2K Marin on the multiplayer component of BioShock 2? You've done first-person shooters before, with the most recent being Dark Sector, but when did BioShock 2 fall into play?

AG: It was sometime around the end of Dark Sector, where we were actually contacted by 2K to work on the PS3 port of BioShock 1. That's how our relationship first developed, and them knowing that we have experience in the multiplayer space and we kind of know our way around that and they can trust what we can do with a multiplayer game and with the BioShock license, it just kind of worked out based on that original relationship.

WP: Given that the original game was so focused on single-player, and even with the second game, single-player is the primary core, how much of a challenge was it to try and integrate multiplayer gameplay into that? Were you trying to strive for full integration with the theme, or was there talk of a standalone multiplayer that doesn't tie in at all?

AG: It didn't really make sense to make a standalone multiplayer simply because the biggest character in BioShock is Rapture. The biggest challenge would have been to figure out the best timeframe in order for our multiplayer to take place. We knew what they were doing at 2K Marin, and we saw what they did with the first BioShock game. Taking all of this kind of story that they've told over the 10-year gap, we looked to see if there was anything we could really use to have a multiplayer that would make sense. What we discovered was that the perfect place for multiplayer would have been within the Rapture Civil War, which happened previous to the experience of BioShock 1. It made sense from that perspective. Sure, the first BioShock didn't have multiplayer, but there was so much potential with the way they used their weapons, plasmids and tonics. With the combinations, it just made sense to us.

WP: If you're looking at the timeframe before the Rapture Civil War, how do you reconcile that with plasmids that might be available in multiplayer but weren't available in the first game, which happened later?

AG: That's a really good question which actually gave us a lot of freedom as well. This is going to be true of our weapons and tonics as well. A lot of them will seem familiar, but they're actually what we like to call prototypes. All the plasmids and tonics and weapons that you actually play with in multiplayer are early versions of all the tonics and plasmids that you'd experience in BioShock 1. They're similar, but they're a little less tested. The whole idea is that you're in a program to test out these plasmids that will be used later on. For instance, in the first BioShock, you got to play with a plasmid that was called Bee Swarm. In the BioShock 2 multiplayer, you don't get Bee Swarm. You get something that's called Insect Swarm eventually, as you unlock it. It actually works differently from what you got to experience in BioShock 1. This is predating all those interesting mechanics that you got to play in the first game. It was very cool.

WP: What about the balance challenges? Going back and forth, each team gets a chance to play the Big Daddy.  When you're playing multiplayer matches, sometimes the Big Daddy suit just appears. It's very overpowered and stronger, health-wise, when compared to the other players. In a lot of multiplayer games, the stronger you get, the weaker you are, but here, you guys didn't go that route. What challenges were there in making sure that the player didn't dominate because he was the Big Daddy?

AG: It required a lot of tuning. It's funny because the expectation or fantasy when you put on the Big Daddy suit is that you're a big, lumbering, powerful man, like a creature. You are beyond everybody else. No Splicer should really be able to mess with you one-on-one. What we did is we found ways to balance it out. Regular Splicers who are running around will regenerate their health over time. Big Daddy does not have that ability whatsoever. Once your armor is destroyed, you're done. We also limit the ammo that you have. You have unlimited ammo, but as you use it or deplete it, it'll actually overheat you, and all of a sudden, for several seconds, you won't be able to use it anymore. They're also not as fast. So there were all these ways that we were able to bring him back a few steps, and depending on how intelligently you play or which plasmids and tonics you decide to load up with, you can benefit yourself as well. There are strategies to take out the Big Daddy faster than usual.

WP: Speaking of loadouts, we noticed that you can customize up to three different preset loadouts. How do you swap them in the game?

AG: If you choose to do it, swapping loadouts is only possible after a death. Otherwise, you continue with the loadout that you have. What those loadouts contain or what you decide to put in them, that has to happen outside of the game. You can go to your apartment or pre-game lobby, and you can adjust what aspects of certain plasmids or tonics that you want to take in with you. It's all controlled outside of the game for actually creating your loadouts, but in the game, you'll have the option of playing with one of the three that you have created.

WP: Multiplayer has its own level-up and unlock system. How does it work? Are there certain tasks? As we were playing, we noticed some text pop up that said, "1 of 5 completed," "2 of 5 completed," etc. How does it all come into play?

AG: We have a trial system, so what happens is that there are a lot of really cool things that you can do with the majority of the plasmids and tonics when it comes to combinations, but we don't specifically point them out in a hint form or something like that. What we do is put them in these trials. Throwing down a geyser trap and then electrocuting that geyser trap with your plasmids — by actually hurting or killing people with that, you will progress in a trial. In the trial description itself, we give you little hints of interesting combinations that you can pull off and gain more ADAM. ADAM's what you're talking about; the more ADAM I gain by playing the game — it is experiential-based, so the more I play, the more I get — but there are little things I can do to also give me an extra boost on the ADAM in order to rank up and unlock new weapons and new tonics, new trials, and so on.

WP: Again, as a balancing issue, how are you doing matchmaking to prevent a new player from coming in and just getting dominated because he doesn't have the advanced plasmids, tonics or weapons?

AG: We rate skill, and when I say "skill," I don't necessarily mean the rank you see as a player. As you progress and gain ADAM, you'll gain rank and you'll see a little number beside your name. That number is more representative of your experience level or how much you've played over time but not necessarily your skill. Behind the scenes, we have another number that is what your actual skill ranking would be as a player. If I'm a new player, I'd obviously be ranked zero. It would have a hard time determining who to put me up against, aside from other zeroes. Preferably, the system will try to match you with players who have a similar skill level, rather than an experience level.

WP: Aside from the individual control aspects, are there any major differences between the three different platforms?

AG: It's 100 percent the same. There aren't different unlocks or anything like that. I don't know what I can say about the PC version.

WP: Is multiplayer specific to only the console?

AG: No, there is multiplayer on the PC version. I don't know what I can say because I don't want to get in trouble, but I will say that the PC version is in 3-D. If you have the glasses and all the tech, you can put it on and see it in 3-D. That would be the only difference between all three platforms.

WP: Will you support cross-platform multiplayer, so that someone on Games for Windows Live can play against someone on Xbox Live, for example?

AG: No, nothing crazy. Nothing that would make owning it on a particular platform more valuable or anything like that.

WP: If you had to sum it up in two to three sentences, what is really going to make the multiplayer aspect of BioShock 2 worth playing?

AG: It's really about the amount of customization. We are really completely different when you think about what we offer in the playing options. Yes, we do support weapons, and all multiplayer shooters will have that, but it's the combinations of those and what you can do with plasmids and tonics and whatnot that make it really special.

WP: Is there anything about the game that we haven't talked about that you wanted to add?

AG: Pick up the game!  I know that everyone is really going to enjoy it.