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Andrew Ryan chose to build the impossible, but it was Ken Levine who decided to rebuild it. He chose Rapture. Again. A city where the artist would not fear the polygon count; where the programmer would not be bound by primitive Unreal shaders, Where great ambition would not be constrained by the limited expectations of DLC! With the sweat of Irrational's brow, Rapture is reborn as it was always meant to be - an objectivist utopia without equal, with a little film noir spice sprinkled on the top for good measure."Noir's always been an influence in BioShock, so we decided, f**k it, let's just go whole hog," Levine told me, mid-way through playing what's likely to be our penultimate trip to Rapture - the first episode of Burial At Sea, in which Booker's private detective agency gets relocated to the bottom of the Atlantic, a femme fatale version of Elizabeth discovers a new love of elegantly held cigarettes, and the connection between Rapture and Columbia is explored. "During Infinite, people asked if there'd be Rapture Easter Eggs, and that was a difficult question to answer. Not exactly, but that scene was a smack in the face that made you understand the whole universe."
Returning to Rapture with Infinite level technology is a tempting proposition, though definitely a risky one. After all, one of BioShock 2's biggest struggles was convincing players who thought Rapture was done and dusted, especially with Infinite's announcement being exciting primarily for offering somewhere brand new to explore. For Levine though, the narrative potential makes taking one more trip worth the risk - its altered perspective making for a very different story, and a natural continuation of Infinite's unbroken circle. "I think BioShock is the story of Rapture, and Infinite the story of Elizabeth and Booker set against Columbia," he explains. "Here, it's them set against Rapture."
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