Ken Levine’s next game is first-person, sci-fi

Ken Levine shared new details about his  upcoming game on Twitter. 

The game will likely be first-person with a sci-fi-ish future (not in an existing universe) setting and player-customized character. It will be a small-ish open-world RPG (“but not necessarily outdoors”) with a quest-based structure coming from a “passion system.” It likely won’t cover anything in the quantum mechanics space.

Development-wise, the game currently has some stuff in engine with very rudimentary gameplay. Development started with narrative systems, but the team is now onto gameplay and actual narrative. Asked if the story would be told Telltale Games-style, Levine said “no.” It’s very much about the smaller interactions, and how they mesh in a larger whole, he said. There will be AI, but with a “very different” approach from BioShock Infinite‘s Elizabeth. In the long run, Levine hopes the game will have a replayable narrative that can be added “in to” like a Civilization expansion (as opposed to ‘added on to’ like BioShock Infinite‘s Burial at Sea add-ons).

A couple of movies inspired the project, specifically the formalism from Kubrick and Wes Anderson.

As far as platforms, the game is being currently being developed for PC.

Other random tidbits from Levine’s Twitter:

• There isn’t a lighthouse.
• There might be vampires.
• Freedom Force is still in the ‘back of Levine’s pocket.’

Levine will have “a panel or two” at PAX East in March, so it’s possible we’ll hear more there. At least, we know we won’t see a reveal at an E3-style event.