With BioShock 2 just days away, we were thrilled when given the opportunity to participate in a conference call with various devs involved in making this return to Rapture the very best it can be. Among the most interesting information passed on to us were bits and pieces surrounding the Big Daddy and Little Sister relationships prevalent throughout both games. You may already be familiar with the mythos of Subject Delta or the abilities of the Little Sisters you can benefit from in the upcoming sequel, but the questions answered presented an entertaining glimpse into the mythos of this bizarre pairing. Come on, Mr. B! Let’s jump right into the questions.

Why are you playing as a Big Daddy this time and what is his purpose in BioShock 2?

Zak McClendon (Lead Designer, 2K Marin): Playing as a Big Daddy is actually one of the first things that we decided on with the project. The making of BioShock 2 was challenging. We were looking at ways that we could re-evaluate a lot of things about the game, and the change of the protagonist was one of the best looks into that. Knowing that you play as a Big Daddy, we got to re-examine how the weapons looked, how the character felt,how would the balance of combat be? I think it was a good way for us to bring a fresh perspective to all the gameplay of BioShock. Beyond that, it was something that was hugely requested back then by fans and people who played the first game. It was something you kind of got a glimpse of at the end of BioShock in a way that made people really want to have the drill, the rivet gun, and other cool things that you expected from BioShock. We wanted to deliver on that experience.

In terms of his purpose, Subject Delta is in search of his original Little Sister, so he has a much more personal situation and personal tie to Rapture itself.

On the Big Daddy, theme, how does this prototype differ from the one in the original BioShock?

Zak McClendon (Lead Designer, 2K Marin): The original Big Daddy – the Bouncer and Rosie – they are very slow, lumbering powerhouses, and for something the length of a single-player game, we knew that that level of power was really suggestive to people. We knew we couldn’t do another game where you were sort of trudging around at the slow, lumbering pace of those Big Daddy characters, so Subject Delta is a lot more agile than the classic Big Daddies. He obviously can use plasmids and a greater range of weapons, but the big difference of course is that he has free will and is able to make his own choices and his own moral choices as the story goes on as well.

What role do Little Sisters play in BioShock 2?

Jordan Thomas (Creative Director, 2K Marin): Little Sisters, beyond being pivotal for the plot of the game, your goal is to track down your original Little Sister. From a gameplay perspective, they both do what they did in BioShock — accompanying Big Daddies, going around and gathering from corpses — but they also supply one of the big new gameplay additions for BioShock 2, which is adoption. You’re a Big Daddy yourself, so when you fight another Big Daddy, you can actually adopt the Little Sister and form kind of a partnership. She’ll lead you to bodies around Rapture that have ADAM in them, and it becomes kind of an often dynamic scenario where you place her down on an ADAM-filled corpse and you have to protect her while she’s gathering. It leads to a different kind of gameplay dynamic, still very optional, just like the Big Daddy optional boss fights, these are optional, but they lead to a different, lateral-thinking with how you use your tools and your defenses. You can partner up with Little Sisters throughout the course of the game and build that Big Daddy/Little Sister relationship that we knew was part of the overall Big Daddy fantasy.

We know Big Daddies played a pivotal protecting role in the first game. What about the Big Sisters? Where were they in BioShock 1?

Jordan Thomas (Creative Director, 2K Marin): Big Sisters are actually grown-up Little Sisters. There are only a few Little Sisters in Rapture — only a few that escaped the great pull. Those who have grown up and become physically unstable. The ADAM that they have been injecting for years and years and years has begun to manifest. That’s really where they were. They were gathering from corpses.

—

Some intriguing insights from the devs themselves! Of course, this has only begun to whet our appetite for a second helping of Little Sister-laden goodness, and we know you’re chomping at the bit for more as well. Check out our upcoming primer for newcomers to the BioShock mythos, A Newcomer’s Guide to Rapture, and our full review of this long-anticipated sequel in the weeks to come.

—

Note: The staff of Spawn Kill is not responsible for these questions. Credit goes to the respective outlets who submitted them. Thanks for participating, guys!

Tags: Big Daddy, BioShock 2, Dev Team, Interview, Little Sister

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Interview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.