A Newly Found Interview with Ken Levine

March 25th 2009 Transcript of an unpublished interview undertaken with Ken Levine and journalist Joshua Matthews. Ken is represented with K and Joshua is represented with J.
[J] Hiya Ken, thanks for coming around to speak with us.
[K] No problem at all, any questions that need answering I'll be more than happy to oblige.
[J] Great to hear, great to hear. For starters, there seems to be an interesting website that's taken people's interest, There's Something in the Sea? Can you give any insight into that or...
[K] [chuckles to himself] Well for the sake of not spoiling anything, all that I'm able to say is that I hope people enjoy the story that's there.
[J] Right right, I understand. Okay how about a question for Bioshock specifically. What led to the creation of that after your involvement with System Shock 2?
[K] Well as a general clarification, I think it's fair to state that after System Shock 2 we didn't immediately start work on Bioshock. First came other games such as Freedom Force, Tribes: Vengeance and games we were unable to release due to a variety of reasons. After working on those kinds of games, I wanted to go back to the gameplay style of System Shock 2, to focus on a strong narrative and freeform gameplay.
[J] What was the initial pitch for Bioshock?
[K] It was born out of a core gameplay mechanic that was represented with three groups: drones that carry something the player wants, protectors that guard the drones and harvesters that want the thing the drones have. We went through a couple of general story ideas before a day where I was in New York City. I was passing by the Rockefeller Center when I sort of...looked at the general art deco style, especially with the statue of Atlas that was close by. It struck me that something of that style had not been seen in video games before. I did my research into the subject and found that the centre was being constructed before the Great Depression and once that had begun and the primary investors backed away, the man leading the development of the centre, John D. Rockefeller Jr., backed the rest of the project all by himself. The determination to create an architectural triumph against all odds was what led to history of what would be Rapture, along with the character of Andrew Ryan. The general setting was in place but that chance passing by of the Rockefeller Centre was the principal idea of what would make Bioshock.
[J] Interesting...well going off from that, were there any changes from the initial pitch of Bioshock to the full release?
[K] There were plenty of changes, starting with our first game pitch back in 2002. Instead of a city below water it was a space station overrun with some genetically mutated creatures, and the protagonist would be someone rescuing and attempting to "deprogam" a person from a cult. Then it became a World War 2 Nazi laboratory that was unearthed in the 21st century, with abandoned genetic experiments that had formed an ecosystem based on the three groups. Thanks to dissatisfaction with those ideas and that visit in New York, we got the game we were looking for.
[J] "Genetics" seems to be something you held onto throughout the entirety of development, from my understanding, especially with the enemies. From what I've played and remembered, the enemies don't really say "genetically mutated" as much as they just seem to be driven insane from ADAM usage. What changed from then to now?

[K] [pause]...The term for these types of enemies, the "splicers"...they had a more literal meaning during early development.
[J] As in...
[K] Yes, as in thier genes had been spliced together with the DNA with another creature. We mostly focused on aquatic creatures such as jellyfish or electric eels but we also sometimes delved into somethings such as insects. People spliced with crabs lost their arms and grew crab claws along with having their eyes come out of their sockets. People spliced with jellyfish had their skin become translucent and slough off of their bodies, developing varicose veins all over the sticky skin. And there were splicers that had their genome degraded and abused to such a degree that all traces of humanity had been lost. One of those splicers was based on Isopods, where nothing of the original body remained except for the skull which kept the eyeballs intact. Everything else was taken up with elements from Isopods including a hard shell, claw-like legs and sharp teeth to eviscerate prey.
[J] Well...[coughs]...what caused the change from those kinds of enemies to the ones seen in Bioshock?
[K] It mostly stemmed from the feeling that the player wouldn't be able to sympathise with these enemies. With the splicers you know now, these were regular people that succumbed to addiction and held captive by a man who couldn't let his greatest dream become a failure. With the splicers back then...it may have given off the impression these people had willingly given up themselves to become monsters.
[J] Would the early versions of these enemies have done that?
[K] Perhaps a few of them.
[J] Right, right. Is there any references for these early splicers in the final game or no?
[K] Nothing that is kept within the game no. There are some types of enemies that retained some elements but they never went any further than concept art and mock-up models that weren't rigged.
[J] Would you have made a reference to those enemies if you had the time?
[K] Well...may I say something "off the cuff" as it were?
[J] If you wish to, sure.
[K] There were concepts of including an easter egg the player could find.
[J] An easter egg?
[K] Nothing too major, just a small seed to plant in case we wanted to expand upon it in a possible sequel.
[J] What made it be removed?
[K] Too graphic to be included.
[J] Too graphic? It's an 18 rated game, how could it have been too-
[K] Can we talk about something else?
[J] It's fine, we're off the cuff remember?
[K] I know but...alright fine.

[K] ADAM is a resource gathered from sea slugs, small blobby creatures that don't really pose much of a risk to any would-be predators. Now within a late game area, Point Prometheus, there would be a condoned area that would be unable to open unless the player used a grenade to open it. Within the area would be a corpse on a table and a pile of corpses to the side of it. The pile of corpses would be in various states of decomposition and...[pause]...excuse me. They would be in various states of being a sea slug like creature. Some were missing parts of their faces, others weren't. Some had lost their limbs which had been replaced with antennae, others weren't. Some were still alive and groaning in pain... others weren't. The corpse on the table was a woman who had been fully spliced into becoming a sea slug. It was imperfect, as would be expected. Her eyes had become deeply embedded and compressed within her skin which had become translucent, letting the player see eyes the size of plates within her. She would've been blind of course but whoever had made her within this world, it wasn't their intention to let her see. She would've had a large and open wound on her skull, exposing the brain. Given a mercy kill by whoever still had sanity. An audiotape by the side would've introduced the player to someone who worked under Yi Suchong. Understanding how plasmids worked and how they changed the body, this unnamed scientist would aim to completely restructure the human being into something else entirely. At first dissatisfied with the only things he were able to create were sea slugs, once he had gotten a successful creation out of a woman he...found other uses for her.
[long pause]
There was some concept art and a script I had written but the rest of the team refused to let us add that into the game. They were certainly right to do so.
[J] I'm sorry this had to be brought up Ken.
[K] It's fine, it's...alright. Just didn't think I needed to bring up some bad memories, is all. I think I'll be taking my leave now.
[J] We still have 20 minutes left.
[K] I understand but I can't. Just need some time to myself is all, I'll call you back if I can find the time to do another interview.

Two days after the interview was conducted, Ken Levine's legal team contacted the Mr. Matthews and requested that his interview with Mr. Levine should go unpublished. After a considerable back and forth, Mr. Matthews agreed to keep the interview away from the public eye. The release of this interview comes from an anonymous source who claims to be close to the journalist who wished to keep his identity hidden out of concern for his wellbeing and financial future.