After almost a decade of silence, Ken Levine - one of the primary creative minds behind the belovedBioShockseries - reared his head once more, debuting the first trailer ofJudas. Announced in December 2022,Judasis a first-person shooter with a heavy emphasis on Sci-Fi imagery and themes, and the first game fromKen Levine’s studio, Ghost Story Games.
Based on the few trailers released so far, it’s clear thatJudasis setting itself up to be a spiritual successor of sorts to theBioShockseries. From similar Sci-Fi, retrofuturistic imagery to gameplay that sees players wielding mysterious powers in one hand and a gun in the other,Judas' comparisons toBioShockhave only just begun. With a fourthBioShockentry also in development right now, the industry might have anotherDead SpaceandCallisto Protocolcase on its hands.
After heading up development ontheLegacy of Kainseriesat Crystal Dynamics, video game developer Glen Schofield moved over to EA’s Redwood Studios, where he would work as the General Manager on a handful ofLord of the Ringstitles and theJames Bondgame007: From Russia with Love. Seeking to create a game that merges survival horror with Sci-Fi, Schofield, along with the rest of EA Redwood Studios, created 2008’sDead Space.
After creating and then subsequently leaving Sledgehammer Games, Schofield joined publisher Krafton, where he made another video game studio, Striking Distance. Here, Schofield set about creating his own spiritual successor totheDead Spaceseries, and in 2022, that game was released. TitledThe Callisto Protocol, this Sci-Fi survival horror game wore its influences on its sleeve, featuring a wealth of similarities with theDead Spaceseries, from a similar Sci-Fi horror atmosphere and setting to similar gameplay mechanics.
Unfortunately, upon its December 2022 release date,The Callisto Protocolwas met with some pretty unfavorable reviews, and it definitely didn’t help matters thatEA’sDead Space Remakewas set to launch just a month later. With both games being so similar and releasing so close to one another, comparisons were only natural and that seems to have only harmed both titles.Dead Space Remakeearned a much better critical reception, but its sales reportedly weren’t as high as EA was hoping for. Hopes of a new game or a second remake were seemingly dashed, whileThe Callisto Protocolcouldn’t quite get off the ground either.
History Could Repeat Itself with Judas and BioShock 4
Just over a year later, it seems as though a similar predicament could be on the horizon.Judasis bringing plenty of its own unique features to the table, but it stillshares a lot of DNA with theBioShockfranchise. That’s bound to clash with the in-developmentBioShock 4. It remains to be seen if they release in close proximity or are as similar on the surface, but a franchise getting a new title and a spiritual successor in close proximity didn’t work out well forDead SpaceandCallisto. Hopefully, that’s not the case forJudas and BioShock 4.
ThoughBioShock 4is still awaiting a full reveal, that’s likely to happen relatively soon. When it does, comparisons between it andJudasare going to be rampant, but each title deserves its own time in the spotlight.
Judas
WHERE TO PLAY
Judas is a sci-fi first-person shooter game made by BioShock creator Ken Levine that’s set on a massive spaceship called the Mayflower.
