In a day and age of dumbed-down gaming experiences focused on the casual consumer, there's no doubting that the "hardcore" or more traditional gamers out there might feel slightly discouraged by the influx of "accessible" titles we've seen over the past several years. Well, hardcore gamers, I've got some good news for you today as 2K Games announced that the already awesome looking
BioShock Infinite from Irrational Games will feature a new form of play- the 1999 Mode, which is described as being designed to "challenge players in a variety of ways – each requiring substantial commitment and skill development."
Nice.
Here's an official description of the mode:
1999 Mode is a way of playing designed for gamers who long for the days of games that demanded more of the player. It will include tweaks and features that BioShock fans will not experience in a standard play-through of BioShock Infinite, no matter the difficulty level.
In addition to these permanent decisions, 1999 Mode will feature demanding weapon, power, and health management. The mode also takes a much harder stand on player respawning, sending the gamer directly to a “Game Over” screen if he or she lacks the resources to be brought back to life. It’s not for the faint of heart.
“We want to give our oldest and most committed fans an option to go back to our roots,” said Ken Levine, Creative Director of Irrational Games. “In 1999 Mode, gamers face more of the permanent consequences of their gameplay decisions. In BioShock Infinite, gamers will have to sweat out the results of their actions. In addition, 1999 Mode will demand that players pick specializations, and focus on them.
“I’m an old school gamer. We wanted to make sure we were taking into account the play styles of gamers like me. So we went straight to the horse’s mouth by asking them, on our website, a series of questions about how they play our games. 94.6 percent of respondents indicated that upgrade choices enhanced their BioShock gameplay experience; however, 56.8 percent indicated that being required to make permanent decisions about their character would have made the game even better.”
So, what do you think about this new mode? Are you hardcore enough to give it a try? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments section below and in the meantime, hit up the
official BioShock Infinite page here on GT as we await details of the game's launch date on the PS3, 360, and PC (at which point we'll party like it's 1999…).
UPDATE: We just got our hands on the below 1999 Mode-inspired image of Elizabeth and thought you'd like to check it out. What do you think???
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BioShock Infinite
When not maintaining his mane, Daniel Kayser is an on-air host, writer, producer, social media director and do-gooder for GameTrailers. He is also a lead leader on Side Mission who is responsible for contributing news, features, and motivational speeches. You can follow him @danielkayser or get the "full experience" at danielkayser.net.
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