When it comes to world building and eye-catching environmental design, BioShock is one of the best, and both Rapture and Columbia are not only some of the most iconic settings in gaming but also ones players have long wanted to explore more of. While it seems that BioShock 4 isn't returning to Rapture or Columbia, it is promising to set the game in a more open world.
While not every game needs to be open world, BioShock has been flirting with this mechanic since the beginning. Rapture had long hallways and rooms to explore, and Columbia had an intricate sky-rail system to ride which gave the feeling of a world that could be freely explored - but both BioShock titles were deceptively linear, and many areas were locked until part of the story was completed.
BioShock Infinite in particular is guilty of this, even though its scope and level design would suggest otherwise. The city of Columbia is massive, layered, and connected by the aforementioned sky-rails which, at the start of the game, provides a feeling of freedom in exploration. The reality, though, is that every area is either a combat arena or a combination of single and multiple paths that ultimately lead to the same place, the main purpose of which is to keep players moving forward. Though this kind of design isn't bad by any means, it felt like it was holding BioShock Infinite back, but an open world setting for BioShock 4 would avoid Infinite's pitfall and let its rich settings and characters be fully realized.
BioShock Deserves An Open World Experience
Being open world doesn't mean being a big world, though. BioShock 4 shouldn't be like Assassin's Creed Valhalla or Breath of the Wild's open world, instead it should be something closer to the open world of Dishonored. Doing this not only provides players with endless ways to approach whatever situation is in front of them, but it does so in a carefully designed area that's free of bloat and empty space. Setting BioShock 4 in this kind of open world would also allow it to expand on the series' themes of anti-establishment, anarchism, and revolution in a way that feels visceral and consequential.
According to a recent job listing, developer Cloud Chamber is looking for a Videogame AI Programmer who can create an "urban crowd system and the systemic tribal ecology of a sometimes hostile AI." This kind of system would have been perfect for the Vox Populi in BioShock Infinite, a large group of rebellious, militarized citizens that didn't feel as large as it should have do to the small and largely empty world of Columbia. Should BioShock 4 have a group like this, or even bring Big Daddies and Little Sisters back, having the ability to include so many dynamic groups would not only make navigating the world feel fun and dangerous, but would help it feel more alive with random encounters and in-world rivalries.
There's so much potential in setting BioShock 4 in an open world, and is one of the few cases where it would make the story and gameplay even better. Since the beginning, BioShock's scope and ambition has been incredibly huge, and it's consistently come close to reaching its full potential but the limitations of Rapture and Columbia have held it back. Now, with the technology available to Cloud Chamber and the help of talented programmers, BioShock 4 has the chance to be one of the most memorable and dynamic open worlds in video games.