It’s not quite Bioshock 4, but Ken Levine is back with Judas and I am insanely hyped for this! His new studio, Ghost Story Games, stayed silent on what it was working on since officially forming in February 2017 (with roots going all the way back to February 2014).
But the team broke cover at The Game Awards 2022, nearly nine years later, with an incredible trailer featuring in-game engine footage and little glimpses of gameplay. Set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, this is the next sci-fi FPS epic from the mind behind Bioshock.
On first impressions, it would be fair to say that’s all we know. However, let’s stick a tin foil hat on, channel our inner Pepe Silvia, and look at the little breadcrumbs of information we got in the trailer and over the years.
Judas release date
Currently, Judas does not have a release date — showing only as “coming soon” on the game’s Steam page. However, I’m willing to put money on a late 2023 launch window.
Why? Well, after the trailer was shown, Geoff Keighley went on to say he had played “multiple hours” of the game (confirming all the footage was in-game). Every word of what he says during the awards is heavily scripted, and these words are deliberate in giving you the impression that the game is closer than you think.
Not to the point that we’ll see it any time soon, but I would not be surprised if we saw Judas gameplay at Summer Games Fest (or an equivalent E3 event) with a release date.
Judas story
Again, details are thin on the ground. Head on over to the Steam page again, and you’ve got the following in the About section.
“A disintegrating starship. A desperate escape plan.
You are the mysterious and troubled Judas. Your only hope for survival is to make or break alliances with your worst enemies. Will you work together to fix what you broke – or will you leave it to burn?”
Let’s take a step back in time, all the way back to the 2014 Game Developers Conference, which Ken spoke at following the restructuring of Irrational Games into what will eventually become Ghost Story Games.
He came to the show with a big idea that he wanted to explore in his next games, simply named “narrative Legos.” Simply put, a non-linear narrative with bricks of story that you put together yourself and watch how the world reacts to it. He expanded upon that by discussing more of how the game’s narrative will evolve around your actions during EGX Rezzed in March 2017, where he said the form is inspired by the Nemesis System in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
You can read more about how that works over on our sister site, GamesRadar, but to sum it up, it analyzes your actions in the game to generate some highly personal storylines around key characters, all within the larger narrative being told to you (which he called “radical recognition”). It’s fascinating, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy to try it out for yourself.
With that in mind, you can connect that back to the story here of whether you align with or destroy the enemies you are on this starship with. This opens up a fascinating world of potential diplomacy, and presents the potential of many more endings than the few finales you got at the end of Bioshock, for example.
Judas gameplay
From what we saw in the trailer, I’m expecting Bioshock on steroids, and the Steam page About section sort of confirms that, too:
“Judas is a narrative FPS developed by Ghost Story Games, a studio led by Ken Levine, Director of System Shock 2, BioShock, and BioShock Infinite.”
If you’ve played a Ken Levine game before, chances are this will feel familiar to you — a range of weapons in your right hand, and Plasmid-esque power-ups and weapons fired out of some sort of mechanical element that is embedded in your left hand.
Of course, the option to align with certain key characters throughout the game gives you an accomplice in some of this action, as was suggested by the fact someone jumped on a turret and helped you take out an enemy.
Outlook
Much like the incredible Death Stranding 2 trailer, this Judas preview asked a lot more questions than it answered about the world, the gameplay, and the story. But with a little historical context and some educated guesswork, we can parse some more information about when we may get our hands on it.
Of course, take my release date bet with a pinch of salt, and wait for the official announcement for confirmation. Either way, I’m so insanely excited for Ken Levine’s next epic, and you should be, too!
