WithBioShock 4launching the much-lauded franchise into the modern age, it will be vital that it expands and updates its core gameplay without losing what makes it so special. When it comes to combat,BioShock 4is in a unique position: theBioShockseries has had a massive influence on action-RPGs of the past 15 years, but the teacher may be able to learn from the students in some ways.
AlthoughAvowedis surrounded by some controversy, it shows a lot of promise as well, and is a clear inheritor ofBioShock’s varied, expressive gameplay. Much like in theBioShocktrilogy,Avowedwill allow players to customize their fighting style with an assortment of distinct weapons and abilities, with dual-wielding playing a key role. Melee weapons, firearms, and magic can all be combined to great effect inAvowed, and experimenting with different offensive and defensive combinations promises to open doors to fresh and exciting opportunities. Games likeBioShock 2represent the gold standard for this sort of synergy-focused combat, butAvowedhas some unique spins of its own that could benefit a futureBioShocktitle.
Avowed’s Loadout System Could Work Wonders in BioShock 4
Loadouts Give Avowed’s Combat Additional Depth and Variety
Early looks atAvowed’s combat systemreveal its emphasis on flexibility and unique weapon combinations, with players able to dual-wield various melee weapons, guns, and magical tools like wands. This sort of dual-wield mix-and-matching isn’t exactly novel in the world of action-RPGs, but what is unique isAvowed’s loadout mechanic: players can customize a handful of gear presets and switch between them on the fly, meaning that one could dual-wield pistols at mid-range before swapping to a heavy two-handed weapon upon closing the distance between them and the enemy.
There’s a lot of powerful potential within this feature.Individually,Avowed’s combat playstylesaren’t incredibly unique — ranged, magic, and melee builds are essentially the holy trinity of fantasy RPGs — but being able to swap between these playstyles at will means that players can invent entirely new approaches to fights. The possibilities for a ranger-mage, or a heavy-ranger, are considerably greater thanks to loadouts, and even if the mechanic winds up being poorly executed, its framework ought to be applied to other games, likeBioShock 4.
A BioShock Game Could Make Great Use of Avowed’s Loadout System
Assuming thatBioShock 4maintains the traditions of its predecessors, players can expect to wield various spells, guns, and perhaps the occasional melee weapon. Mixing inAvowed’s loadout mechanic, however, would allow for far greater flexibility and, by extension, strategic depth in combat encounters.
This would be buttressed ifBioShock 4were to allow for a more articulated weapon and magic system, letting players dual-wield guns, melee weapons, and plasmids (or whateverBioShock 4calls its version of quasi-magic powers). For instance, players could dual-wield status-effect plasmids at the start of enemy encounters, sacrificing the stopping power of guns for stackable, sustained damage, before swapping to akimbo firearms for a heavier short-term damage output. Considering how well previousBioShockgames leveraged unique weapon-plasmid combinations, the potential latent in these sorts of tweaks is dizzying.
Even ifBioShock 4doesn’t copyAvowed’s loadout mechanic verbatim, it may still benefit from borrowing a few of its elements. A more traditional loadout feature, for example, would be a solid quality-of-life feature, especially ifBioShock 4offers a significantly wider variety of weapons and powers. Ultimately, a lot of this depends on how muchBioShock 4builds on what came before it, as fundamental changes to gameplay or progression could either make anAvowed-style loadout system more effective, or less so.
