Games

Judas Could Make BioShock-Likes a Trendy New Subgenre

Published

4 weeks ago

October 28, 2024

Christoph Rediske

hope from judas in front of several instances

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

Judas by Ken Levine differs from BioShock at its core with new Narrative LEGO system & player agency.
Modern gaming has seen subgenres like Soulslike and Metroidvania emerge, but Judas could spark a new trend as a BioShock-like.
While Judas isn’t the first game resembling BioShock, it may solidify “BioShock-like” as an official subgenre under Ken Levine’s influence.

The categorization of Ken Levine’s Judas as a BioShock clone is currently largely based on assumptions, as its art style and apparent themes are really the only things justifying the label. Apart from that, nothing Levine has revealed so far is evidence that Judas is like BioShock at its core, especially given its new Narrative LEGO system and emphasis on player agency — which is nothing like what BioShock‘s linear structure allowed. Nevertheless, while the muscles that mobilize Judas might be distinct, its skin and bones undeniably bear a nigh-uncanny resemblance to BioShock, suggesting a new subgenre might be in order.

It’s not uncommon in modern gaming for new titles to evolve standard game genres into more complex versions of themselves. FromSoftware’s Souls formula, for instance, had such a massive impact on the action RPG genre that it inadvertently created the Soulslike subgenre as more and more games adopted the model. Metroidvania, on the other hand, is a hybrid subgenre consisting of Metroid and Castlevania-inspired elements where players gain new abilities to unlock previously inaccessible areas in a world of interconnected environments. Despite the success of these two subgenres, however, it might be time for them to step aside and make way for a new subgenre, as Judas looks primed to start a trend with BioShock-likes.

Judas Needs to Narrow Its Release Window Down Sooner Rather Than Later

Ken Levine’s Judas is running out of time to reveal a more concrete release window, so disclosing that sooner rather than later is probably best.

Judas Could Spark a Trendy New Subgenre

Judas Is Ken Levine’s First BioShock-like Since BioShock Itself

Despite Ken Levine being known for BioShock, Judas is the first BioShock-like he has developed since BioShock itself. Its art style and dystopian themes are so strikingly similar to BioShock that it has been accused of being little more than a BioShock clone. Despite these accusations, Judas has some unique features going for it, including its Narrative LEGO system and light roguelike elements, both of which Levine never incorporated into the first BioShock game. Nevertheless, as Levine is the creator of BioShock and now Judas, the two are bound to be similar to one another, especially in light of BioShock‘s influence on the gaming industry.

Judas Isn’t the First BioShock-like, But It Could Be the First of a New Subgenre

If all it takes for a game to be categorized as a BioShock-like is a similar art style, combat, and themes, then Judas is far from the first BioShock-like. Atomic Heart, for instance, is as BioShock as they come, with a dystopian setting and retro-futuristic aesthetics to boot. It’s also played in first-person, and players are given telekinetic and elemental skills that are highly reminiscent of BioShock‘s Plasmids. Other games like We Happy Few and Immortals of Aveum adopt the dystopian feel of BioShock and certain elements of its combat.

In short,
Judas
isn’t the first game like
BioShock
, but it may be the first to make ”
BioShock
-like” an official subgenre.

What might make Judas the game to finally make “BioShock-like” an official subgenre is the fact that it would be Ken Levine doubling down on the formula he established with the first BioShock in 2007 — a pattern that has been known to create subgenres in the past. Demon’s Souls, for example, may have been the first Soulslike game ever made, but it really wasn’t until the release of Dark Souls that the Soulslike formula was recognized as a subgenre instead. In the same way, since Judas is one of Ken Levine’s own creations, it could be the game that cements the BioShock-like formula as an official subgenre.

Only time will tell what level of impact Judas has on the gaming industry and whether it’s enough to influence future potential BioShock-likes. There have already been a few BioShock-like games intermittently scattered here and there, but it would be nice to see something other than Soulslikes and Metroidvanias dominating the subgenre space for a while, and BioShock‘s signature formula might be a refreshing change of pace for that.