The idea that games should center "player choice" and react meaningfully to our decisions is repeated so often it's become a cliche, and BioShock creator Ken Levine has been a leading figure in that department—his games are all about moral decisions and meta-commentary on free will and game design. In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz about the state of the industry and his upcoming game, Judas, the director revived the topic, but he hasn't given us the stock 'your choices matter' marketing promise here, admitting that choice continues to be a "hard problem" to solve even after 50 years of videogames.
"It's very easy to show a player a story. The harder part is to get them to participate in it and react to how they participate," Levine said. "I don't think there's one way to make games, but personally, as a narrative games maker, I've never been a big fan of cutscenes because they're not interactive. One of the reasons Judas is taking so long is trying to figure out how we get the game to be substantially more responsive to player decisions. That's a really hard problem, and that's why you don't see a ton of it."
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