Judas was formally revealed during The Game Awards 2022 as the next game from BioShock creator Ken Levine and his studio, Ghost Story Games. Since then, the team has remained mostly silent, save for a gameplay trailer last year, on what it’s been up to with this sci-fi shooter (that looks a lot like BioShock). However, Levine took to the PlayStation Blog to share new details about the game’s Big 3, villainy system, and the Judas key art.
Taking inspiration from famed Star Wars poster illustrator Drew Struzan, the Judas key art features the protagonist up front and center, seemingly overshadowing what I think is a variant of her (presumably alluding to the way choices can affect the narrative of the game, though it could just be a totally different character), above the Big 3: Queen Nefertiti, Sheriff Tom Austin, and Hope Jimenez. Levine teases there’s more to glean from this key art, so I’ll leave you to it:
Alongside this key art, Levine has shared that Ghost Story Games has just finished a major milestone it calls “Villainy.” The director writes that villainy is a central feature of Judas, and that your actions will attract members of the Big 3 to you as friends, or turn them into foes. “When you play BioShock or BioShock Infinite, the villain is always going to be the villain,” Levine writes in the blog. “Fontaine, Comstock – they’re always going to be the bad guys. In Judas, your actions will attract members of the Big 3 to you as friends. But ignore one of them enough, and they become the villain. From there, they will get access to a new suite of powers to subvert your actions and goals.”
The included clip in the blog post shows a Rent-a-Deputy robotic horse, which can attack enemies for you once rented, turning against you at the hands of Big 3 member, Sheriff Tom Austin. Levine says this is just a small way a Big 3 friend-turned-foe can make your life on the Mayflower, the spaceship setting of Judas, harder.
In the blog, Levine continues, explaining Ghost Story Games wants players to get to know the Big 3 intimately, and wants losing one of them to feel like losing a friend. The Big 3 will be competing for your favor and attention through Judas – they can bribe you, save you in battle, badmouth the other two Big 3 members, and share with you their deepest secrets. But, as Levine points out, eventually, you have to decide who you trust and who you don’t… and that’s going to cause problems.
“In BioShock Infinite, there was a lot of energy invested into developing your relationship with Elizabeth,” Levine writes. “By the end of the game, you knew everything about her, her abilities, her hopes, and dreams. But the truth is she knew almost nothing about you, the gamer playing Booker. In Judas, the Big 3 observe you as you play, and they have feelings not only about how you approach combat, hacking, and crafting, but most importantly, your interactions with the other two characters.”
Unfortunately, today’s blog doesn’t include a release date or window for Judas as Ghost Story Games doesn’t want to say when its game will launch until it’s confident in a date it can hold. Considering Levine’s release track record, Judas could still be years away (but hopefully it isn’t).
In the meantime, watch the Judas reveal trailer, and then check out the Judas gameplay trailer shown last year. After that, read about what we want from BioShock 4, which isn’t being developed by Ken Levine but is in the works at newcomer studio Cloud Chamber.
What do you think of Judas’ Big 3 villainy system? Let us know in the comments below!