We've been waiting a long, long time to see what's next from Ken Levine – best known as the lead dev on BioShock and BioShock Infinite – and it seems the wait for Judas was driven in part by a lengthy R&D phase. The goal? Making sure the game's characters will respond to every action you take, no matter how trivial.

"It's our first game where you truly inhabit a character in a way you didn't in… say BioShock," Levine says in an interview with Game Informer. "When we began, we didn't want to just make a first-person shooter. We wanted to make a Judas simulator where you not only get to decide how she proceeds through the story, but also who you should trust and how you should deal with the consequences of your choices."

While BioShock offered plenty of freedom within the confines of its open-ended levels, its actual narrative is pretty straightforward, and these days, its moral choices seem more like an example of just how limited free will in a video game can be. Of course, BioShock's big twist throws a lampshade on that whole idea fairly effectively, but Judas is still pursuing a much more ambitious idea.

"The most important thing is really placing the player inside the character and letting them feel a little bit of what it's like to be on that ship as the sun is setting on the human race," Levine continues. "In addition, what sets it apart from other games is the way we're building it (and the reason we spent five years in just R&D). We wanted the characters to not only respond to major choices, but to also recognize and respond to your sequence of actions, down to the smallest details."

We've only gotten fleeting glimpses at what this idea might look like in practice, but clearly Levine believes in it. He presented the idea of "narrative Lego" over a decade ago – the notion of story pieces in a game that can be broken apart and rearranged in ways that still make sense. More recently (as in 2024), he described Judas as a "psuedo-procedural" take on single-player narrative games.

Judas doesn't have a release date yet, but Levine points fans eager to learn more toward the dev blogs on the official site. "We've got two of them up so far, with more from us to share coming soon. Then, as we approach launch," (whenever that might be), "you can expect trailers among other announcements."

Bioshock creator Ken Levine's new narrative FPS Judas was shaped by a "stream of consciousness" where an anti-social character prefers vending machines to people: "Conversation is a prelude to failure."

Highguard's gone from one controversy to another since its announcement at The Game Awards, from its awkward reveal to the developers being weirdly silent until launch. A not-insignificant number of people immediately wrote it off, calling it dead on arrival—the next Concord, if you will.

Unsurprisingly, this, frankly, unjustified hatred of the very concept of Highguard being a game that exists has gone on to plague its launch. Despite pulling in nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch, it's currently sitting at an incredibly low 33% 'mostly negative' reviews. If you've ever played a truly terrible game, a real 33%, then you'd know Highguard is far from that.

I can understand why people have been so quick to judge—Highguard is an awkward hodgepodge of genres that was poorly unveiled, and a sharp departure from the developer's penchant for movement shooters. I, for one, wish he had a spiritual successor to Titanfall, and Highguard isn't that. However, Highguard deserves its fair shot for its own merits.

Its genre fusion isn't slick, but it is interesting; I can't say I've ever played anything like Highguard before, even if all the bricks are inspired by other games. Are we really hating on Highguard for being a generic copy-paste that's not trying anything new? If so, how come recent hits like Marvel Rivals and even Arc Raiders, to an extent, haven't faced similar criticism? I love these games, but let's not pretend they've reinvented the wheel any more than Highguard.

By marking Highguard as dead on arrival and review-bombing that into reality, yes, Wildlight's pet project will inevitably die, even if the developer claims it doesn't need "super huge" player counts to be successful. And chances are, it'll be a long time until we see someone else come along and attempt weird genre fusions like Highguard again, for fear of risky, new projects being handed a death sentence before being given a fair shot. Don't forget that the current climate is already stacked against new ventures.

With time, I'm hopeful Highguard's performance issues can be fixed, more content can be added, and potentially even more impactful changes to its core gameplay—I'd like larger teams and better looting, for example.

As it stands, it's far from perfect, but sacrificing it for fun isn't helping anyone and removes the opportunity for Highguard to build on its foundations. Sure, you might not like it now (that's fine, I don't even love it), but maybe you would later down the line in a potential future. Voice valid criticism, and let things play out whether you love it or hate it, but review-bombing sends a bad message to the industry that will backfire for everyone.

I'm currently maxing out the amount of Fallout I can squeeze into everyday life. With the ongoing second season of the TV show, a replay of Fallout: New Vegas, and the usual pitstops in Fallout 76, I see VATS every time I close my eyes.

But that's probably pretty common for fans right now, especially for those enjoying the second season so much they want nothing more than to experience it for themselves. And while New Vegas obviously has the most accurate in-game locations, Fallout 76 also has some excellent nods to the show with the latest Burning Springs update.

The Burning Springs update opened up a whole new area of the map, introducing players to the sandy wasteland of Ohio. There's the Rust King's domain, the odd, deteriorating traveller hub, and even some giant plastic dinosaurs. It's no surprise that the vibe shifts once you step across the border, as creative director Jon Rush has revealed a couple of times now how the area draws "its main influences from Fallout 3 and New Vegas."

You can see the influence when walking into areas like abandoned Athens or the Rust Kingdom, home to the Rust King and his violent followers. There's also Dino Peaks mini golf, which pays homage to Dinky the T.Rex, but feels more like Quarry Junction thanks to the multiple Deathclaws that will rise from the dirt and hunt you down when you get too close—I learned that one the hard way.

There's also the famous Red Rocket chain, as seen in the first season of the TV show and Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. But this time it's called The Chop Shop, as it's a former Red Rocket station which currently serves as a raider outpost.

But if you really want to get as close to the TV show as possible, then might I suggest wandering down to Highway Town so you can meet none other than Walton Goggins' The Ghoul. As it turns out, he's just killing some time in Ohio, dishing out bounty hunts to whoever wants to earn a couple extra caps—or whoever's just looking for an excuse to hunt someone down.

This is where I've been spending most of my time as of late, and I will say it's the perfect chaser after watching the latest Fallout season two episode. So if you're looking for an extra way to enjoy the Wasteland, Fallout 76 certainly has some great spots to check out.