User blog:Willbachbakal/Singleplayer Plasmids

The first thing I had in mind when thinking about the sequel was: how will the devs make the plasmids even better than in the previous games? I mean, in BioShock 2 your plasmids gained a new ability every time you upgraded. So, what more can be done?

Upgrade trees.

Instead of having a straight upgrade path, the player would be able to choose how they want to upgrade their plasmids. Each plasmid would have three levels: level 1 is the basic product. At level 2, the player would be able to choose one of two upgrade options, which in turn unlock two more options each at level 3. This effectively means that there will be four different ways to fully upgrade a plasmid, and also means that each plasmid can have six different powers added to it.

Why do I find it good? Because it allows the player to tailor their plasmids even more to their needs. It adds to the RPG elements of the game, adds replay value and broadens the range of tactics the player can use.

Warning: boring technical stuff follows. Obviously, if this ever gets included into one of the games, the Gatherer's Garden interface would have to adapt, otherwise people might end up getting confused over which upgrade is which. The idea here would be that instead of indicating upgrades, the machine would show the plasmids and their names. Clicking on them will open up their full upgrade tree, displaying each upgrade's name and description, thus allowing the player to purchase or evolve the plasmid as they see fit. In fact, this could be included even if upgrade trees are not, since it would remove the need to display plasmid upgrades you can't purchase yet.