Since the shutdown of Irrational Games by BioShock creator Ken Levine, fans have been wondering what will be next. The upcoming game from Levine, described as narrative-driven, has been shrouded in secrecy until now. During the London event EGX Rezzed, Levine dropped a few details about the upcoming project.

The BioShock creator noted during the event that the game was inspired by the Nemesis System in Shadow of Mordor. This feature allowed NPC’s to recall player actions and take appropriate counter-actions. For instance, one could attack but not kill an NPC and that character could eventually seek revenge for the slight. Levine wants to take this method one step further in his new title:

The game that inspired me most […] was Shadow of Mordor with the Nemesis System. That was a very limited, rudimentary approach to it. It’s more of a metanarrative, and there’s not a lot of dialogue support for that stuff, so our thing is much more ambitious. That sort of gave us, like, ‘OK, maybe we’re not completely crazy in what we’re trying to do.’”

Levine‘s system “Radical Recognition” is his own take on the Nemesis System. The goal of the BioShock creator is lofty but could be a revolutionary step in the gaming industry. Ideally, characters would constantly react to the player, recognizing what characters have done in such a way that the narrative is affected. By way in part of dynamic relationships between player and NPC actions will cause the character to feel a certain way about a player’s choices and act on those feelings.

The BioShock creator hopes that his new system will give players a game that seems to follow a straight path of story telling. In all actuality, the narrative is based largely on what the player is doing. This could open up a wide variety of interactions and possible endings that might even give Dragon Age a run for its money.

Levine and Ghost Story Games have a lot of work ahead of them, but this ambitious take on in-game narrative could open up a new way to approach the storytelling device. For now, we will have to wait for more information about this mysterious new game from the BioShock creator. With three years having passed since the start of development, we hope that details come sooner rather than later. As of yet, the project has not been officially announced.

What do you think about the Radical Recognition system? Do you think having a more natural set of reactive NPC’s will enhance gameplay? Join in on the conversation in the comments section below or start your own on our Disqus! As always, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment news 24/7!