, Levine said the way in which his point was demonstrated was not made "as eloquently or comprehensively as it should have been."
To that end, he explained today that "No individual piece of art has any particular responsibility to fulfill a particular agenda." Levine originally said that the mainstream media has a way of hiding the bloody reality of violence and war, and art--including games--should not follow suit.
"What I was trying to say is that art, as a whole, has a number of responsibilities: to entertain, to educate, inspire, to question the status quo, to infuriate, to challenge, to make people want to bang their heads, or just to make things kinda awesome," he said. "The list goes on and on."
Levine further explained that art should show things as they are, though he tempered that statement by saying he means art as an industry, not every specific example.
"One of those responsibilities (for art as a whole, not for every example of every art ever produced), should be to show things as they are," he said. "For every Rom Com, there are devastating movies about the pain of love, whether that's Eternal Sunshine or Amour. For every movie that portrays valor in war <(em>Saving Private Ryan), there are movies that focus on it's most dehumanizing elements <(em>Full Metal Jacket)."
"I wasn't trying to imply violence should always be realistic in art. I was primarily questioning the notion that ultra-violent images have NO place in art," he added. "As I've always thought, not all art is or should be the same. But I don't believe any topic should be off limits to art as a whole."
Josh from Bag of Games writes "A welcome return to Rapture (Andrew Ryans underwater libertarian paradise) moments before its inevitable collapse into a chaos-plagued dystopian metropolis featuring none other than Bioshock Infinites own intriguing protagonists, Booker Dewitt and Elizabeth; it was a promising reveal Irrational Games co-founder and creative director Ken Levine delivered to enthusiastic fans everywhere regarding Bioshock Infinites two-part story-driven DLC, Burial at Sea. And luckily, we didnt have to wait too long to determine whether Booker and Elizabeths latest adventure would sink or swim. With the first narrative segment finally releasing, we plunged headfirst into the murky, Splicer-infested waters of Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode One, and emerged soon after having endured a short, slightly flawed, but equally satisfying experience that no self-respecting fan of the series should dare miss."
The biggest strengths that Infinite had was its characters, story and setting. Burial at Sea tries to re-use our affection for Infinites characters and the original Bioshocks setting but then has to create its own (half of a) story in about two hours of play time. A difficult feat at the best of times and one that Burial at Sea doesnt quite pull off.
As you can imagine, with the game taking place in Rapture, the environments steal the show once again. Seeing this familiar location through a slightly new lens gives you a greater appreciation of just what a wonderful world Ken Levine and his team crafted.
BioShock: Infinite writer and director Ken Levine continues his chat with VG247s Dave Cook about how Irrational Games created one of the most anticipated follow-ups of the generation. WITH SPOILERS.
