Summary
Judasis an upcoming first-person shooter byBioshockcreator Ken Levine, set to be released sometime in 2025. InJudas, players control a hacker who goes by the name of “Judas” aboard the Mayflower, a space colonization ship that was originally sent out from an uninhabitable Earth to another planet called Proxima Centauri. Early looks atJudashad it pegged by many as nothing more than aBioShockclone, but the more that is unveiled about the upcoming game, the more it looks like it will be vastly set apart from its spiritual predecessor, despite featuring similar visuals.
The heartbeat of anyKen Levine gameis the narrative, each largely driven by the intriguing characters in Levine’s meticulously crafted worlds. The main character and protagonist ofJudas' story is Judas herself, a hacker who has managed to amass quite an unfortunate reputation with everyone on board the Mayflower. Unlike inBioShock, where players control a character who is a stranger to the world they are dropped in, Judas was born on the Mayflower and has plenty of history by the time the game starts. While not much of Judas' backstory has been disclosed at this point, enough of her role in the game’s story has been revealed by Ken Levine himself in a rather lengthy March 2024 interview with IGN.
Explaining Judas' Titular Protagonist and Her Role in the Story
Judas Is a Hacker and Engineer Who Was Born on the Mayflower
InBioShock, players start the game as Jack, an unknown character whose airplane crashes near the lighthouse that grants access to the underwater city of Rapture. Although he is uniquely connected to the narrative, knowledge of his backstory is largely unnecessary to the plot’s advancement and is therefore neglected throughout the game’s story. However,Judas' main character, Judas, was born on the Mayflower, where the game’s story takes place. At the start of the game, Judas has already lived on the Mayflower for many years, and her backstory plays a central role inJudas' narrative.
Judas isn’t just a normal civilian on boardthe Mayflower, as her hacking and engineering abilities give her access to many skills that can help her as she navigates the ship. Throughout the game, players will get to see Judas experiment with new ideas, and try to solve problems through brainstorming. According to what has been disclosed so far, Judas can control machines on the Mayflower by infecting them with viruses or forcing them to socialize with one another.
Judas Is the Root Cause of the Mayflower’s Downfall
Rather than being an innocent bystander simply trying to find her place inJudas' story, Judas is the root cause of the Mayflower’s downfall. When the game starts, the ship is collapsing and Judas is potentially the last human being alive in the universe, with everyone else on the Mayflower being a machine. Thethree leaders of the Mayflower— Tom, Nefertiti, and Hope — are initially unaware that they are machines. Judas, however, informs each of them that they are merely robots, sending them into an existential crisis and contributing to the collapse of the Mayflower. Now, her goal is to get off the ship before it “sinks.”
Ken Levine has been sure to keep his cards close to his chest about the full extent ofJudas' narrative, despite already revealing some of its most foundational elements. ThroughoutJudas' story, players will get more revelations about why she is called “Judas,” all that she did to interrupt the Mayflower’s mission, and why she interrupted it in the first place as she regains lost memories. It’s safe to say that Judas may play one of the most important and central roles in any Ken Levine game to date.
Judas
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Judas is a sci-fi first-person shooter game made by BioShock creator Ken Levine that’s set on a massive spaceship called the Mayflower.
