BioShock Infinite

THE BUZZ: Take-Two has announced “1999 Mode” for Bioshock Infinite, which is designed to challenge players in a ”variety of ways.”

“1999 Mode is a way of playing designed for gamers who long for the days of games that demanded more of the player,” the publisher explains. ”It will include tweaks and features that BioShock fans will not experience in a standard play-through of BioShock Infinite, no matter the difficulty level.”

EGM’s TAKE: It appears that Irrational are trying to go back to Bioshock’s roots with this new game mode by asking the player to give more in order succeed. You will need to not only play smarter but also manage your health, weapons and power efficiently or face death. Failing to do so will be greeted with a much greater penalty, a “‘Game Over’ screen if he or she lacks the resources to be brought back to life.” 1999 is a mode designed to cater to hardcore and long term Bioshock fans who are looking for a challenge while they play and more profound consequences and meanings to their decisions. Players will face more pernament decisions while playing and will have to live with the outcome, also players are forced to pick a specialization and focus solely on it.

A survey on the Bioshock website returned the following data when fans were asked what they would like to see:

“94.6 percent of respondents indicated that upgrade choices enhanced their BioShock gameplay experience; however, 56.8 percent indicated that being required to make permanent decisions about their character would have made the game even better.”

1999 mode sounds like an extreme hardcore mode that has been all but forgotten in modern gaming. It’s not simply a hard difficulty setting where enemy AI is beefed up to ridiculous levels and your character becomes a sponge, this is something that tests you mentally, challenging you to foresee consequences of actions and future needs. Some gamers will never go near this mode, but for others it will be exactly what they are looking for.

Will you be trying 1999 mode? Let us know below.