‘BioShock: Infinite’ Reveals Sidekick Elizabeth

Elizabeth is the 19-year-old character that was created by the makers of BioShock: Infinite, who wanted to develop a three-dimensional sidekick that would imbue the game with more emotional complexity and heart.

In the Bioshock storyline, Elizabeth is the quick-witted teenager possessed with an ability to alter the world around her. Unfortunately, she has been locked away from this world that she's been able to control since her birth. The role of the gamer is Booker DeWitt, a former agent whose goal is to rescue Elizabeth from her isolated imprisonment.

Prior installments of BioShock relied on the gamers’ desire to save Elizabeth. BioShock: Infinite, with this infinitely more fleshed out and sympathetic version of Elizabeth, has the goal of increasing players’ emotional investment.

"We kept coming back to having a partner in the experience and as we looked out onto the field of partners that existed (in other games), the air gets pretty thin," creative director Ken Levine told CNN. "We wanted a character that would be absolutely central to the narrative.”

The creative team at Irrational Games spent years working on developing Elizabeth. Although they introduced her back in 2011, they weren’t done revising. Originally due to come out in March 2012, Levine delayed the release of Bioshock: Infinite in order to perfect Elizabeth. The final product, including her look and personality, only came together within the last year.

“When you first meet Elizabeth, she is very different than the Elizabeth that you grow to love and see at the end of the game,” Courtnee Draper, who voices Elizabeth, told The Washington Post. “She has a huge range of emotions, which naturally make her more genuine and compelling. I think Ken [Levine]’s narrative underscores that. She’s not some expositional character.”

BioShock: Infinite will be released worldwide for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC on Tuesday, Mar. 26.

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