Ken Levine Unveils New Art for Judas and Discusses Innovative Gameplay Mechanics

Renowned game designer Ken Levine, in collaboration with the PlayStation Blog team, has revealed further insights into the gameplay of Judas, an ambitious narrative-driven first-person action game that gamers have referred to as the «BioShock killer» since its announcement.

To start with, the developer expressed his apologies for the prolonged delay and promised that Ghost Story Games will share more updates about the project in the future.

Ken Levine

In his initial update, Levine focused on the non-linear «villainy» system, which bears a close resemblance to the patented Nemesis mechanic from the Middle-earth: Shadow series.

To understand this system, it’s essential to grasp the premise of the story—Judas follows the tale of an engineer named Judas, the last living person aboard the ark ship «Mayflower.» Following a collision with an asteroid, the bodies of the other passengers perished, and robots that were unaware of their true nature replaced them. The nightmare on the ship begins when Judas reveals their secret. Now, the heroine must confront three main antagonists, each with distinct motivations, who all require her assistance.

The trio is visually showcased in a new key art piece featuring the protagonist. Among them are:

The «villainy» system in Judas dynamically alters the central antagonist based on whom the protagonist chooses to support.

Ken Levine

The antagonists have a direct impact on gameplay. For instance, the enraged Hope might reveal the protagonist’s location to her enemies, Nefertiti might sabotage the healing station, and Tom may attempt to bribe Judas with powerful weapons, among other interactions. Levine himself has admitted that this system was directly inspired by the aforementioned Nemesis mechanic.

Ken Levine

Judas is being developed for PC (Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. The release date remains uncertain, and so far, only English is listed among the supported languages.