But when you look at some of the data, you’ll find that some of these systems are surprisingly popular.

“Now, us in the West look at those kinds of systems, and we think of them as particularly Orwellian, very scary stuff. “You look at something like a social credit system, for example,” says Cecil.

Since an AI would ostensibly follow all those rules as consistently as possible, it would rigidly adhere to that hierarchy at all times, even when it might seem counterproductive. In particular, Cecil describes how an AI might view the ideal human society by referring to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a famous triangle-shaped construct in sociology that attempts to explain how the fundamental needs of human beings build off each other. While “Beneath” dealt with the rampant sentience and breakdown of a “Neuromancer”-esque AI called LINC that haunted an entire city, Cecil and Gibbons say that its follow-up will deal with more pressing questions of social control and privacy under the watchful eye of the supposedly-benevolent, omniscient artificial-intelligence that Foster installed at the conclusion of the first game. While Cecil isn’t comfortable talking more specific than that just yet, he says that the team’s goal is to embody the spirit of the adventure games that put them on the map, such as their lengthy “Broken Sword” series, emphasizing that the non-violent nature of the genre has allowed the studio to garner a diverse fanbase broader than that of more traditional action games.ĭespite the duo’s stated goal of producing a work that stands apart from its well-known predecessor, “Beyond” stars the returning protagonist of the original game, a small-time engineer named Robert Foster. Gibbons takes great pains to note that the studio has developed an entirely new tool to facilitate a comic-book aesthetic while still taking advantage of this newfound depth and technology. In accordance with more modern approaches to the adventure genre exhibited by “walk-’em-ups” like “Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture,” Cecil says that “Beyond” will feature fully 3D environments that the player can stroll through and interact with, with full camera control. If you’ve played the original, it will enrich the experience, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.”

With ‘Beyond,’ we’re trying to make a game that people who maybe weren’t even alive in 1994 can appreciate. “When you respect the continuity, you make all the fans happy, and that’s good, but it keeps out all the new people.

“That’s a thing I see in comics all the time,” echoes Gibbons.

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