"Imagine Irrational at its most ambitious. That's BioShock."

For gamers who remember how Irrational Games defined spooky shooters with 1999's System Shock 2, that's a powerful statement, even from the mouth of Irrational's creative director, Ken Levine. In fact, SS2 is still worth tracking down and playing today; few shooters have topped its immersive creep factor. But the upcoming BioShock, which traps players in a mutant-filled underwater city on the brink of collapse, shows every sign of changing the rules again. "Irrational now has the time and money to not just make a companion to a game we made seven years ago," says Levine. "Our goal with BioShock is to redefine what it means to play a first person shooter."

While the team is still keeping many key details secret for now - BioShock is not slated for release until 2007 - he did give us some tantalizing details and thought-provoking insight in our exclusive interview. That doesn't make the wait any shorter, though.