This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest on the show talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that forged connections with others & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

My guest today is Ken Levine, creative director and co-founder of Irrational and now Ghost Story Games, and the creative force behind some of the most iconic titles in video game history including System Shock 2, Thief and the Bioshock Series.

We talk about the physical thrill of early mechanical games, his bad news bears-esque teenage deliquency - bumming smokes and playing arcades - his bumpy path into video game design via Hollywood and how the theatre prepared him for running a video game studio.

We talk about why the original Castle Wolfenstein was so stressful, how obscure gem Herzog Zwei should get way more credit, why Rocksmith is one of the best games he's ever played and how the Legend of Zelda ruined a relationship.

"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Adventure, Asteroids, Pac Man, The Legend of Zelda, Dark Castle, Road Rash, Herzog Zwei, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Ikari Warriors, Castle Wolfenstein, Star Control, World of Warcraft, Portal, Inside, Thief, Shadow of Mordor, Her Story, X-Com, Invisible Inc, Rocksmith