There’s some exciting yet controversial news for Bioshock fans! There’s an all-new game on the horizon (woo!) but it’s not set underwater, not about Rapture, and well, seems to have next-to-nothing to do with Bioshock 1 or 2…

The trailer below (courtesy of PC Gamer) starts off with what seems to be the only reference to the original games throughout, but mere seconds later we are thrown into disarray as the main character of the clip is suddenly grabbed by what appears to be a giant bio-mechanical machine (no, not a Big Daddy) and thrown out of a window! What happens after that? Well, you’ll just have to watch this awesome trailer to see for yourself!

I’m a huge fan of the Bioshock series, and with the sequel to the first game having been released only earlier this year I had no expectations of seeing another release from this franchise for at least another year, so seeing this trailer was a very nice surprise, even if I was a little bit confused about the setting for the game so far.

How the designers decided to go from deep underwater in the chaotic city of a secret society gone wrong to a huge airship city called Columbia way up in the sky is beyond me, but I for one am excited to see how they are going to pull it off gameplay-and-visuals-wise! Assuming that plasmids may still be the main gameplay element of the game, I’m expecting to be able to use telekinesis to pick enemies up and throw them overboard into a long free-fall to death or bounce them off the sides of the hot air balloons keeping the city afloat. Of course there will be a lot more to the game than just that, but if I can simply do that then I’ll definitely be happy!

I just hope the hardcore Bioshock fans don’t immediately boycott the game because of something as trivial as it not being set underwater anymore. To be honest, since we’ve already had two very deep stories about the city of Rapture (no pun intended) I think it should be fantastic to have some brand new and totally fresh scenarios and gameplay opportunities thrown into the mix thanks to the new setting and likely a new storyline. The game is apparently set for a 2012 release though, so that’s a damn long while to wait. Let’s hope it’s going to be as good as we might hope for!