BioShock 4 Could Learn Avowed's Loadout Trick

BioShock 4 has a delicate balancing act ahead of it. The franchise helped define the modern action-RPG, but in 2026 it is stepping into a genre that has spent fifteen years studying its homework. Games like Avowed have taken BioShock's expressive combat philosophy—mix guns, powers, and melee into a personal playstyle—and pushed it in new directions. For BioShock 4, the smartest move may not be to reinvent the plasmid from scratch. It may be to look at what Avowed is doing with loadouts and ask, What would Rapture or Columbia do with that?

The BioShock trilogy always understood that combat was a conversation between player choice and systemic chaos. A wrench, a revolver, and a plasmid could become a jazz solo of shock, burn, and blunt force. BioShock 2, in particular, is still cited as the gold standard for synergy-focused combat, where plasmids and weapons trade off in ways that reward experimentation. Avowed arrives from a similar place, but with a fantasy RPG skeleton. It lets players dual-wield melee weapons, firearms, and wands, then swap between pre-built gear presets on the fly. That last part is the kicker.

Here's the thing: Avowed's individual playstyles are not revolutionary. Ranged, magic, and melee builds are the holy trinity of fantasy RPGs. What feels fresh is the ability to change that trinity mid-fight. A player can open at mid-range with dual pistols, then swap to a heavy two-handed weapon when an enemy closes the gap. They can start with a wand and shield, then pivot to a greatsword and pistol. The loadout system does not just offer convenience; it creates a new grammar for combat encounters.

BioShock 4 could borrow that grammar without copying Avowed's vocabulary. Imagine a BioShock 4 where players set up multiple loadouts before a fight. One preset might dual-wield status-effect plasmids, stacking damage over time before swapping to akimbo firearms for a burst of stopping power. Another might pair a melee weapon with a defensive plasmid, then switch to a long-range rifle and a trap plasmid when the arena opens up. The old BioShock weapon-wheel was already a pause-and-plan tool. An Avowed-style loadout system would make that planning continuous, fluid, and dangerous in the best way.

And honestly, the potential gets dizzying when the plasmid equivalent is allowed to be dual-wielded. BioShock has always had quasi-magic powers that feel like weapons in their own right. If BioShock 4 lets players combine two plasmids, or a plasmid and a gun, the combat sandbox expands exponentially. A player could freeze an enemy with one hand and shatter them with a shotgun in the other. They could lay down a shock trap, swap to a pistol, and kite enemies into a chain reaction. That is not just fan service; it is the natural evolution of BioShock's core fantasy.

Of course, BioShock 4 does not need to copy Avowed verbatim. A more traditional loadout feature would still be a quality-of-life win, especially if the game offers a wider variety of weapons and powers than its predecessors. The key is respecting the player's time and creativity. If BioShock 4 has more toys, it needs better ways to organize them. If it has more enemy types, it needs faster ways to counter them. Avowed's framework offers a blueprint, not a mandate.

There are caveats. Avowed's loadout mechanic works because its combat is built around first-person action, cooldowns, and resource management. BioShock 4 may have different pacing, different level design, and different progression systems. A loadout system could feel clumsy if it is bolted on without care. It could also undermine the tension of scavenging for supplies if players can simply swap to a perfectly stocked preset. The solution is not to abandon the idea, but to tune it. Maybe loadouts share ammo pools. Maybe swapping has a short animation or a cost. Maybe some powers are too heavy to hot-swap. The details matter.

That is the dream, anyway: a BioShock 4 that honors the past while learning from the present. Avowed may be surrounded by debate, but its combat framework is a clear inheritor of BioShock's expressive spirit. The teacher can learn from the student. If BioShock 4 adds flexible loadouts, dual-wielded plasmids, and a reason to swap mid-fight, it could deliver the most dynamic combat the series has ever seen. The franchise's DNA is already there. It just needs a modern way to express it.