Levine: Focus on BioShock's Elizabeth "as a person" rather than her appearance

Irrational head Ken Levine has said it’s “disappointing” the online community has focused on BioShock Infinite heroine Elizabeth’s “chest” instead of her character, saying any sex symbol status was never his "intent”.

Speaking in the latest issue of OXM, Levine said he wished Elizabeth’s character was the centre of attention: not her breasts.

"I'd much rather talk about what she's going through as a person, but whatever. [The fans] have the right to shout out whatever they want," he said.

"Does she need to be physically attractive? Booker's not exactly an unattractive dude himself. He doesn't have a spare tyre and he's a good-looking guy. Generally people in media are more attractive than the average person.”

Levine said a couple of the design questions he asked himself were whether Elizabeth needed "to be pretty" or whether she would need "to be voluptuous".

"In terms of her body type, I think certainly people on the Internet have spent way more time thinking about Elizabeth's chest than I have," he said. "It's something I've barely thought about.”

Levine said it becomes "disappointing" for him when Elizabeth's measurements become the topic of conversation, because this was never his "intent, and it's sort of a disincentive."

The most important aspects of Elizabeth’s design, he said, are her "somewhat exaggerated" eyes, and the amount of emotion they can contain.

"I've spent way more time thinking about her eyes than her chest because eyes show a ton of expression, and you see her at a great distance," he said.

You can read the full interview with Levine in issue 81 of OXM, which is available now.

BioShock: Infinite releases on PC, PS3 and 360 sometime in 2012.

Thanks, GamesRadar.