BioShock Infinite - Elizabeth's role in the game deepened as development progressed

Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite isn't just a pretty face which special abilities which accompanies you through the game, according to Irrational's Ken Levine. In fact, the team fell so "in love with her," they deepened her role as development on the game progressed.

Speaking with Joystiq, Levine said the Elizabeth shown at E3 already had a "strongly developed" personality, and over time the team decided she should be a character which could not only be useful to the player, but a partner as well.

"By the time we showed Elizabeth at E3 her personality was strongly developed, but the gameplay mechanics of her abilities evolved over time, and as with any gameplay mechanic, you tweak it, play it, see if it's fun," said Levine. 'We started to see that people really liked her a lot and we all kind of started to fall in love with her ourselves, so we wanted to deepen her role in the game and make sure she was woven into every aspect of the gameplay.

"So all these other features started evolving like her being able to pick locks. At first the lock picking was just a one off then we started thinking of all the different ways she could be helpful to you and it sort of evolved from there, showing that she could do more - and that her purpose wasn't just 'being along for the ride'.

"She would be a partner to you instead."

Levine also discusses the game's themes of faith, and how political and social issues shaped gameplay which you can hear about in the video interview through the link.

BioShock Infinite is out March 26 on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.