Anybody who is anybody who has played the Bioshock series knows what to expect. 1960's America, magic, steampunk, an unfathomable environment, and some ridiculously creepy/unique story elements surrounding a plethora of mysterious characters. Basically, sheer awesomeness. Bioshock 1 kicked some serious ass, the game turned heads and made a huge impact on the industry showing how unique FPS games really could be (looking at you COD). Bioshock 2 was still fun, but no where near as innovative or cool really, it felt more like an expansion pack for the first game, but it isn't the worst experience. Now Bioshock Infinite is in stores and it promises a new look on the old feel. Feel like a trip to see a whole new world?
Naturally, as a fan of the series thus far, I was more than willing to strap on some genetic altering magic shit and dive into the new game. What I found was most certainly not what I expected. This is literally amazing, a more perfect title is definitely going to be difficult to come by this year.
A Gift of Prophecy:
Booker DeWitt, a man in debt, sent on a mission of unknown importance, an unknown location, and danger around every corner. This is his story, and its far from a normal one. You begin in a light house, little light is shed on the events at hand. You are told to go and bring back a girl from the city of Columbia to absolve yourself of debt. Right off the bat you are subjected to creepy aesthetics and a dead and tortured corpse that is likely incentive to keep you from being next. You bring yourself to a chair at the top of the lighthouse, and up you go into the floating city filled with marvels of not-so-modern-day science. Booker immediately discovers the city is infatuated by a religion brought upon by the prophet Comstock. Booker is branded as a false shepherd almost immediately and before any questions can be answered, you are targeted for death by an otherwise bustling metropolis of racist, violent, and ignorant citizens. With guns and vigors in tow, it is up to Booker to fight his way to Elizabeth, the girl you are sent to escort. Elizabeth however has some unique powers, a sketchy past, and a questionable purpose to fulfill. Shit just gets crazier, plot twistier, and fucking...just...fuck. Its a story that needs to be played, and then played again, and probably one more time before everything truly makes sense. I should stop typing before I myself get lost in my own bullshit.
The story told in Bioshock Infinite is one of the most fundamentally engaging story's I have ever had the pleasure of playing through. It really hits home on a lot of issues that people may not necessarily be ready to have light shed on in their video games. Its an intriguing aspect for a story to have to bring to light important racial and religious issues while at the same time making light of the nation's history. In fact, its just plain awesome. You owe it to yourself to play through this title. If you have even a remote interest in being entertained and/or challenged by your gaming media, you should see what the world of Bioshock Infinite has to offer you.
Beware the False Shepherd:
Gameplay has never felt more Bioshock. You run around, guns blazing with your arsenal of standard fair weapons; shotguns, carbine rifles, pistols, snipers, RPG's, the whole gambit is yours 2 weapons at a time and with plenty of upgradable parts to keep yourself in the fight. Vigors are your magical tools to assist you with plenty of unique powers to keep the opposition powerless. You've got lightning, fire, grenades, possession, force floats, crows, etc. This time around you can also place them down as powerful traps to keep your tactical maneuvers varied and relevant. You get a cool ass sky hook thing too. It is your melee attack source and important to the "platforming" element of the game. Basically you jump around and ride rails like Sonic until you make it to your next destination. Combat while riding a rail is challenging and fun though, so I think it is overall a great addition to the game. Of course, before you ask, yes the girl is with you almost the whole time, and no you don't need to protect her. Thank fuck for that, I was worried it was going to be non-stop RE4 in this bitch with constant protection from bastards trying to rape the shit out of her. Not only does she not need protection, she helps out in valuable ways, tossing you plenty of ammo or health when you run dry and granting the ability to create valuable tears in the dimensional rifts giving you temporary access to equipment, vending machines, cover, turrets, or new terrain to utilize. She's like a tactical wunderkind when it comes to pulling victories out of your ass. I mean thanks to her, Booker's "one man army"ness is locked in at full force. It becomes practically impossible to die, not that there is much of a penalty for that anyway, you simply res back in a nearby area with more health at the cost of a few bucks.
Elizabeth's presence through the story is refreshing and welcome on paper. In practice, she just throws you way too much shit, I mean it is definitely helpful, but if I have to watch her flip me another coin I'm going to shoot somebody for real. Vending machines provide you with ammo, heath, upgrades to weapons and magic, and plenty of reasons to spend your hard earned dollars. She can also pick locks to reveal awesome stat boosting and ability granting gear or permanent upgrades to your health, shields, and magic capabilities. Speaking of shields, fuck that thing. Its great that you get a regenerateable health supplement that will keep your ass from falling over every 36 seconds, but it is super frustrating to watch the screen crack yellow when it depletes or fills up. Considering I'm on hard mode and in the earlier parts of the game before significant increase to the shield size, my screen was practically solid yellow for 2 of the 3 minute gunfights. It is really disorienting. Aside from that and the relative uselessness of melee combat, you basically will have a magnificently fun time playing this game. Every break in combat is just as fun as combat itself as you spend time looting valuable health, ammo, weapons, and upgrades from the surroundings. Plenty of optional tasks, ciphers, locked doors, sightseeing objectives, and interesting art design awaits any eager explorer. There is everything for everyone, and nobody should miss out on the opportunity to see why Columbia really is the city in the sky we've been searching for.
Quantum Cities Never Looked So Good:
Bioshock has always had a great stylized steampunk 1900's look about it. Everything felt old, all the audio from hidden recordings, videos, radio programs, or people felt like it was old school America through and through. Bioshock Infinite spares no expense to bring the look and experience of 1912 exceptionalism era America to a floating city filled with cool steampunk toys and magic dimension ripping shit. The environments, architectures, and extras throughout the game really feel like the developers took the time to research and model the city correctly. The character animations are full of life (even when they are dying) and the textures and visuals are stunning. Ballroom era music fills out the radio productions. This is a top class production through and through and it is such a treat to see the finished product in action. It is fantastic to see a production of this quality surpass such lofty expectations. Okay, so it might not run your PC into the ground, but Columbia is a place that really needs to be seen to believe.
So, Would You Kindly?:
Bioshock Infinite has succeeded in creating a story with a twist that could wring water out of a mummy, infinitely memorable characters, an immersive retro sci-fi setting, acknowledgment and introspection of racism, sexism, and nationalism of our glorious history, and an engaging combat engine; all of this in a neat, and visually pleasing package. I can think of not many games that can push forward a genre the way Bioshock Infinite did (maybe...the original Bioshock?)
98%
+ Fantastic story
+ Impressive combat sticking to Bioshock strengths
+ Beautiful and interesting environments
+ Impressive VA and script writing
+ A game capable of changing gaming
- So much yellow
- Potentially controversial look at social issues
- Lacks difficulty when AI is retarded and Elizabeth throws you every bone possible.
If there was even a remote doubt in your mind about this title, I hope I have convinced you to give this game your attention. It isn't just rare to play games that succeed the way this game has, its a god damned crime not to play it. A game like this brings hope to gamers everywhere. Bioshock might be one of the franchises that force video games to be taken seriously as an artistic means to deliver a story. I just hope I'm not alone in that opinion.
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