Bioshock Infinite Review

Bioshock Infinite has finally arrived and caused a huge uproar within the gaming community. So, what truly makes this game amazing in most people’s eyes?

First off, this game is a first person shooter. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “God, another FPS that is just filled with corridors and mentally challenged enemies.” I’m here to tell you that is definitely not the case. I personally was getting bored of the stereotypical FPS, but Bioshock Infinite has revitalized the genre for me.

The gameplay in Bioshock is just like the other two. You have vigors in the left hand, which are similar to the tonics in the previous games, and a gun in the right hand. There are a few new vigors that are introduced like Possession, Bucking Bronco, and Charge but I found myself mainly using Possession and Devil’s Kiss, a fireball type vigor. In Infinite you can only holster two weapons. Now, having this ability is a burden to some people because this causes you to only use the best guns in the game literally the whole time. But this adds to an almost realistic aspect that appeals to me.

The biggest addition to gameplay in Bioshock Infinite are the skylines. Since you’re traveling through a floating city, why not have skylines everywhere? These means of transportation were nothing but that. Just transportation. Trying to gun enemies down while riding on the skylines was awkward, but flying off of it and destroying the guy below me with my skyhook was definitely satisfying.

Graphically, this game is beautiful. When someone said, “Hey, let’s go from an underwater city to a floating metropolis” they knew what they were talking about. The idea to make a city in the sky was superb because it added the change up that we all wanted. The concept is great, but did they nail the textures and beauty that they were going for? You bet your ass they did. This game looks so fucking amazing that I found myself just taking a step back from all the gun fights and explosions and stare in amazement at the angelic haven around me. With life-like statues of past American leaders and deep roots of our history showing, the story behind Infinite does not seem so far off.

The story is where Bioshock Infinite really shows its true talent. The gameplay and graphics are great, but that is not where Infinite really shines. This game definitely shows us that it is meant for a deep and emotional story. The gameplay comes second on the plate here, which is definitely not a bad thing. I generally play games for a fantastic story, so I wholeheartedly agree with Irrational Games’ decision for story based games. Let’s start from Infinite’s beginning. You play the character by the name of Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton, who has gotten into trouble with gambling, possibly, who has to “Get the girl, and wipe away the debt.” The girl, who we later find out to be Elizabeth, is not just a girl, but a young woman with the ability to cause “tears” in the world around here. She is held in the floating city of Columbia. With Elizabeth being rescued from her prison that she lived in for her whole life, you get to then be pursued by the two factions: The Founders, who are obsessed with the idea of a pure American society, and the Vox Populi, a rebel group of common people itching for a revolution. The story takes multiple twists and turns and takes you on an emotional roller coster, which for me hasn’t been done in a long time. I won’t put any spoilers in here, but let me tell you that the ending does an excellent job of wrapping the game up and putting all the loose ends in your mind to rest. Check my “Bioshock Infinite: Best Game of the Year” article for my initial reaction to the ending.

The AI in Bioshock Infinite has improved drastically since 2002, the release date of Bioshock. The main focus was to make Elizabeth the most believable person she could be, or the game would not have worked according to Ken Levine, the creative director of the Bioshock series. Ken is certainly right with that assumption. If Elizabeth was not believable enough to be taken seriously the story would have plummeted harshly and Bioshock Infinite would not have had such an impact. With that being said, the team behind Infinite hands down made Elizabeth as realistic as she could be. She interacted with the environment around her by sitting on chairs, leaning on walls, and giving you some ammo, coins, health, and salts when you needed them. Another positive of the smart AI is that Elizabeth never gets in your way during a firefight.

Let us take a look at the enemy AI for a second. The enemies in Infinite have deadly aim even at long distances. You get the occasional enemy that runs at you pathetically attempting to strike you down, but for the most part the enemies are smart. Most FPS shooters have enemies take cover and have parts of their body exposed, but in Infinite the enemies are actually in complete cover. This is good news for those who are getting sick of easily picked off enemies like me.

Now, Bioshock Infinite is a relatively easy game if you do not play it on hard. The difficulties below hard have you approach every situation with a linear point of view, but on hard you have to be versatile with your approaches. There is also a difficulty called “1999 Mode”. This mode is unlocked after beating the game or with a code. According to Ken Levine this mode is for hardcore gamers only, but to me, this mode is no harder than the hard difficulty. The only difference in 1999 Mode is that you need money to be revived. This was not a problem for me whatsoever. So, generally speaking, if you can beat hard mode you can certainly beat the “hardcore” difficulty of 1999 Mode.

Conclusion:

Bioshock Infinite is definitely a story over gameplay game, but that is what makes it stick out. Everything came together perfectly. With that being said, Infinite is a game that I could play over and over again with the same mind that I had the first time playing. If you do not pick this game up you are surely missing out. Go out and buy this game!