Bioshock Infinite has impressed the world over with perfect scores and critical acclaim. Is it truly worth the praise?
Infinite impresses the world over with intense gameplay, and an incredible story.
Artwork by Ryan Woods
Forgiveness and redemption are some of the most powerful things we as human beings can experience and accept.
If someone has done something wrong in life (and lets be honest, we all have), wouldn’t that person do anything possible to correct this matter? Whether it’s apologizing to somebody we’ve wronged, or making amends with someone we have hurt, as a species we generally strive to keep our lives void of these certain types of conflict. This is one of the reasons that a religious following is so powerful. Specific religions offer people the chance to be absolved of their wrong doings, and continue their lives with clean slates.
This is why people, in the game, flocked to the self-proclaimed profit Zachary Comstock. With his floating city of Columbia, he offered people a chance to completely reset their lives, and essentially be born again into his supposedly utopian society. However, not everything is as it seems in this city in the sky. Comstock’s religion is a twisted cross between Christianity and American nationalism. The founding fathers (George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson) are worshiped and revered, the entire city looks like the ideal American society of the time (1912), and harsh racism is prevalent.
This is the city that Booker DeWitt (a former soldier and Pinkerton Agent) finds himself traversing. In order to pay off an unspecified gambling and drinking debt, Booker must locate and secure a woman known as “The Lamb of Columbia” or Elizabeth. This serves to be a much harder job than Booker could have ever anticipated, for his arrival has been prophesized for many years, and the city is reluctant to give up its Lamb to the “False Shepherd.”
Without giving too much away, Bioshock Infinite’s (Infinite) story is exquisite. It takes on subject matter and themes that other games would never even consider embracing, and it does it with grace and elegance to boot. American history, religion, poverty, and racial relations are all explored in depth throughout Infinite’s storyline, but it doesn’t stop there. Everybody in Colombia can observe “tears” in the space-time continuum. These so called tears are objects, locations, or in some cases people who don’t actually exist in their particular reality or timeframe. Elizabeth has the ability to open up these tears and make them part of the real world. This serves as one of Infinite’s greatest plot elements, but also serves a gameplay purpose as well.
Having a talking protagonist makes a world of difference as far as plot and storytelling are concerned. The player becomes Booker, and gets to discover his backstory and history along with the City’s. The original Bioshock had a silent protagonist. Making Booker a speaking character was a risky move on Irrational Games’ behalf, and I think it paid off considerably. Love him or hate him, Booker makes for a far more interesting character than any previous Bioshock protagonist.
Infinite’s gameplay is somewhat standard Bioshock affair, with some added elements to give it a flair all its own. It has its guns and its powers (this time called Vigors instead of the original Bioshock’s Plasmids), and the upgrades that go along with these two crucial gameplay pillars. Infinite forgoes the Tonic (physical, hacking, and power variations) system, and replaces it with a gear system. This gear system allows the gamer to equip a shirt, pants, hat, and boots. All of these articles of clothing implement the player in various ways, and slightly change how one plays the game. Aside from this, the rest of Infinite’s action gameplay is fairly different from Bioshock’s. Instead of hacking and special ammunition types, Infinite exchanges these for Skyline use and opening tears.
With a city such as Colombia, trade and travel are very important factors to take into account. As a matter of fact, Colombia has a very effective system for both of these aspects. The Skyline is a magnetized rail system initially made for trading goods, but is now used for deadly airborne travel by security forces and rebellious members of the city. This makes many of Infinite’s firefights much more open, and faster-paced than those present in the first Bioshock. The final combat-based gameplay element is Elizabeth’s ability to open helpful tears on the battlefield. She can provide things that change combat situations, like turrets and cover. However, she can also give Booker access to supplies like weapons, ammo, first aid, and Salts (amount of Vigor usage). Rest assured that Infinite’s enemy variety is wonderfully diverse. The so-called “heavy hitter” enemies (like Crows and Handymen) give many fights an additional tactical edge. If I were to assign Infinite a genre to fit it, I would likely classify it as three fourths shooter and one-fourth role-playing game.
Elizabeth is an evolutionary step forward in the technology of automated intelligence (AI) in video gaming. Unlike the useless gun robots present in many modern shooters today (the Call of Duty, Halo, and Battlefield franchises), Elizabeth actually offers real help in the player’s time of need. Besides opening tears, Elizabeth will often times save gamers from death by offering to throw them a medical kit, Salts, or ammo. Outside of combat, Elizabeth has even more uses. She can lock pick closed doors, cipher codes, and find Booker some extra in-game cash. Elizabeth also breaks conventional gaming partner rules. She doesn’t need protection, and she doesn’t ever get in the player’s way. Often times when one explores the city, Elizabeth will even interact with the environment, and examine things she sees.
Elizabeth is also a key factor of the game’s excellent story. In fact, without her, the story wouldn’t be nearly as engaging. Elizabeth’s facial and body expressions take inspiration from Disney princesses, and it really shows. The relationship that Booker forms with Elizabeth over the course of the game feels very realistic and immersive. It feels strange to say, but forming a bond with an in-game character has never been this extensive.
Just as in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, the storyline of Infinite doesn’t completely cover every aspect of the tale. Much of it is for the player to discover. There are many audio recordings and view-master-like videos (called Kinetiscopes) strewn throughout Columbia. Both give insight on the backstory of Columbia, and later on tell a completely new story of their own. I encourage anyone who partakes in this experience to actively seek out these tidbits, for they add so much more to the game as a whole.
My only major complaint about Infinite is the repetition of a certain boss fight three consecutive times. This particular boss deters from the enjoyment of the game, and only serves to anger the player. Other than that, there are some minor graphical hitches, but these hardly affect the game whatsoever. In fact, Infinite’s art direction is top notch, with beautiful lighting effects and sweeping vistas. The city of Colombia is a truly unique locale that cannot be replicated by any other game out there.
Bioshock Infinite easily meets the expectations of its predecessors, and even surpasses them in some ways (but also takes a small step backwards in other ways). The final bit of icing on this delectable cake is the narrative’s incredible ending. When I think about video game endings, my feelings are typically of anger or content. Infinite’s ending is not only satisfying, but also thought provoking. It even opens up the game to new interpretation, which makes playing it again a must. Infinite is truly a must own experience for any gamer.
Rating: ★★★★★
