The original BioShock is and still remains to be one of the greatest video games ever made. That may sound like a lot coming from me of all people, but there is just something about BioShock that makes it timeless. The retropunk atmosphere is top notch with neon lit underwater City of Rapture still being an iconic location among gamers. The story was well written with twists and turns around each turn. The combat, while not like other first person shooters at the time, rewarded the player for thinking methodically. Guns felt incredibly satisfying to wield as you upgraded and empowered them over time. The bionic superpowers made the combat even more interesting allowing the player to use whatever crazy means necessary to cut down every splicer and Big Daddy in their path. The level design was open in a way where the halls twisted into each other and you had enough to work with but not feel overwhelmed. The political philosophy of a man wanting to form a free society, but failed to realize human nature is dazzling to see played into effect. There was class, spectacle, depth, and everything else needed to make BioShock one smash hit of a game. It may not have been perfect in every aspect, but BioShock is a timeless masterpiece that I will always respect. BioShock is near perfection in my mind, but how do the sequels hold up after all these years? Well they aged mostly well.
There was BioShock 2 which was developed by 2K Marin rather than Irrational Games who made the original. BioShock 2 received diverse opinions when it came out back in 2010. One side arguing the game was amazing, improved the gameplay from the original, and being a serviceable follow up to an amazing game. The other side said it was more of the same and that it felt more like BioShock 1.5 rather than an actual sequel. Personally I think BioShock 2 is really good and if you liked the first game and want more than you’ll certainly love the second. Would you rather have more of something we are familiar with like Call of Duty, or get something that you barely see like BioShock 2? Both of these games are amazing in their own ways, but what about the third one. The big one. The most anticipated project Irrational Games would ever make. It had so much hype surrounding it that nothing could possibly go wrong.
It was the biggest game the team ever made and it received glowing reviews when it came out. However, there were two sides to this conflict similar to critical reception with BioShock 2. One side absolutely loved the game for it’s more colorful setting, faster paced combat, and more complex narrative than the original two games. The other side stated it strayed too far away from the formula and that the story was more of a mess rather than a work of art. There was also political controversy, religious controversy, and war among the BioShock community. What game could possibly spark all these things at once? BioShock Infinite, it was this game that lit the internet faster than a burning man running into an oil plantation filled with dynamite.
The development process for this game was an interesting one. It began six months after the success of the original BioShock and ideas were already beginning to form. A new location far from our regular world with a political ideology that both makes sense and is extremely messed up. Originally, BioShock Infinite was supposed to have the open interconnected level design that the other two games had but the developers decided to go for something more streamlined. Irrational Games wanted the game to be more appealing to both old and modern gamers. They streamlined the combat as well, had a voiced protagonist than the silent one they’ve always had, a female side character who would play an active role rather than be the stereotypical damsel in distress, and have the game be more cinematic. This is some of the many reasons why fans struggle to connect this game to the others. BioShock Infinite was both different and casual. It played like less of an immersive-sim and more like your typical first person shooter. Not saying it was bad though, but a questionable move by Irrational Games. When the game came out it received praise across the board. You saw a lot of nine out of tens and some review outlets gave it perfect scores. Even those who opposed the game said there is at least something to like about BioShock Infinite.
Almost six years after release and does BioShock Infinite hold up? Well I’m going to be honest with you folks. I think this game is great and I don’t understand why people hate it. Now let me clarify one thing right now. I do not think this game is perfect or deserves a perfect score. I also didn’t quite like how it’s a casual first person shooter rather than the immersive-sim design like before, and that it’s definitely not as good as the original BioShock. Compared to other modern shooters though, BioShock Infinite is still amazing and fun to play years later. These thoughts are coming after a second playthrough and by now I have a fleshed out view on the game. Today we’ll be talking about why I love BioShock Infinite and why it deserves your attention. So let’s ready our Sky Hook, pack a fist full of lightning, and glide across the City of Columbia.
Story
We play as Booker Dewitt, an ace detective who once worked for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He’s immensely depressed and suffering to repay some debts he owes from mass amounts of gambling. He has no money and doesn’t know how to pay it all off, but one day he is offered a deal. He is given a small case containing the coordinates to an unknown location and a small note with a simple sentence. “Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt”. Someone has employed Booker to bring them a special individual and all of his woes will be wiped away if he carries out this task efficiently. He has two unnamed boatmen sail him out to sea where the written coordinates told him to go to get the girl. He finds a giant lighthouse operated by nobody, but signs and lighting instruct him to go to the top. He finds a chair placed in the middle of a room and he sits down expecting something. He is strapped into place and is unable to get out of the chair. A message begins to play as Booker’s chair flips and all of his equipment is dumped into a roaring fire. The chair could have been designed to torture people, but instead it begins to rev up and aim towards the sky.
The message is directed by Father Comstock, an individual who wanted to live the American Dream like any other person. He wanted to build a society where everyone was free and the purest Americans were welcomed. Booker is sealed within a chamber and he blasted off into the sky. He finds a floating city up in the atmosphere and gently lands down towards the entrance. Booker finds himself in the floating City of Columbia and he walks a few inches before being greeted by a group of priests. The priests ask if he wants to be cleansed of his past sins and Booker, recollecting some terrible past memories, decides to answer yes. The priest begins dunking Booker into the holy water, but to the point where Booker begins to drown and is left unconscious.
He wakes up and is now capable of exploring the city. He finds that the citizens are extremely American, constantly celebrating their own culture and independence. They are heavily centered around the word of god and they even developed technology ahead of whatever minds are below on the earth. Mechanical soldiers, floating vehicles, rails to quickly transport goods from one area to another, and experimental Vigors capable of giving people bionetic powers. From shooting fire from their hands to levitation. Booker walks through a street festival and he is then approached by two twins. They seem to know him oddly enough and state that fate is on his side. They call themselves the Luteces and they guide Booker to where he needs to go. Booker ends up at a stage show and he is given a raffle ball. One of several numbers will be picked and whatever ball that has the called number will be brought onto the stage. Coincidentally, Booker gets the call number and he is brought onto stage.
The show director brings out two individuals, an African woman and a man who was caught sleeping with her, and he tells Booker to throw the ball at them. Booker, realizing whatever is going on is messed up, tries to retaliate but he is pinned down by armed guards. They examine his hand and find one of them to be marked with the initials, ”AD”. The initials of the prophesied False Shepherd, a figure that Comstock described as a follower of the devil who will one day bring ruin to Colombia. The armed guards bring out a motorized buzzsaw-like tool to tear Booker’s face, but he quickly fights back and escapes the guards. He then learns a girl resides within the statue in the middle of the city. The girl he needs for the debt. He used the sky rails to get to where he needs to go and from there we discover something out of this world.
A young woman named Elizabeth, who has the ability to rip tears through time and space. When Booker goes to confront her she is startled. She has never been let out of the statue before and a mechanical bird known as the Songbird prevents her from escaping. The Songbird is in pursuit of the two, so they make a mad lad dash out of there. Father Comstock has sent a wave of armed forces after Booker and will do what he can to prevent him from leaving Colombia alive. So Booker must fight like hell if he wants to get Elizabeth out of there and pay his debt. Elizabeth is more important than Booker thinks and they’ll end up in some very bizarre places.
Gameplay
BioShock Infinite is a first person shooter…... that’s the best way I can describe it. When people tell you that BioShock Infinite plays like every generic first person shooter out there well they ain’t lying. You have a main health bar just like the previous games which can be replenished by eating food or buying medkits from vending machines. You also have a shield bar which mitigates any damage you take. When your shield is gone the damage you take goes towards your health bar, but it can regenerate if you hide behind some cover for a short amount of time. You move from Point A to Point B to accomplish whatever tasks you have and you are dumped into arena-like areas to fight against whatever enemies stand in your way. There are a good range of enemy types to keep you on your toes from scouts, snipers, rocket launcher guys, mechanized soldiers who require multiple bullets to kill but can be taken down much quicker if you shoot them in their weak spot, turrets which stay in one position but fire multiple rounds at you, and much more we won't go into at the moment.
You have a multitude of guns to use to fight against these enemies, but unlike the original BioShock you can only carry two guns at a time. Sometimes ammo for the guns you are using will run low, so you may want to switch over to another weapon which can be looted off of other enemies. You can upgrade guns at vending machines using the money that you loot, but luckily the upgrade stays with that gun any gun of the future category you pick up rather than the gun you have at hand. How do I explain this? Let’s say you are carrying a machine gun and you decide to purchase a damage booster for it. Ammo starts running low for your machine gun, so you find a nearby volley gun and use that instead. You no longer have a machine gun equipped, but if you find another one you will still have the damage booster. It means it carried over.
There are the bionic powers the BioShock series is known for and the powers in Infinite are crazier than ever. Some powers you may recognize from before got totally reworked to fit in with the more action focused gameplay. Rather than shoot out a small burst of fire instead you throw a fiery grenade that explodes and lights up foes. Rather than levitate an object towards you and throw it back at full force instead you have a group of enemies float in midair and when you shoot them they are slammed into the ground. There’s Possession which allows you to control machines, Murder of Crow which sends a swarm of crows to attack foes, a charge melee attack that covers a long distance, and nothing more classic than a fistful of lightning. All of these powers rely on a salt meter and salt can be replenished by picking up salt bottles. You don’t carry around healing items or Adam Stims anymore, but at least the items to replenish health and Adam are generously scattered around. BioShock Infinite could have been another cover based shooter, but they made it more aggressive. Enemies will hound you on all sides and taking cover will only get you surrounded. You constantly want to be running around, picking up new guns, using environmental hazards to your advantage, and swinging around on the Sky Hook. There may be metal rails placed conveniently in arenas and the Sky Hook can be used to ride along those rails. You build up momentum, are extremely hard to hit, and you can fire at enemies while riding along these rails. Aiming and reloading is going to be harder since you are now moving quickly and have one hand to reload, but you have some edge over your opponents.
Elizabeth will be traveling along with you, but she isn’t the typical NPC you always have to protect. She will run around and try to throw you items for you to use. Ammo, guns, salt bottles, medkits, and sometimes even money. She also has the ability to rip open tears through time and space which can turn the tides of a battle. She can summon cover, environmental hazards, salt containers, gun caches, and sometimes heavy duty support. She is very useful when used at the right time. If you die during combat you lose a small portion of your money and spawn at a nearby checkpoint. However, you don’t have to refight the enemies you just fought, which means you can continue where you just were. BioShock Infinite is forgiving to the player and the game wants the player to know they are a bionetic power wielding badass who flies through the sky and jumps their foes like a panther. There’s nothing much else I can say about Infinite besides that it’s good to play and what works, works really well. Hopefully you can escape Columbia.
Thoughts
BioShock Infinite is a really good first person shooter, but I can understand why some people may not like it. It borrows heavily from modern shooters and the line drawn between the original games and it’s influences is hard to tell. From the first few BioShock games we have the health bar, bionetic powers to wield, and combat that encourages you to go into the fray. Meanwhile there’s the two weapon limited restriction, regenerating shield, a walk and run speed, and enemies that pop in and out of fights. It’s a weird blend of ideas, but for some odd reason BioShock Infinite works and ends up being an incredibly fun game. Running around, gunning down foes, gliding through the air, blowing the enemies up below, and then jumping off the rail you were riding on to sucker punch the last guy in the face. It’s a swashbuckling adventure that makes the player feel awesome. It's pretty challenging at times, but it is consistent.
The City of Columbia was a beautiful place to navigate although there were dark concerning spots at times. The levels aren’t interconnected, but sometimes you’ll end up in previous areas. The game does guide you towards the right direction and you never lose track of where to go. For how much stuff is running on screen I’m surprised the game ran along at a high frame rate level. Even higher if you buy the remastered version which comes along with the BioShock reworks for modern consoles. There are rewards for going off the beaten path like audio logs, clothing for you to equip that gives you different stats, upgrades, and more. At least the game is not extremely linear.
The story is the part that divides so many players with BioShock Infinite. It gets very confusing later on with all the twists and messages they try to get out, and at times it ends up being more confusing than the original BioShock. Some key plot points will probably even take a second playthrough or an explanation video to fully comprehend. However, I think the story is really good and can be deep when looked into. Booker Dewitt, this man who has a terrible past and wants to wipe them away by carrying out this suspicious job. His past comes to haunt him in some way and the people of Columbia remind me of his sins. He could just deliver the girl and get it over with, but he decides to protect her from the crazy men who want to lock her up in a cage. It’s a good story although I still like the original BioShock’s story even more.
Now what are some complaints I have with BioShock Infinite? There’s the fact that this game borrows heavily from a lot of modern shooters so there is that. There’s this one boss fight more than halfway through the game that gets dragged on longer than it should. The bionic powers range from being incredibly useful to one or two time uses. The powers I used the most were probably Devil’s Kiss and Bucking Bronco, because one of them was a fast throwing grenade and the other one levitated enemies into the air for me to shoot. The others I completely forgot I had on hand. The game has a low amount of replay value. It has a fair amount, but not enough to make a second run feel special as the first. BioShock Infinite is a great game and I recommend it more than some of the other first person shooters in the market. It’s not perfects, but if you can take in what BioShock Infinite has to offer you surely it will drag you along for one fun ride. In the end I am giving BioShock Infinite a 9/10 for excellence at best.
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