With the recent (enough) release of the BioShock Infinite trailer a sense of disappointed overwhelmed me more than any other feeling.  Irrational is a devoted developer with several fantastic games under their belt; their games have pretty much been fantastic from start to finish. So what was it about this beautiful game from a highly rated developer that rubbed me the wrong way?

A lot of people seem to have touched on this argument as a whole but I haven't seen a lot of talk on the world itself. This is saying a lot since Irrational has created games such as System Shock 2 and the Freedom Force series which all featured worlds with incredible depth and atmosphere not seen in a lot of games today. From what I can tell this game will be exactly like that as well, a lot of character in the world which makes it feel unique and well thought out. So...where's this issue you might be asking? The issue I have is that this will most likely be set in the BioShock universe. One of the things that I enjoyed about the first game was that it felt real even considering the fact that people shot lightning bolts and harvested little girls for magical powers.

What I mean is that this world felt like it was set in our own. Andrew Ryan grew up in Russia and American throughout the early parts of the 20th century:Economic Collapse, World Wars, and America and Russia duking it out for the title of sole super power were all present in this time line and universe. But then we have Rapture, a product of this real world but displaced in it's own, figuratively and literally. Even though it was at the bottom of the sea and these fantastical events took place there, it appeared to be rooted in a quasi-reality. Yes, people could eventually become super heroes if you brought all the best scientists, artists, businessmen together in your own high society. Once you establish that you could basically go anywhere.

BioShock Infinite however, if its actually in the same universe takes place in a country in the sky back 40 years before Rapture's creation and what sounds like 60+ years when Columbia was "founded."  The whole reality I pointed out early seems to be voided with the inclusion of this. Columbia is never mentioned in the series before, especially no enormous war of Independence. What this does is completely take away from the mysticism of Rapture and BioShock as a whole. City at the bottom of the sea? Eh that's no big, there was a whole country 33,000 feet above us 60 years ago! There are crazy scientists roaming this city with the ability to summon a swarm of bees and shoot fireballs out of their hands? Been there done that. Even the Big Daddy's are apparently clones of whatever the heck is hanging out in Columbia! This practically turns Rapture and Andrew Ryan into commonplace commodities in the BioShock universe, which is my biggest complaint.

The game itself is probably going to be fantastic however. I'm not jumping to conclusions on its quality but it's hard to think that it's going to be bad. My main complaint aside, I just wish that Irrational makes great connections with this game and the rest of the series. 

With the recent (enough) release of the BioShock Infinite trailer a sense of disappointed overwhelmed me more than any other feeling.  Irrational is a devoted developer with several fantastic games under their belt; their games have pretty much been fantastic from start to finish. So what was it about this beautiful game from a highly rated developer that rubbed me the wrong way?

A lot of people seem to have touched on this argument as a whole but I haven't seen a lot of talk on the world itself. This is saying a lot since Irrational has created games such as System Shock 2 and the Freedom Force series which all featured worlds with incredible depth and atmosphere not seen in a lot of games today. From what I can tell this game will be exactly like that as well, a lot of character in the world which makes it feel unique and well thought out. So...where's this issue you might be asking? The issue I have is that this will most likely be set in the BioShock universe. One of the things that I enjoyed about the first game was that it felt real even considering the fact that people shot lightning bolts and harvested little girls for magical powers.

What I mean is that this world felt like it was set in our own. Andrew Ryan grew up in Russia and American throughout the early parts of the 20th century:Economic Collapse, World Wars, and America and Russia duking it out for the title of sole super power were all present in this time line and universe. But then we have Rapture, a product of this real world but displaced in it's own, figuratively and literally. Even though it was at the bottom of the sea and these fantastical events took place there, it appeared to be rooted in a quasi-reality. Yes, people could eventually become super heroes if you brought all the best scientists, artists, businessmen together in your own high society. Once you establish that you could basically go anywhere.

BioShock Infinite however, if its actually in the same universe takes place in a country in the sky back 40 years before Rapture's creation and what sounds like 60+ years when Columbia was "founded."  The whole reality I pointed out early seems to be voided with the inclusion of this. Columbia is never mentioned in the series before, especially no enormous war of Independence. What this does is completely take away from the mysticism of Rapture and BioShock as a whole. City at the bottom of the sea? Eh that's no big, there was a whole country 33,000 feet above us 60 years ago! There are crazy scientists roaming this city with the ability to summon a swarm of bees and shoot fireballs out of their hands? Been there done that. Even the Big Daddy's are apparently clones of whatever the heck is hanging out in Columbia! This practically turns Rapture and Andrew Ryan into commonplace commodities in the BioShock universe, which is my biggest complaint.

The game itself is probably going to be fantastic however. I'm not jumping to conclusions on its quality but it's hard to think that it's going to be bad. My main complaint aside, I just wish that Irrational makes great connections with this game and the rest of the series. 

I agree.