BioShock Infinite

Short version: (Conclusion)

Bioshock Infinite is an amazing game that has its’ story at the centre. You’re led through a wonderfully created flying city by a narrative that keeps you wondering what’s what, who’s who and what will happen next. Most of all though it had me wondering whether Booker and Elizabeth would make it out of Columbia. They’re likeable characters that had me rooting for them. Without spoiling too much, I felt that the creators pulled my heart-strings in new ways. Ways, spread out through the game, that turned out to be amazingly relevant to the plot in the end. The story is complemented by amazing graphics, music and art-direction. Gameplay-wise, the shooting-action does get repetitive and doesn’t always fit well with story. It’s still fun most of the time however because of the options and freedom you have. I do view the moments of exploring Columbia and looking around, also as gameplay and I enjoyed these parts a lot. Bioshock Infinite is one of the most compelling games I’ve ever played. I honestly loved it and if the above sounds good to you, I think you should play it too.

Long version:

Introduction

Bioshock Infinite is a first person shooter game set in a sort of alternate world with science fiction elements. The world has a strong steampunk feel to it. You play a smart but strong guy named Booker who has to find and rescue a young girl named Elizabeth. The story takes place around 1900, in a wondrous flying city called Columbia. It is from Columbia, that Booker must get Elizabeth. Over the course of the game, the story confronts you with many serious subjects like religion, genetic experimentation, ethics in science, politics, racism, class-differences in society and personal redemption. Don’t worry though, the game pulls you in like a rollercoaster-ride. It’s almost never boring. As such, the serious subject matter only adds to the experience, making the game that much more immersive.

My experience

What stands out most for me is how uncomfortable the game made me feel at its’ start. It begins with a lighthouse, amidst a stormy sea. Everything was still relatively normal at this point. The man and woman who rowed me there seemed a bit strange, and to go out rowing on sea on such a stormy night implied that there might be some special need to do so. Up to this point everything was still pretty normal, however. Small SPOILER alert. It’s only the beginning and these events have been shown in trailers to some extent but if you want nothing spoiled, skip the following few sentences. After the lighthouse you launch into Columbia via a small rocket-vehicle. This is where my mind started to protest a little. Rockets? I’m pretty sure they didn’t have those back then. There’s also the pretty impossible flying city of course. Obviously I knew there was going to be a flying city from all the previews and trailers but now I had to actually accept it to some degree. What started to actually make me slightly nauseous was the religious atmosphere, almost immediately after landing in Columbia. You land in a sort of a cathedral-esque shrine that has a person named father Comstock at its’ centre of worship. Religion is almost literally pushed in your face or actually your face is pushed in it as you are forcibly baptized. After this you get to stroll through Columbia for a while. You’ll see strangely relaxed people amidst strange things that seem most like they would be biological or physics experiments (SPOILERS over). My mind struggled with the many strange, shocking things I saw. At the same time everything I experienced somehow seemed to be permeated by a subconscious sense of inescapability. What’s amazing about all of this is that the creators have managed to make me feel the titular word shock. It’s in the title for a reason. Just like in the original Bioshock, the shock of course also comes from the gore as well as the harsh, gruesome fates that befall many of its’ world’s inhabitants as you progress. Walking through the beautiful, amazingly created, flying city was amazing, though. I frequently stopped to take in the sights. Part of the beautiful look is created by the great light and smoke effects. Just so you know, I played Bioshock Infinite on PC by the way, it undoubtedly looks better on PC than on concoles.

It wasn’t until my second play-session, about an hour in, that the shock wore off a little and my feelings settled a bit.

Presentation and Story

I loved the story of Bioshock Infinite, I’d say it’s best described a sort of a sci-fi mystery. I specifically like how things slowly become clearer. The story really kept me playing. Not just the story but also the acting and the music are among the best I’ve witnessed in games. I’d say it’s at least as good as a high quality tv-show. The story takes things a lot further than what you’d see in any tv-show, though. Not just in terms of shock but also in regard to complexity and its’ subjects of class struggle and ethics. Bioshock Infinite is rare in how it places you right in the middle of situations where social issues and ethics are matters of life and death. I like how a medium like games, or maybe I should say the consumer group of gamers, can actually be more accepting towards such a story. Related to this, I think the story is actually best experienced in game-form. I feel only games allow this way of experiencing the world as you walk through it. Information about Columbia and its’ inhabitants can be found throughout the game in the form of these sort of video-viewers and tape-recorders. They make you discover the story and world very gradually. All together, this means that, thanks to its’ game-medium, you walk through Bioshock Infite’s story, as it were. As opposed to purely being a spectator.

The music is simply amazing. It’s a beautiful orchestral soundtrack that helps create the atmosphere that permeates this game. I got the special pre-order edition which included a download code for the soundtrack, so I could listen to it on its’ own. The soundtrack is both amazingly atmospheric and of very high orchestral quality.

Gameplay

With regard to the shooter gameplay, the game feels like a mix between Halo and the original Bioshock. It has all types of magi-like powers similar to Bioshock. There are all sorts of elemental powers at your disposal. Just as in Bioshock some powers will even allow you to turn your enemies into allies. All in all, there are a number of cool powers that differ a lot from each other and give you all kinds of options in battle. If there’s drawback it’s that they don’t really combine in any kind of special way. You might expect that water and electricity combined, make for a more powerful attack, for instance but combining them doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. As far as the comparison to Halo goes, Infinite’s battles take place mostly in relatively open spaces. This means there’s a lot of room to maneuver and approach your enemies. A negative is that, just like Halo, it seems like they used one type of battle template over and over again. At some point the fights started to feel a little repetitive. I would even go so far as to say that a lot of fights felt like filler. That is, it seemed as though the developers were throwing in fights to give you something to do in between story-parts and the moments of taking in the world. Part of this feel comes from how many fights didn’t feel very relevant to the story to me. Mind you, this doesn’t go for all the battles, just for a few too many. Overall however, I’d say they’re fun much more often than not. Plus, the skyhook lends a feeling to the shoot-outs that’s different from any game I’ve played. The skyhook lines allow you to quickly move around and the rollercoaster feel they give is pretty cool. This only goes for the battles in which there are skyhook lines, because they aren’t in every arena. What also should be mentioned is Elizabeth’s role in fights. She throws you ammo in fights and opens interdimensional “tears”. Opening these tears basically means making something appear that helps you. This can be an ammo crate, a friendly droid or a wall to hide behind, to name a few. Only one can be made to appear at a time. Elizabeth doesn’t fight with you nor do you have to protect her. All in all, I found her role in gameplay to be relatively minor. Not what the trailers made me expect. On the positive side, she’s never a bother. I must add though that on the story-side of things her (almost) continuous presence and your interaction with her are part of what makes Bioshock Infinite so special.

The game allows you very little freedom in the path you choose. This goes for both the story and how you move through its’ world. It would have been amazing to be able to explore an open world style Columbia. I feel that the beautiful and mystifying world would lend itself really well for that. Don’t get me wrong, there is some room to explore an area when you’re in it but you don’t have choice in which area you’re going to. The story is even more linear than that. It seems a bit odd at first since the original Bioshock gave you a number of choices (as well as a little more freedom in how you moved around). I must admit I missed the choices and options. The further I got into Bioshock Infinite the more I understood the creators’ decision on this, however. I think this story would have been almost impossible to pull off if the player was given more freedom. It’s a very complicated story with lots of twists and surprises. There would have been too many risks to either the order of events, exposure to events and the pacing. So looking at it as a trade-off I think they made the right choice, choosing the story. Something struck me about all this. In the Uncharted games for example, also a very story-driven game, I didn’t mind the lack of choice. I loved following the rollercoaster ride the creators had set out for me. So why did I mind in Bioshock Infinite, I wonder. I think it has to do with the game presenting you with so many shocking events and moral dilemmas that as a human you want more power and control over what’s happening. Although on some level I can’t help wondering what the game would have been like with choice, I admire how the developers managed to elicit feelings of powerlessness in me and made me wish for more control. It actually seems to me like the lack of player-choice makes the power and depth of the story stand out more.

Conclusion

Bioshock Infinite is an amazing game that has its’ story at the centre. You’re led through a wonderfully created flying city by a narrative that keeps you wondering what’s what, who’s who and what will happen next. Most of all though it had me wondering whether Booker and Elizabeth would make it out of Columbia. They’re likeable characters that had me rooting for them. Without spoiling too much, I felt that the creators pulled my heart-strings in new ways. Ways, spread out through the game, that turned out to be amazingly relevant to the plot in the end. The story is complemented by amazing graphics, music and art-direction. Gameplay-wise, the shooting-action does get repetitive and doesn’t always fit well with story. It’s still fun most of the time however because of the options and freedom you have. I do view the moments of exploring Columbia and looking around, also as gameplay and I enjoyed these parts a lot. Bioshock Infinite is one of the most compelling games I’ve ever played. I honestly loved it and if the above sounds good to you, I think you should play it too.