A beautiful setting makes for a game hampered only by its gameplay and the hype surrounding it.
Bioshock Infinite, true to the series roots, features a well-realized dystopia that offers substantial social commentary to the world around it. The strongest point of the Bioshock series has always been the setting and world they create, and Bioshock Infinite is no exception to this. Columbus is a well realized world that takes the nationalistic hero-worship of the American founding fathers to a religious fervor, showing the flawed end result of an overly nationalistic ideology. The way that people move through this world, having their own private conversations and arguments, makes it feel like a real world you are inhabiting and not just a backdrop for a game experience. Coupled with the old-fashioned sounding radio and music everywhere, and the design truly carries the game forward. Bioshock Infinite is at its best during these moments of relatively peaceful exploration and dialogue, where it is just building the environment around you. With the possible sole exception of Vigors, which made sense in Rapture as plasmids but seem totally out of place in a highly conservative society such as Columbia. Why a people that seem so conservative and against change as Columbians would use body-modifying drugs, which are introduced with zero explanation, seems totally baffling to me. It is like they just wanted to include the plasmid mechanic from Bioshock without really having a story reason to.
Of course, these moments don't always last, with combat scenarios erupting to disturb the peace of Columbia. Bioshock has never been known for the compelling combat, and Bioshock Infinite does little to break that mold. You use a combination of Vigors, special magical enhancements, and regular guns to conquer your enemy. Generally I found the vigors, with the exception of Murder of Crows, to be fairly lackluster and not worth using. Murder of Crows stuns and enhances the damage that enemies take, making it ideal for both crowd-control and single tougher foes. The gunplay works fine, but it also was not something I ever looked forward to. Bioshock Infinite shakes the formula up a bit by adding rails along the bigger combat areas you can use to quickly move between locations, but these always existed primarily as a novelty and not something that was ever necessary to use. Generally these sequences all last entirely too long, and drag down the pacing for the game's narrative. I found myself just trying to rush through the combat as fast as possible to continue progressing the story, at the cost of often dying due to the extreme fragility of your character. Thankfully death is no real problem, costing you only a small amount of money.
The story is really the highlight for Bioshock Infinite, and while I can't go into much detail without spoiling anything, it is a fairly interesting story that features some very well-realized characters. Unfortunately, if you are coming to Bioshock after reading all the glowing praise it has gotten, the game's story is likely going to be underwhelming. It is not so inspired and mind-blowing a story that it changes the way we think about video games, like some claim. It actually has some fairly significant plot holes, particularly in the ending, that compromise the integrity of the story as a whole. It leaves just enough mystery as to encourage discussion on the internet, but does a good job of answering the major questions that a player would have.
As a person who plays games primarily for their story, I went into Bioshock Infinite very excited for what I heard was a very story driven experience. While it is true that the game has a strong focus on story, it is hampered by a series of long drawn out combat scenarios that have always been the weakest part of the series. If you are looking for a interesting little story and an amazing setting, Bioshock Infinite should be right up your alley. If you were looking for something driven by gameplay, solid shooting mechanics, or a title that would absolutely blow your mind, this probably isn't it.
