Bioshock Infinite

Welcome to Columbia a fantastic floating city designed as a symbol of American Exceptionalism and national pride That was before the Boxer Rebellion when the city fired on innocent people Columbia has since been disavowed by America and become a symbol of xenophobia and hatred a flying bogeyman dreaded around the world Columbia is now being run by the Founders a group of self-appointed rulers nationalist and religious zealots bent on keeping Columbia &39;pure&39; But opposing them are the Vox Populi a rag-tag resistance movement hoping to overthrow the Founders and restore all rights to all the citizens of Columbia Thrown into this turmoil you take on the role of Booker Dewitt a disgraced ex-Pinkerton agent taking on a job that will clear you of "old debts" and maybe restore your...

• Paul Martin April 08, 2013 360

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  Introduction
  
  Bioshock Infinite is the not so much sequel to the classical Bioshock and Bioshock 2. Despite holding the same name the game sets new heights in the series taking a dramatic U-turn from the setting in the dark blue depths of 'Rapture' on the bottom of the ocean floor. Publisher 2K Games and Developer Irrational instead opt to take the gamer to a new location, amongst the clouds, you will find the floating city 'Columbia'. A bold risk you may think, given the vibrant gloomy appeal and lure Rapture held on its audience back in 2007, with the emergence of one of the most iconic shooting games of all time. Did Irrational games succeed in a change of scenery? Or did they freefall from their new creation? Lets find out!
  
  Story
  
  You play as Booker DeWitt, the game starts as you approach a gloomy looking lighthouse, in the middle of nowhere via rowing boat. You are told, "bring us the girl, and wipe away your debt". Upon arriving at the lighthouse, similar to that you approach in the original Bioshock to enter the world of Rapture you proceed to the top, ringing bells to call the mysterious floating city, and the new setting Columbia. Without going into too much detail, to avoid spoilers, or spoil the awe the game produces in its opening moments, you are to find the girl, aka 'The Lamb' of Columbia known as Elizabeth. Mysterious, yet feared Elizabeth is locked away in a tower by Father Comstock aka 'The Prophet'. Father Comstock is the games main antagonist, as he has managed to convince the citizens of Columbia he is the voice of god, and delivers a prophecy that The Lamb will lead Columbia to a brighter (aggressive, would be the right term) future. In a classic Rapunzel like story, you are Booker De Witt, and you are too rescue the seemingly damsel in distress, but nothing is as it quite seems in the world of Bioshock. In a 'Lost' tv series manner, the opening 15 minutes not only drops you in awe, and lures you into the floating city of Columbia, but manages to leave you with questions, that urge you to find answers.
  
  Gameplay
  
  The gameplay is very similar to the previous instalments, and many other standard first person shooters (FPS). The game still produces plasmids, as known in the past but now known as Vigors. This will allow the player to ingest a potion like substance granting abilities, i.e throwing fireballs from your hand, or the ability to send birds (crows to be exact) to pick away at your enemies on screen. It adds variety to your standard shooter, allowing you to simply walk around with your casual handguns, and machine guns with a twist keeping gameplay fresh. The A.I is extremely intelligent; interactions with Elizabeth are a breath of fresh air, arguably the best A.I partner I have encountered to date. When you manage to have her accompany you throughout the main narrative she never gets stuck on objects, handles herself well, and even provides you with money, health packs she finds lying about. The experience allows the player to grow attached to Elizabeth, as though she were a cooperative player, and she arguably plays better than half my mates would be. The city of Columbia is, quite simply put HUGE! It is so appealing, visually and culturally, as though it is a believable place. The amount of effort and dedication the game developers have shown, the game shows the tender loving care it has received with the end result, arguably one of the finest looking, and playable games to date. Transport is not a problem in Columbia, despite it being so big, DeWitt manages to travel around with a creative invention called the 'Skyline', which is a tram like line suspending across and between the floating sections of the city. It allows DeWitt to hook on, using the "Skyhook" and travel at great speeds across the city, in a free roam like fashion, although the game itself is very linear. It's a great addition, and a fun one allowing you to disburse from the skyline, projecting yourself at velocity towards unsuspecting, and sometimes helpless suspecting foes. The Skyhook, is used as a melee tool throughout the game, allowing the player to execute, enemy foes in gruesome, yet stylish fashion. The developers have decided not to produce any multiplayer content like the previous instalment Bioshock 2, this was so they could "focus on the main narrative in single player". All I have to say to that is kudos to them, finally a developer realising its quality, not quantity the gaming community desire, and Bioshock Infinite has plenty of quality for sure, arguably because they never had to dedicate time elsewhere to provide for multiplayer, with the end result feeling like a tacked-on experience in Bioshock 2. Take note Tomb Raider developers, should you think about a second instalment to what was another great single player experience this year, but arguably lacked the polish it deserved due to the included multiplayer content. Another mention would be Mass Effect 3, arguably lacking what the first 2 games had in story to introduce multiplayer content. Therefore, again I have the upmost respect for Bioshock Infinites developers for holding their stance on a 'single player only' game in a very heavy populated 'multiplayer rules' (Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield) market. The game clocks in at 10-14 hours depending on the difficulty you play on, should you aim to complete the game with all collectables it could take up to 20 hours. Upon completion on any difficulty you unlock and even harder "1999" difficulty, for those that seek a bigger/harder challenge and want to play through the game again. I found myself opting for this experience, simply because I was not ready to leave the city of Columbia just yet.. yes it was simply that good. Overall though, Bioshock Infinite is fun, addictive, smooth and the developers have improved on an already impressive formula we seen in the previous instalments. Arguably the best polished first person shooter since the first Bioshock arrived in 2007, and that statement alone speaks volumes.
  
  Graphics
  
  The graphics in the game are stunning, they aren't real time capture or movie quality animation however they are amazing. By this I mean they are more cartoon like, than realistic allowing the game to be a vibrant colourful eye dazzler. The facial animations in the main character, especially Elizabeth are well done, they allow the gamer to attach themselves to the character with more ease, more belief. The world of Columbia sores amongst the clouds, and with the vast amount of different types of enemies whether it be mechanical or human.. Or other they all have great artistic styles that work well inside the city Columbia. Like the gameplay aspect of Bioshock Infinite it is easy to invest yourself into the world the developers have created, due to the amount attention, and love they have shown the game upon creating it. All the weapons look unique, and with the details in some of the close up animation it's a visual pleasure to dispatch some of the enemies you encounter. The only thing the game doesn't have going its way is that bit of power the current generation consoles cannot provide. I would imagine had this been a launch title on next generation consoles it would have looked even better, but don't mistake me as saying that's a bad thing. It's a "what could have been if ...", and should have been in many respects to compliment everything else the game has to offer. Despite being a beautiful looking game, the graphics it does possess, they are arguably the worst thing about Bioshock Infinite, and although the statement is correct, it is also being very harsh on the game, and developers to say that, as they have squeezed every ounce of power the current generation consoles have left. Is that a negative, I believe not, but it is such ashame we could not see what could have been.
  
  Audio
  
  The music, the vibe, the character voice work, all work well within Bioshock Infinite. Most notably Elizabeth, with a voice over provided by Courtnee Draper. Courtnee provides an Oscar worthy voice over, and as arguably just as good as Hollywood actors in animated movies. Yet that's not to say the rest of cast weren't as good, they make their characters believable, and unlike some games they keep you engaged in the experience. The only way to describe it is.. it's like watching a movie, which you play. This only makes you more engaged, you feel like you have something invested in the game yourself and too me that's because the characters are made to sound believable, which is a resounding achievement anytime its accomplished in the video game universe. Yet what is arguably just as important in the narrative, especially in a game is music, it allows the environment to develop a personality. Bioshock Infinite does everything right in this category and again arguably the best audio in game to date. The whole old fashioned music, and gloomy suspense it provides is priceless, something you would expect in a Hollywood blockbuster, in a multi-million dollar/pound market. My hat is off to the audio team at Irrational Games, best audio in a game to date, quite an accomplishment.
  
  Overall
  
  Bioshock Infinite is amazing, simply put it is as near to perfect you will get in the current generation consoles. It shows that a single player story with a strong narrative is just as good, infact better than all the other chart topping titles that rely heavily on the multiplayer aspect. I have no doubt that the next Call of Duty will sell more than Bioshock Infinite, but that statement alone is a crime on gaming, for the sheer amount of care and attention the game developer Irrational Games has put into this game. It could arguably be, and well should be Game of the Year, in a year that provides us the next generation of consoles, has that ever happened? I am unsure, but it literally would be a crime to miss this experience. The story, length, difficulty, gameplay, audio and even the graphics that I have been extremely harsh on, are simply the best thing to have come (ever) in the Xbox 360/PS3 generation. To simply miss this game would be a crime on gaming, and should you consider yourself a gamer then what are you waiting for? "Would you kindly" buy this game already! It is unmissable! 9.8/10
  

• BioShock Infinite: Beast of America Trailer 360PS3PC | 01:26 Play Trailer
• Bioshock Infinite: In-Engine Footage Trailer 360PS3PC | 01:21 Play Trailer
• Bioshock Infinite: Teaser 360PS3PC | 01:27 Play Trailer