BioShock Infinite (Xbox One - 1st completion)
The third and last game in BioShock: The Collection is 2013's BioShock Infinite. While the first two games were on one disc of the Collection, Infinite was on a second disc on its own. Before I comment on Infinite, I forgot to mention a couple things about the Collection. The first is that I bought it at a GameStop in downtown Madison in 2017 and secondly, it was the first Xbox One game I ever bought even before I owned the console. While the Collection itself is great and highly recommended, I should caution that it was kind of lazily put together. While the graphics are upscaled and have better frame rates, they don't look that much better than the originals. All DLC is included which gives it good value, but there is no multiplayer option (not a big deal to me). And my biggest issue in the Collection is that the games' bugs are still present and have not been fixed! I had a few freezes and crashes in the first two games and was completely screwed over on Xbox achievements that should have been counted but claim I didn't complete! Infinite seemed to perform okay from this first playthrough. Speaking of Infinite, I even have the original Xbox 360 version still in its shrink-wrap as I never got around the playing it. Ah well. I overall recommend the Collection to everyone, especially if sold at a cheap price for those who have played the original releases and want to venture into Rapture and Columbia again. For newcomers, this is a definite purchase!
BioShock Infinite is a prequel, taking place 48 years before the events of the first BioShock. Instead of exploring an underwater metropolis nightmare, Infinite has you up in a authoritarian floating city in the clouds. The gameplay has changed a bit from the first two games though the general aesthetic of exploring, using powers, and discovering the history and characters of your surroundings is still intact. It definitely feels different from the other games, starting as bright and interactive before going to dark and ruin later on. For its theme, Infinite is more religious than philosophical. The Founders is a cult that mixes selective fundamentalist Christianity with the deifying of the American Founding Fathers. The way I see it in the series: BioShock is a kind of slap toward Capitalism, BioShock 2 toward Communism, while BioShock Infinite does smaller slaps towards religion, American exceptionalism, and the institutional racism of the time. Like Rapture, the world of Columbia is quite vast to explore. I beat the main campaign and the two-episode Burial at Sea DLC in under 20 hours of gametime on medium difficulty. I got a nice handful of achievements, but did miss some easy ones too.
BioShock Infinite is set in 1912 and takes place in a floating steampunk city-state in the sky called "Columbia". The city of Columbia was founded by self-proclaimed prophet Zachary Hale Comstock, and funded by the American government as a floating world's fair and display of American exceptionalism. Tensions rose between Columbia and the US government after the city intervened in the Boxer Rebellion, and Columbia ultimately seceded from the United States and disappeared into the clouds. Comstock transforms the city into a theocratic police state, with Comstock worshiped as a prophet, and the Founding Fathers of the United States venerated as religious icons. Institutional racism and elitism are widespread in the city, with minorities serving as a labor underclass of Columbia. By the events of the game, Columbia is on the verge of civil war between the Founders (the leaders of Columbia) and the Vox Populi, a resistance group led by Daisy Fitzroy who fight for the rights of the marginalized. Protagonist Booker DeWitt, a disgraced member of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency emotionally scarred from the acts of violence he committed at the Battle of Wounded Knee. Faced with mounting gambling debts, he is sent to Columbia to find Elizabeth, who has the ability to open and enter space-time Tears. Elizabeth has been confined since childhood in the city and guarded by Songbird, a large, robotic bird-like creature who has been both her friend and her warden. Two individuals, Robert and Rosalind Lutece, direct Booker to Columbia and appear throughout his travels. Though they appear as twins, they are revealed to be the same person from two different realities, having managed to figure out how to communicate through and subsequently cross realities. In July 1912, Booker arrives in Columbia. In the city, he is pursued by Columbia's authorities, who recognize him as a prophesied "False Shepherd" who will corrupt Elizabeth and overthrow Columbia. Freeing Elizabeth from her tower, Booker narrowly evades Songbird. Commandeering an airship, Booker promises to take Elizabeth to Paris; when she realizes they are going to New York City to fulfill Booker's debts, Elizabeth knocks him out and flees. Booker awakens to find the airship under the control of Daisy Fitzroy, who offers to return the ship if Booker helps her arm the Vox Populi.
To see the whole game, go here or below:
Click to viewTo see Episode 1 of Burial at Sea go here or below:
To see Episode 2 of Burial at Sea go here or below:
Graphics/Art-10
+ A lot more bright and colourful than the dark and contrasting of the first two BioShock games. The first half of the game is mostly bright and clean while the second half is more in line with the ruin and darkness of the other games. Unlike the other games, this one is not near as isolationist and you get to interact with the citizens of Columbia.
+ Excellent animation and art direction. Like the underwater darkness of Rapture, Columbia is a great bright world in the clouds to explore. The early 20th century Americana style works very well here.
+ Great character models and enemies though they lack some variety.
Sound/Music-9
+ The great voice acting of the past two games return. Troy Baker (Joel from The Last of Us, and Sam Drake in Uncharted 4) plays the protagonist Booker while Courtnee Draper is co-protagonist Elizabeth. They play very well off each other and thankfully isn't sappy. Like the audio recordings in the previous two games, Infinite uses "Voxophones" in the same manner scattered throughout the campaign. Besides the continued good voice acting in these audio logs, the sound mixing make them feel authentic from that time period.
+ Great sound effects.
+ While there isn't really any licensable music because the game takes place in 1912, the use of anachronism to play contemporary songs from our modern era -in ragtime style- was pretty creative! The game's soundtrack itself is just as good as the other two games too.
- Unless you're paying attention, you may not know the songs played were based on popular modern music. I didn't know, for example, that Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Want to Have Fun was being played in that old ragtime style because it wasn't sung. Others like the Beach Boys God Only Knows was more obvious.
Here's a link to a YouTube playlist of the game's music.
Control-9
+ The controls are mostly similar to the other two games, though there are a couple of differences. On an Xbox One controller, searching for items is done with the X-button in Infinite compared to the A-button in the previous games. It took a little time to get used to this coming right off those games I just played.
+ The use of Vigors is the same as Plasmids in the previous two games. Weapon use is the same too.
+ Controlling on the Sky-Line isn't difficult though it came be hard to aim at enemies while riding it. Being able to knock enemies while landing is fun!
Gameplay-9
+ BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter with role-playing elements. Infinite adapts the gameplay formula of BioShock, with weapons, powers, and upgrades often functioning similar as those in the earlier game, albeit named differently.
+ You may carry only two weapons at a time, and can collect other weapons and ammunition from defeated enemies or the environment. In addition to guns and melee attacks, you can use superpower-bestowing Vigors; these include the ability to shoot lightning, disable enemies by launching them into the air, or controlling enemies or machines. Vigors can also be laid on the ground as traps. Vigors require Salt, the equivalent of magic points, to power the abilities.
+ Booker has health and a damage-absorbing shield; the shield automatically regenerates out of combat, while health must be replenished with medical kits or food. If Booker dies, the player revives in a safe area at the cost of money, while local enemies are also partially healed.
+ Items called Gear grant passive abilities that can improve your strength or damage resistance. A piece of Gear attaches to one of four slots; only one piece of Gear can be affixed to a slot at a time, with extras stored in your inventory. Your attributes can also be improved by finding Infusions, which upgrade your shield, health, or Salt meters.
+ Your opposition are representatives of the Founders and the Vox Populi. These foes range from normal infantry to Heavy Hitters, more formidable enemies that act as mini-bosses throughout the game. Armed automatons scattered throughout Columbia act as a security defense system for the city.
+ Columbia is filled with large, open spaces that offer you freedom in how to approach enemy encounters. The city is traversed on foot or via the Sky-Line, a rail system that Booker and enemies ride via special hooks. Booker can jump on, off, and between Sky-Line tracks at any time, and fire one-handed weapons while riding them. The hook also serves as a melee weapon, capable of performing executions on weakened foes.
+ Booker is aided throughout the game by Elizabeth, a computer-controlled NPC. Elizabeth requires no protection and assists during combat by tossing helpful items to Booker as needed. She can also be directed to open Tears, bringing in items or pieces of the environment, such as medical kits or a ledge for higher ground. Elizabeth can pick locks using her hairpin to open doors or find useful items.
+ Cash, food, medical kits, ammunition and Salts can be found scattered throughout the game's environments. Vending machines can be used to buy supplies and powerful upgrades for weapons and Vigors. Optional side-missions are also available, where you must unlock safes or decode hidden ciphers; completing them rewards Booker with supplies and upgrades. Audio logs (Voxophones) and film projectors (Kinetoscopes) scattered through Columbia expand on the characters and events of the game.
+ Infinite has four difficulty levels: Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulties are available to start. After beating the game on a lower difficulty level or inputting the famous "Konami Code" in the main menu, the hardest "1999 Mode" is unlocked. Enemies are much tougher, the player's navigational aid and aim assist is removed, resource management is much more crucial to survival, and death is more punishing.
+ No more use of cameras-for-bonuses and having to hack things constantly make Infinite a more streamlined game than the previous two.
- While it's nice that Elizabeth can hold onto items to help you in need, you'll wish she carried more for backup considering you can't take them when you're full.
- I'm not much of a fan of only being able to hold two weapons at once compared to the variety you were allowed in the previous two games.
Fun/Story/Misc-9
+ A more streamlined experience than the previous two, Infinite is just as fun. It felt both different and familiar at once. I regret not playing the game years ago on Xbox 360 when I had the chance.
+ While I do prefer the first BioShock as my favourite of the three, Infinite is a close second while the second game is a close third. All three compliment each other well! The first game is revolutionary, the second is mostly the same but better refined, while the third game has the better story.
+ The two DLC episodes of Burial at Sea were surprisingly very good. They take place in Rapture before the events of the first game. You play Booker in the first episode and is similar in gameplay to the main campaign. In episode two, you play as Elizabeth and the emphasis is on stealth as engaging enemies in a fight is deadly to her. Returning to Rapture in Infinite felt natural, especially coming off just playing the previous games.
+ I wasn't that offended by the use of religion in the game. While The Founders cult that Comstock heads seems like a form of fundamentalist Christianity, its doctrines aren't shared. Instead of worship of God & Jesus, they worship the American Founding Fathers and Comstock is viewed as a prophet in this cult of personality. The institutional racism of the time period is accurate, but the Vox Populi aren't saints themselves. I couldn't stand Daisy Fitzroy, who felt so fake and I'd argue is just as bad as the people she condemns. She was written nothing more than be the usual "strong angry black woman" trope.
+ While Comstock was a great antagonist in Infinite, Andrew Ryan still steals the show as the best of the three games.
- The lack of moral choice and multiple endings are one of the major differences between Infinite and the previous two games. It doesn't give much incentive to replay outside of upgrade choices and gameplay approach.
- There aren't many bearish characters in the game outside of Comstock. The only other enemy would be the bearded Frosty Splicers in Burial at Sea. They actually look really (pardon the pun) cool!
Total: 46/50 (Grade Level: A)
The main BioShock Infinite website is here.and contains some good content. The old Gametrailers video review is here and their Burial at Sea review episodes are here and here. The Wikipedia article is here.
Next Game: Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS4)
Currently playing: Shantae (3DS Virtual Console - GBC)
