BIOSHOCK
INFINITE: REVIEW
It has
been six years since Irrational Games created Bioshock 1, a game which is
lauded as the highest rated First Person Shooter of all time. So what do they
do next? – Create a game even better than that. Many have asked previously,
what is the Citizen Kane of gaming? We finally have the answer, Bioshock
Infinite.
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“Bring
us the girl and wipe away the debt"
STORY
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As Booker DeWitt, a hired gun with a
military past, you’re sent to Columbia by a mysterious client who demands that
in order to erase your significant gambling debt, you must return to New York
City with ‘the girl’.
The
girl is, of course, Elizabeth, the star of BioShock Infinite’s marketing
material and the driving force in its expertly crafted narrative. It’s far from
a spoiler to say that you do soon find her, and the pair form a believable and
emotionally resonant relationship as they travel and fight together through the
game.
Elizabeth, as a character, is very well
crafted and is possibly the best female character created in the gaming world.
She has never seen the outside world, therefore, traversing Columbia and
experiencing feelings like death and freedom are new to her. Booker
is a strangely fascinating lead. It’s not until he meets
Elizabeth that Booker starts to become more than your common video game lead.
This is entirely deliberate, as their relationship is what drives Infinite’s
narrative
My
favorite aspect of Infinite is the one about which I can say the least: story.
In a couple of chapters half way through the game loses a bit of steam but it
feels like a purposeful hurdle for the last 5-6 hours of the game which are
very engrossing as the story clings on to you like magnet. The ending of the
game is by far one of the best in the history of video games and seems a bit
absurd or bizarre at first but slowly when you plug all the pieces together,
everything falls into place. Telling you any more about the story would not
only spoil large portions of the game for those who haven't yet played it, but
for a title like Bioshock Infinite, it would be a crime, plain and simple.
The narrative of BioShock Infinite surpasses
that of almost any game I’ve ever played. The Mass Effect series excelled at
opening up a galaxy of things to learn and people to meet, Bioshock Infinite
does the same within the confines of Columbia, which is a remarkable feat.
Filled with great characters, mixed with extraordinary writing and an ending which
will make one talk and think about for days to come, Bioshock Infinite
re-defines story telling in video games making it a revolutionary game.
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“Just
'cause a city files don't mean it ain't got its fair share of fools”- Booker
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GRAPHICS
In terms of atmosphere,
immersion and vision, Columbia is peerless.
To put it in practical terms, unless you are in the midst of battle,
Columbia is a place where you walk, you don’t run. You are compelled to take it
all in, to soak in the city floating in the clouds, to inspect every nook. Buildings
bob weightlessly on the horizon, barbershop quartets skirt the streets,
mechanical horses trot up and down the boardwalks. It’s no accident there’s an
achievement/trophy called “Sightseer”, this is virtual tourism at its very
finest. Columbia
is stunning, the palette is rich and bold, the detail outrageous.
The game has no such “cut scenes”, the story
is told via gameplay and environment. One in a thousand games do this and more
games should because you never lose control and you are more immersed in the
game. The graphics have a real comical look, somewhat like Bethesda’s
Dishonored. You might come across a couple of glitches and muddy visuals but in
no way does that hinder your experience. The environments vary and each stage
or chapter has a unique feel to it.
GAMEPLAY
BioShock
Infinite's core gameplay mimics that of Irrational's previous effort: a
first-person shooter with a magical component. The gunplay is satisfying and provides a real challenge,
though sometimes gun battles are introduced a little too frequently and without
any puzzles to break up the play. Fortunately,
the addition of Vigour powers - which enable Booker to unleash powers like a
torrent of crows, flames and waves of water. The ability to use Booker's hook
to battle from the skyline is much more innovative and succeeds in ramping up
the pace and intensity of battles.
While we
missed the Big Daddies, Bioshock Infinite introduces a new breed of formidable
enemies, although the better ones feel slightly under-utilized. The
Songbird - an imposing, mechanical bird that dominates the skies - is an
awesome new adversary, but appears infrequently, while battles against the
creepy Handymen only occur a handful of times.
Elizabeth
is a wonder that many thought wouldn’t work. Never before has a companion on AI
been an integral part of gameplay. But Irrational has somehow changed that. She
occasionally tosses ammo, health packs and salts, which power
your vigours. Elizabeth
has another important role to play: by accessing tears in spacetime, she can
pull helpful objects into the battlefield, such as hovering security turrets,
boxes of health packs, ledges with hooks to leap onto, and so forth. Such
objects appear in the environment as if covered with television static, and you
bring them into being by holding a button. These tears also give battles an
extra sense of unpredictability, or provide important defensive elements when
you most need them.
The 12-hour
campaign is one that feels wholesome. Despite being compelled to explore, I was
only able to discover two thirds of the voice recordings and managed only a
couple of optional missions, so there's plenty to discover even after the game
has been beaten. There is also more content on the way through a season pass. And
as soon as you finish the game the first thing you want to do is start again so
you can test the game against its own internal logic. You'll find it holds on
remarkably well; you'll be amazed that they have pulled it off.
SOUND
The soundtrack in Bioshock Infinite has more
character than most games have in their entire cast. Many probably don’t
realize this but music does play an important factor in enhancing the intensity
and emotion of a game. Troy Baker the voice actor for Booker is claimed by many
as the “Daniel-Day Lewis” of video games, and rightly so. He and Courtnee Draper
as Elizabeth and a side cast do a marvelous job of bringing life and emotion
into their fantastically written characters.
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"The
mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none
exist..."
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CONCLUSION
Bioshock Infinite is something extraordinary. It is
an incredible achievement artistically, narratively, and technically. By the
end of the game you realize that you are not the main character rationally.
Elizabeth is. She always has been. She always will be. It's her journey. You're
just along for the ride. Still: an unforgettable ride. Ken Levine, the lead
writer and creative director of the game cements his status as one of gaming’s
elite creative minds. As the credits rolled and the music began, I sat down
with my mouth wide open with a feeling that cannot be expressed in words. It’s
a feeling which will be etched in my memory for quite a while. No game is
perfect but Bioshock Infinite is probably the closest a game can ever achieve.
SCORE: 10
(NOTE:
As I’ve said before, no game is perfect. Bioshock Infinite has its faults as
well but they are nothing compared to the numerous things it does right. It’s
an achievement for Irrational and hopefully leads to more story driven games
like Heavy Rain and the Mass Effect series. I believe a game should be given a
10/10 if it must be played by all and it stands out from the rest. And playing
Bioshock Infinite is a must. It’s revolutionary in terms of storytelling and
character development. )
