BioShock Infinite: The New Gold Standard (Review)

BioShock Infinite has been out for almost a week now.  The hype train has rolled smoothly into the station and the steam is settling.  The question is: just how much of that hype is accurate and how much is hot air?

Bioshock Infinite Review Roundup (UPDATE)

BioShock Infinite releases tomorrow, March 26th, and at many locations at midnight tonight!  The day is upon us and so are the reviews!

IGN's Ryan MCaffrey reviewed BioShock Infinite and was the first to be allowed to spread the word on its goodness.  He calls Infinite "a brilliant shooter that nudges the entire genre forward... in both storytelling and gameplay."  He goes on to praise the title's "luscious art direction" and its "myriad combat options."  His one fault with the game was that it felt "a bit padded in the middle."  You can check out Ryan's review by clicking here.

Next up is Joe Juba's review for Game Informer.  Joe starts off by saying that BioShock Infinite "is... among the best games [he's] played."  He praises the title's "fantastic soundtrack", "unforgettable" story, and the "upgradeable weapons and abilities" that "give players plenty of space to develop their own style of play."  Here is the link to Joe's review.

The Escapist's Mike Wehner also had a ton of praise that he heaped-upon Infinite.  Mike calls it "an instant Game Of The Year contender".  He goes on to say that "there's practically no reason to pass this one up."  I see no reason why you should pass up reading Mike's review here.

Following the very obvious trend in praise was Jim Sterling's review for Destructoid.  Giving the game a perfect 10/10 score, he states that "BioShock Infinite is damn near perfect."  Jim cites "a perfect beginning, an engaging middle, and a perfect end," the dynamic combat, and few other reasons for his rating.  If you care to find out more detail about what Jim thought, you can check out his review here.

Xav De Matos reviewed Infinite for Joystiq and gave the game five out of five stars.  He claims that the game "is a love story" that is "easy to fall in love with".  De Matos also says that the "engagements are typically a fun dance between mixing weapons and abilities."  He further goes on to say that "the ending is marvelous" and "handily disposes of any minor gripes."  You can read his review on Joystiq's website, here.

Arthur Gies, from Polygon, wrote that he's "still thinking about BioShock Infinite now, days after finishing."  He goes on to say that it "lives up to the promise of its legacy" while " it looks poised to establish a new one."  Gies gave the game a 10/10, you can read why in his review here.

As of writing this, the Metascore (on Metacritic) for the PC version of BioShock Infinite is at a comfortable 95 out of 100.  While there are several 100s, the lowest review score that I could find was an 80 from NowGamer and VideoGamer.  Steve Burns, in his review for VideoGamer, explains his 8 out of 10 score by praising the game for its visuals and story, while criticizing it for its "underused" Tear mechanic and "tiresome" combat.

Even with those last two scores there seems to be one trending theme: BioShock Infinite is well worth your money, your time, and your love.  I know that at midnight tonight, I'll count myself as one of the lucky people waiting to grab my copy, rush home, and throw it in my system.  It's going to be a long night.

Are you looking forward to BioShock Infinite?  Have these reviews swayed you one way or another?  Please let us know in the comments section below!

My Trophy-less Adventure In Monster Hunter Tri

On Friday, I posted an update in which I claimed to be a trophy whore.  I had been looking through various other ruminations concerning whether or not Trophies have crippled the fun-factor of video games, transforming them into another monster altogether different from prior generations of games.  I ended up sharing that while Trophies have pushed me to feel like I was "working" rather than enjoying myself, the overall reason that I play games is for fun.  Then something struck me: I couldn't remember the last time that I played a title that didn't have Trophies or Achievements.  Since I ended that post stating my belief that the majority of gamers (myself included) played for the sake of fun rather than some call to the collecting of intangible and relatively worthless digital items, I had to put that theory to the test.

PAX East Musings #1

I couldn't help but really enjoy Randy Pitchford's talk at PAX East earlier today.

In particular, I found his examination of choice to be interesting.  I would be remiss not to mention his entertaining card trick segue, during which he allowed an individual to make a perceived choice as to which deck of cards he would use to demonstrate with.  He asked an audience member to chose the red deck or the blue deck.  The member of the audience chose the blue deck, which he was tossed.  (It was a little later that we were told had he picked the red deck, Randy would have used his choice to mean he wanted the trick to be performed with the red deck.  Either way, the audience member was led to believe that he was in control, when in reality the opposite was true).

The details of the card trick are not the importance here, as he was using it to show how choice, whether perceived or real, was an influencing factor on how we appreciate things.  He observed that "fanboyism" really derives from the choices that we make.  The fact that our choices impact our opinions of things really goes to show you just how insecure we can be at times.  Fanboyism is how we justify the decisions that we make from the trivial day-to-day decisions all the way to our more weighty life-altering choices.

To tie this in to something that I posted earlier: I would make the argument that Trophies are better than Achievements.  I have the ability to earn both, since I own a 360 as well as a PS3.  However, there was a time when I chose to pick up a PS3 instead of the 360.  Therefore, Trophies are something that I indirectly chose.  Since I am more familiar with them, I suppose that my affinity for them over Achievements would stem from a choice that I made.

I'm really looking forward to hearing more from all of the amazing individuals from within the industry.  As I listen, I'll make sure to throw some more thoughts and rants up on the blog.  Until then, if anyone is reading this, let me know what you think in the comments below!

Confessions of a Trophy Whore

Hello, my name is Kenney, and I am a Trophy whore.

Game Adverts: In-Game Footage or CG?

Boy, does that new Bioshock Infinite trailer look good or what?

The Decline of Customer Service

Have you noticed a sharp decline in people's ability/willingness to provide quality customer service?

A snippet of my retail experiences...

I worked for GameStop from August 2009 to December 2010.

What I've Played (February edition)

Overall: a pretty decent month of gaming for me.