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?


If you glean nothing else from reading this or if you only read the first few sentences of this review, do yourself a favor: go out and buy BioShock Infinite.  Regardless of your preferred platform or your current ability to commit time to anything else: play this game.  You'll thank me later.

Not only is Infinite an amazingly fun and satisfying game, it is also the new gold standard by which other first-person shooters must be appraised.  It's ability to deliver satisfying gameplay with an amazingly crafted and thought-provoking tale cement it as a Game Of The Year contender and one of the best titles of this console generation.

The year is 1912.  You are Booker DeWitt, a Pinkerton man with a shady past and a penchant to find himself in undesirable situations (see the Battle of Wounded Knee).  You are directed to deliver a girl, Elizabeth, from the city of Columbia (a city that floats in the clouds) to New York; in return, your "debt" will be forgiven.  Upon arriving to the city in the sky, Columbia, you are presented with a beautiful yet socially and politically troubled community.

Irrational Games doesn't hold anything back when it presents you with some fairly hard-hitting themes such as racism, xenophobia, and religious fanaticism.  While most of these things may seem pretty foreign to all of us now, the dark fact of the matter is that they would have been central themes in the daily lives of those who lived during the early 1900s and earlier.  BioShock Infinite explores these ideologies and uses them well while weaving the story.

BioShock Infinite doesn't shy away from some pretty heavy themes.

Exploring Columbia alone in the beginning of the game is a treat and it is easy to get lost in the gushing detail and beautiful scenery that is rampant in this floating city.  From the banter of its citizens to the various audio logs that you can find and listen to, Columbia has a rich story to tell.  It isn't until you are introduced to Elizabeth that the game really reaches its fullest potential.

Elizabeth is one of the easiest AI companions to get along with.  She is an amazingly strong female lead who is more than capable of taking care of herself and actually playing a valuable role throughout combat.  Elizabeth can open doors to alternate realities called "Tears."  On the battlefield, you may see several of these Tears present and all you have to do is decide which one you want to use.  There might be a turret that you can have her pull onto the field to distract or whittle-down your foes, or maybe you are low on health and you want her to pull a health crate through a Tear.  The Tear mechanic is an awesome addition and really adds to the flexibility of Infinite's combat.

Meet Elizabeth.  She knows how to handle herself.

Elizabeth supports Booker in a few other ways as well.  Elizabeth is a talented locksmith.  This ability is invaluable while exploring every nook and cranny of Columbia for that extra Vigor or more audio logs.  Elizabeth will also scavenge the battlefield for you and toss you supplies as needed.  I can't count the number of times I would be crouched behind a crate, one bullet from death and she would toss me a medical pack to get me back in the fight.  Not that death is incredibly taxing in the easier modes.  If you die, you pay a "death tax" and are resurrected back into the fight.  If you don't have the money, no fear: Elizabeth will heal you and you'll be good to go.  (Note, the last statement only applies to difficulty modes up to 1999 mode.)

Before we get too far into how combat works in BioShock Infinite, you have to be familiar with Vigors (i.e. Plasmids).  If you played the original BioShock, you certainly remember the various superpowers that you were given named Plasmids.  These Plasmids gave the player the ability to do many different things including lighting enemies on fire, electrocuting them, or even the ability to use telekinesis to use the environment as a weapon.  Using these abilities was essential to making your way through the underwater city of Rapture.  They return in Infinite and are now called Vigors.  They are no less important to your survival in Columbia.

While I thoroughly enjoyed playing the original BioShock, one of the things that left me wanting was the combat department.  On a recent playthrough I realized just how clunky it was to switch from Plasmid to Plasmid.  Even going for "the one-two-punch" (using a Plasmid and then a weapon) just didn't feel smooth.  Not to mention that while there were Plasmids that interacted with the environment, I don't recall ever using multiple Plasmids to create a combo.

Enter BioShock Infinite.  All of my gripes with the original have been addressed.  Switching between Vigors  and weapons is a breeze and feels really good.  Some people have complained that switching between Vigors is a pain on the console versions but I disagree.  Sure, you still have to utilize a pop-up radial menu, but they have also added a secondary slot that you can switch to by simply tapping (instead of holding) the radial menu button.  It really works fine.  On that note, it's important to point out that you are limited to only being able to carry two weapons at a time.  While this strays from the always ready feel of the original BioShock it definitely isn't a hindrance.  You can typically locate your favorite weapons around the map or on the bodies of your fallen adversaries.

That's more like it!

My first playthrough was on Hard difficulty and there were only two instances throughout the game that I felt under-powered.  BioShock Infinite does a great job making you feel powerful and making you feel as if your powers are progressing.  While money is a valuable commodity, especially while playing the more difficult modes of the game, you can elect to spend it on upgrades for both your weapons and Vigors.  The weapon upgrades are less ascetically pleasing but offer the same statistical enhancements as the "Power To The People" machines of the original.  The Vigor upgrades are similar and ultimately help you to better string-together Vigors for enhanced combinations.

One of the joys of playing with the Vigors are those combinations.  One such combination (and it's been featured in many videos) is using Murder of Crows and Devil's Kiss.  Murder of Crows allows you to shoot a flock of menacing crows out of your hand at a group of enemies.  Devil's Kiss allows you to, as you might have guessed, shoot a fireball at your foe.  Combining them creates a potent and entertaining swarm of flaming crows that distract your enemies while dealing fire damage. This example is only one of several however, and I would advise you to play around with them to find those that work for you.

Speaking of play, a new tool enters the scene in the form of the Sky-Hook.  This contraption allows for quick travel around the city of Columbia via it's many winding transportation rails.  Combat in the not-so-friendly skies of Columbia is smooth and satisfying thanks to the intuitive and responsive controls for navigation. Pulling-off head-shots from the rails makes you feel like Zeus raining lightning bolts down on your foes.  It's exhilarating and perfectly executed.

Death from above.

Although originally designed for travel, it also doubles as an effective and gruesome weapon.  As a melee device the Sky-Hook has its uses (though those uses start to loose effectiveness in the more difficult modes) but executions are the focal point.  If you deal enough damage to an enemy a notification will appear above its head and you can pull-off one of many visceral and graphic executions.  While shocking in the beginning, they become less and less commonplace once you are fully outfitted with Vigors and your favorite weapons.

Graphically, BioShock Infinite is a powerhouse.  Even on the aging consoles the game runs well and looks great.  Although there are times when textures may take a second to load, the problem isn't nearly as rampant as it is in other games that utilize the Unreal Engine.  I played the game on PS3 and found the game to be very beautiful to look at.  This can really be attributed to Infinite's artistic style.  Columbia is an altogether different beast to behold than Rapture.  Where Rapture featured a darker color palette and more interior space and cramped quarters, the exact opposite can be said of Columbia.  Infinite's city is filled with bright colors, open spaces, and many different paths to approach a confrontation, mostly.  There are the occasional segments that put you in tight spaces, but those segments are pretty well broken up throughout the title.

Your stunning first view in Columbia.

BioShock Infinite also excels in the audio department.  The game really gave my sound system a workout and everything from the shrill screech of Songbird to the sounds of gunfire were flawlessly presented.  Then there was the voice acting.  Troy Baker (DeWitt) and Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth) knocked the ball out of the park with their lines.  It was great to listen to them become so emotionally connected by the end of the game.  I found myself wholly lost in their interactions on several occasions.   There is one point in particular, in the basement of a bar, that DeWitt and Elizabeth share one of the most human moments I've ever witnessed in a video game.

The Lutece twins also deserve mention.  Rosalind and Robert Lutece are two characters that DeWitt meets in Columbia and it is very obvious right out of the gate that something isn't "normal" about them.  They serve as comic relief in quite a few sections and their odd banter was always a welcome addition when it was offered.

Your call.  Or is it?

With its engaging and thought-provoking story and its dark, historically-relevant themes, its smooth and delightful gameplay, and the visual style with which BioShock Infinite pulls it all off, I propose that every person who enjoys what video games can offer should play this game.  Not only is it an amazing product assembled by an immensely talented studio, but it is a title which pushes forward the first person shooter genre.  It proves that a title shouldn't have to decide between great mechanics or a great story, and it is a game to which all other games in its genre should be compared.