BioShock Infinite Review

Irrational Games’ sequel to the revolutionary BioShock, BioShock Infinite, has been one of the most highly anticipated games in years.  With such a great amount of anticipation, there was a lot of pressure on Infinite to be as good as or better than the original BioShock.  Living up to that pressure seems like an unenviable task, but BioShock Infinite does not falter under the pressure for the most part.  As much as BioShock Infinite succeeds at creating an excellent world, very satisfying combat and a compelling AI companion, there are a good number of areas that hold this game back from being one of the premier first-person experiences of this generation.

“Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt.”  A simple sentence that is muttered at the very beginning of BioShock Infinite reverberates throughout the entire story.  A story which follows Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent, as he is sent on a mission to free a young girl by the name of Elizabeth in order to wipe away a debt as it seems.  Booker’s mission will not be without hardship as this hired gun gets caught up in a conflict between warring factions and chased by a mechanized creature known as the Songbird.  While Infinite’s story is what motivates gamers throughout the game, it is the setting of Columbia that will keep gamers engrossed in the world of BioShock Infinite.  It is evident that Irrational Games put a lot of time and care into creating Columbia.  From the silent movies to the 1920 covers of hit 80s pop songs hidden throughout the game, Columbia is rich with American culture.  So much culture in fact that the setting becomes a character of its own.  Columbia represents American culture taken to the utmost extremes.  The traits that Columbia takes on, while very twisted and demented, compel the gamer to move forward and discover the history behind this dystopia.

The world of Columbia is just one of BioShock Infinite’s strengths.  Another one of these strengths is the combat.  The combat revolves entirely around experimentation.  The player is given a ton of options to deal with the seemingly overwhelming enemy forces from guns to vigors (Infinite’s version of plasmids) to flying around the environment on Columbia’s skylines.  While guns and vigors are familiar to BioShock and FPS vets, the skylines are a brand new mechanic in the BioShock series.  By using the Sky Hook, the player is able to traverse each environment at breakneck speeds.  The Sky Hook and skylines open up new ways to approach combat as it offers a quick escape when firefights get too out of hand or the ability to reach areas and items that the player cannot easily access. A few hours into Infinite, the player meets up with Elizabeth.  While Elizabeth plays a central role in the story of BioShock Infinite, she also serves as your constant AI companion.  Unlike many AI companions in other games, Elizabeth does not need to be tirelessly babysat by the player.  Elizabeth is able take care of herself and the player.  Elizabeth will toss weapons, ammo, health and other useful items in the thick of battle and she is able to open tears in the fabric of time which offer more options in combat such as cover, turrets and extra weapons to gain an advantage.  From her character to her uses during combat, Elizabeth is easily the crown jewel of BioShock Infinite’s gameplay.

While there is a lot to praise BioShock Infinite for, there is a good amount of flaws that hold it back from achieving the moniker of greatest first-person shooter of this generation.  The biggest flaw with Infinite is the last three or so hours of the game.  Instead of focusing on the experimentation and freedom that the combat was built on, the last three hours of BioShock Infinite devolve into nothing more than any other generic first-person shooter.  The inherent strategy found in the combat gets lost for just shooting everything and anything that moves.  The late of additions of two new enemy types, the Boys of Silence and Sirens, feel absolutely unnecessary considering both only show up on three separate occasions and become more annoyance than a pleasure to fight.  Along with the Boys of Silence, Irrational tries to shoehorn stealth into BioShock Infinite in order to offer some new gameplay, but this attempt ultimately fails due to a control scheme that is designed for a fast-paced FPS, not a slow-paced stealth game.  Other flaws that hold BioShock Infinite back from being the masterpiece it could have been are the lack of penalty for death, the lack of an actual final boss (seriously getting sick and tired of developers trying to pass waves of enemies as final boss encounters), the confusingly convoluted ending and the excruciatingly horrible underuse of the Songbird.

All-in-all, BioShock Infinite is a great game.  The excellently crafted world of Columbia, largely experimental combat and incredibly useful AI companion Elizabeth are the highlights of this game.  Sadly in trying to appeal to a larger audience during the most crucial hours of the game, BioShock Infinite forgets the freedom and experimentation that separates it from the plethora of first-person shooters that permeate the industry nowadays.  This devolution in those last few hours along with some other considerable flaws really holds BioShiock Infinite back from standing out in the overcrowded FPS genre.  No matter the flaws, BioShock Infinite is a game worth experiencing at some point.  Just do not go in expecting a revolution.