I wrote quite a bit on Bioshock: Infinite over the past couple days. I thought I'd share my review here:
Given the popularity of the original BioShock, this game was highly anticipated in 2013 as its release date grew closer. After it was released, it received a ton of praise, with many people calling it one of the best games of the decade. A lot of praise went specifically to its story, which some consider to be one of the best video game stories ever.
Presentation wise, this game is vastly different from the prior BioShock games. Instead of taking place under the ocean in Rapture, it's set above the clouds in Columbia. Though changing the pre-established setting in a franchise can be a risky move, I think this paid off. While Rapture is a phenomenal area to explore that brims with all kinds of moody incongruity between the futuristic elements of the city and its 1960's vibe, too many exposures to the same setting can lead to diminishing returns (which I felt to a degree with BioShock 2 and its DLC), so I respected the decision to change the setting for this game. Besides, Columbia was a blast to explore, so I'm glad I got to experience it. The second main distinction is that this game is more linear than the prior Bioshock games. While you had access to the entire map in BioShock 1, 2, and Minerva's Den, this one was, for the most part, a straight walk from beginning to end. I don't have an issue with this though, because, since the game is really smart in how it pushes you along, it gives you the sense that you're walking around in a fully formed environment, even though you only get to see a bit of it.
Going into this game, I had some concerns about the gameplay feeling like a retread of that in prior BioShock games. While some features from prior installments are certainly present here, I think it brought its fair share of innovations to the franchise and was able to stand just fine as a sequel. Elizabeth is definitely the most prominent difference between this game and the prior games. While I'm not a fan of escort missions, the handling of that aspect here is pretty incredible. Elizabeth stayed out of my line of fire, I didn't need to worry about keeping her alive, and she even helped me out a number of times by throwing me supplies (health, salts, ammo, money). This felt like a response to the mediocre escort mission near the end of BioShock, which has received a fair share of criticism over the years. Another difference is the shield. This feature allows for you to take damage without it effecting your health. Once the shield is depleted though, any further damage you take will deplete your health bar (if you last a bit of time without taking damage though, your shield will regenerate). I found this to be a well-balanced and compelling feature. Since this game removes the quick saves from prior BioShock games and only has auto saves, giving you a bit of a pillow is a good way to balance that handicap out. This feature also doesn't make the game too easy as getting too confident with the shield and being careless as you play it typically leads to bad results.
Not every gameplay feature works though. For instance, one major difference between this game and the prior installments is that you can only carry two guns at a time. Each of the guns come with their various strengths and weaknesses. The Machine Gun, for instance, is great for fighting enemies from far away since it's harder for them to injure you from long distances, but not so much when fighting them up close since their accuracy will be higher. The Shotgun, on the other hand, is great for fighting enemies up close since it often kills them in one shot, but is less effective when fighting them from far away since your accuracy will be reduced. For one last example, the Crank Gun is incredibly strong, but it runs out of ammo pretty quickly. It's best to save it for fighting Patriots since they carry ammo for that gun. Though limiting the amount of guns you can carry is certainly unique to the franchise, I wasn't a big fan of that feature. Since there was no way to know what kinds of enemies you'd be up against and which weapons they'd use, it often came down to a guessing game in terms of hoping you'd select the right weapon. When I arrived to a firefight with an insufficient weapon, it didn't seem like it was my fault since whether or not I was properly equipped came down to a matter of luck. For this reason, I found the fights with the stronger enemies in the game (the Handymen, Firemen, Crows, Patriots, and the Beasts) to be a mixed bag and I much preferred fighting the stronger enemies in the prior BioShock games. As a whole though, I think the gameplay works really well and, while I wasn't impressed with every innovation brought to the table, it definitely upgraded significantly from what was in the prior BioShock games.
As stated earlier, a great deal of praise this game has received has gone to its story. It begins as a rumination on colonialism and details how, behind the utopian outward appearance of Columbia, a dark underbelly of white nationalism exists all throughout the city, with how black people and other minority races were brought into the city and made the lower class by being exploited with cheap labor and menial jobs. Vignettes of minority races working these jobs can be seen as you play through the game. The way this theme is handled, however, is likely to frustrate some people. Halfway into it, the colonialism themes are dropped in favor of the interdimensional themes and the focus shifts mostly to Elizabeth. Though this is a questionable decision, I didn't have a problem with it for two reasons. Firstly, I think the colonialism themes escalated to a proper climax and resolution before they were dropped, so I think the game picked the right time to shift focus. Secondly, I found the interdimensional themes in the second half more interesting than the bloaty colonialism themes in the first half since many of the colonialism scenes just served to restate the central premise that minorities are treated poorly in the city without expanding upon it.
In regards to the interdimensional themes, I've seen that aspect receive a great deal of praise over the years. Though I saw a walkthrough of this game when it came out, I had mostly forgotten about the ending sequence and I wondered if it would live up to its reputation. I can't say much about the story in the second half without spoiling it, but I love the presentation of it and I think it hits its marks really well. As the second half rolls along and portrays more and more surreal bits, the game edges you slowly and slowly into the abyss. It's easy to be caught off guard by the ending sequence once it starts and, by the time the game ended, I hardly even knew how I got to such a state. Yet, after pondering over the significance of the story, I understood that it was the only true ending the game could've had. I've seen some people bring up some plot holes with the ending, but that's a discussion I'm not interested in. While I'll believe people when they say there are plot holes with the timeline, the game fell into my general realm of believability.
Overall, Bioshock: Infinite proves to be an innovative and compelling addition to the BioShock franchise. I wasn't impressed with every new gameplay feature and story element, and I'm not sure if this is my favorite BioShock game, but, all things considered, I'd say it did its job quite phenomenally. Director Ken Levine was definitely attempting to add something unique to the franchise and, for the most part, he succeeded at that, masterfully so in most cases.
Last edited by SpelingError; 12-29-20 at 02:41 AM.
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