BIOSHOCK INFINITE
(NOTE: My comics this week are coming in on Monday due to a mixup, so my comic reviews will be up much later than usual. So, here's something completely different.)
So, I've been following Bioshock since the 2nd game (but I got the first as a Christmas present a few years ago). I don't play video games that often, with the last game (that wasn't Bioshock related) that I played was Skyrim. Irrational and 2K announced Infinite about 5 or 4 years ago, and it was delayed three times (you can find a fun little easter egg that references this in Battleship Bay), so as time went by, expectations went up. So I'm glad to say, that Bioshock Infinite kicks ass. And then some.
The story behind Bioshock Infinite is simple: You are Booker DeWitt, a Pinkerton agent with a whole lot of debt. So, to clear the debt, DeWitt has to go to Columbia, a city in the sky, and rescue a girl named Elizabeth. At first glance, this sounds like something out of a Disney movie, but I assure you, it's not. The story has a lot of twists and turns, and players that previously played the first Bioshock, will be expecting something big, another "Would you kindly?" moment, if you will. And there is one, I promise you that. The ending is truly jaw-dropping, and is sure to disappoint some, but astonish others. The game paints a picture of a very Nationalist world, where the Founding Fathers are worshiped as gods, and Abraham Lincoln is seen as the devil for abolishing slavery. Seriously, near the beginning of the came, you can find a statue dedicated to John Wilkes Booth! What about the villain, though? Comstock is a villain that you learn to hate right away. As you learn more about him, you find there's more to this extremist than meets the eye. What about Elizabeth? Courtnee Draper does a stand out job of voicing Elizabeth, and the child-like charm the character has gets you attached to her early on. On the game's cover, Booker looks like your average video game protagonist, but as with many other things in the game, he's more than he looks. Booker turns out to be one of the most layered characters in the game, and despite being a thug, he has become one of my favorite characters throughout. Columbia is the complete opposite of Rapture. Columbia is still thriving, and at the height of its Golden Age, where, in Rapture, that boat set sail and sunk long ago (no pun intended). However, as you venture deeper into Columbia, you find a seedier underbelly, and some grisly secrets that can make even the most hardened players cringe. Even thought it's not an open-world game, Columbia feels like this massive treasure trove to explore, and does a great job with making the city feel alive, with an attention to detail the size of Skyrim.
Bioshock Infinite IS still a video game, so how does the gameplay work out? Excellently. Like in the first Bioshock, you have your weapons (though you can only carry around two at a time, which is rather frustrating), and Plasmids-- I mean Vigors. Vigors run on salts which is the Infinite equivalent of EVE. Most of the Vigors are updated versions of the plasmids in the first two games. For example, Devil's Kiss replaces Incinerate!, but instead of just lighting an enemy on fire, you throw a fireball at them. Another unique feature that Vigors have, are traps, where you throw a trap down, and it unleashes a more powerful version of the Vigor. I really like this concept, as in the first two Bioshock games, I found traps were rather useless. My favorite vigor to use is Murder of Crows. My strategy with it is to sneak up on two unassuming enemies, not paying attention to their surroundings, and SUDDENLY MANEATING CROWS. Gear is also new to Infinite, which replaces Gene Tonics. Many of the Gear you can find in the game is awesome, such as being able to melee, and set them on fire, or becoming invincible for a short duration after killing someone from a Sky-Line. Instead of having a wrench as another weapon you can equip and unequip, you have a Sky-Hook, and you can just tap a button, in you whack an enemy in the face. Another feature the Sky-Hook has, is the finisher. Similar to the Pokemon games, when you get an enemy's health low enough, you can finish them. But instead of throwing a Pokeball at them, you snap their neck with the hook, or (even better,) rip their freaking head off. However, my favorite part of the Sky-Hook is the ability to use Sky-Lines. During my first playthrough of the game, I thought the Sky-Line was only good for moving around, and that combat on it was tacky and nerfed. However, I quickly got used to it, and I began to enjoy just raining bullets on enemies from above.
Bioshock Infinite is one of the greatest games I have ever played, period. Few games can find the perfect balance between gameplay and story, and Infinite has the best of both worlds. (NOTE: I don't have a system for rating video games, mainly because I'm not going to do this often.) Infinite truly lives up to the Bioshock name, and breaks all the barriers of video games. This is what the future of video games should be.
THE VERDICT: 5/5
