It’s rare that something is so well done, it inspires wide-eyed, open-mouthed awe in the consumer. Irrational Game’s newest video game, “Bioshock Infinite,” has this effect.
Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton Agent with a shady past, is in debt. In return for absolving that debt, DeWitt is charged with bringing a mysterious girl to his employers.
This takes the player to the floating city of Columbia, a super religious, seemingly perfect little city of 1912 filled with nostalgic elements of Americana and breathtaking sights. Where Rapture was dark and foreboding, Columbia is bright and open.
A barbershop shop quartet performs The Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows,” booths showcase the latest vigors and giant creatures called Handymen perform in front of crowds (fans of the first two “Bioshock” games will recognize him as resembling the Big Daddys of the first two).
Clearly, 2K games spent a great deal of time in constructing the floating city of Columbia; there is an enormous amount of detail here.
The third game in the “Bioshock” trilogy is definitely different than its predecessors, but it keeps many of the elements that fans of the franchise have come to love.
Along with a plethora of guns to choose from, the protagonist is once again equipped with supernatural gear, this time in the form of vigors, modifying Dewitt’s hands and turning them into various quirky weapons. It’s exceedingly satisfying to conjure a murder of crows and watch them peck away at DeWitt’s enemies.
The character development is good. Sometimes with high concept games like this the characters can’t live up to the story being told, but the characters hold their own weight against the marvelous story, which is arguably the best part of “Bioshock Infinite.” The result is a strong story progression, which draws the player in and doesn’t let go.
The soundtrack to the game is perfect. It combines dramatic orchestral overtures while playing with ambient music from turn-of-the-century American folk. There’s even an Easter egg where the player can have DeWitt pick up and play a guitar, with his companion singing along.
Little details like the folk guitar Easter egg and the many historical and literary references give Columbia a life of its own, and it would be fair to say that the city of Columbia is actually the third main character. The effect is amazing, and truly epic in scope. From now on, when people talk about cinematic gaming, they’ll use “Bioshock Infinite” as their example.
But even in a land as perfect as Columbia there are some complaints. There are no more Little Sisters to crawl out of vents and scavenge bodies, no more having to decide whether to harvest the kid or not, and so of course a little of the creepiness that made the first two “Bioshock” games morbidly fun is gone.
However, what Columbia lacks, it more than makes up for in other aspects. The game itself is perfectly put together. The pacing of the game is generally quick, with remarkably fast load times that make gameplay seem fluid and well structured. There was slight lag and repetition in the fights towards the middle, but this was negligible compared to the whole experience.
After fighting through a revolution, various animatronic presidents, ghosts and robots that fly the ending will have players reeling. In a world where players are beat over the head with obvious story lines, it was refreshing to see an ending that was not only complex and shocking, but also thoughtful and satisfying.
Although the game’s story is amazing, it’s hard to think about “Bioshock” without Rapture and Little Sisters crawling around. However, “Infinite” stands up to scrutiny amazingly well.
While the first “Bioshock” was excellent, “Bioshock Infinite” is in a league all it’s own. The game will suck the player in so completely they won’t resurface from the world of Columbia for a long time.