Bioshock Infinite Review (360, PS3)

Reaches for the skies

This is the closest thing to a love affair I have ever had. I adore Bioshock right down to the scum that lines the tanks. Hell, it’s the reason why I’m dabbling in game design myself. Then this frilly little number called Bioshock Infinite struts on by, glossy and made up to take the world by storm. I’ve noticed it for years, but dared to approach any form of news on it in fear it would make my opinions stray away from the masterpiece. However, with it gracing shelves everywhere now, it’s not like I can ignore its charms anymore. And you know what, I regret nothing. As if no one knows by now, Bioshock Infinite is set in Columbia, a city that has such grand plans it’s literally reaching for the stars. Floating amongst the clouds on good intentions, its extremist and prejudice values echoing through the streets from the mouth of one man, Zachary Comstock. A voluntary cast off with no intention to return to more stable soil, it’s clear that the city has secrets it holds close to its racist heart. Not that Booker DeWitt cares about the city’s values. In a bid to clear a debt laden with alcohol, he’s given the opportunity to wash it away by uncovering and rescuing Columbia’s biggest secret, a girl named Elizabeth with the power to bring the haven down to hell. To say Bioshock Infinite has lofty ambitions is an understatement. Tackling the behemoth that is the original head on in all regards, Infinite spares no expense in every department. Columbia is nothing short of an absolute dreamboat of design. An amazing labyrinth of astonishing architecture, my first hour and a half in the floating city was spent bumbling around the place gawping like a cretin. Whilst Rapture relishes in its hermit like design, Columbia is a living, breathing propaganda machine with Comstock’s visions glaring at you from every tiny detail and each and every wall. It’s not long before the facade crumbles and the underbelly of Columbia reveals itself to you, and whilst it may not wow like the more touristy segments of the city, your ally does her best to draw you into simply through her interactions. Should your own eyes not hone in on each itty bitty detail, you second set will and Elizabeth is more than just a pretty piece of A.I. She’s a dramatic catalyst, a valuable asset and possibly the greatest ally you could possibly ask for. Booker’s gruff persona is on a whole different spectrum to Elizabeth’s perkiness, with the girl nothing more than a token to get Dewitt out of debt. As the moral lines blur throughout their adventure with the need for survival constantly pressing on their conscience however, she soon has weight shifted onto her shoulders as she acknowledges the cause and effect of each action the duo make. When in the midst of battle, she makes herself useful in the best ways she can. Although she cannot equip the same arsenal of weapons you can get your hands on, she acknowledges your troubles and acts appropriately. If on the verge of death, she can quickly chuck you a health kit from across the environment. If in a daft stupor you tackle a tank-like behemoth of a Handyman (this titles more acrobatic Big Daddy) with nothing but a pistol, she’ll be quick to rectify your low IQ/awful luck by throwing a shotgun your way. She’s a lifeline that has a funny habit of saving you just in the nick of time on many occasions, but is someone you can never truly take advantage of, forcing you to never quite rest on your laurels throughout.

I’ll most certainly be returning to its seductive tones much sooner than I thought

Elizabeth’s constant chiming in extends to her ability to tear through the plains of existence. With her aid she can bring to life items that appear as mere holograms in environments. A much more spontaneous aid, such an addition forces Booker and the player to pull themselves out of sticky situations using initiative when Elizabeth can’t help him out. It’s a shame it isn’t pulled off in more ambitious fashions than ‘Make turret appear here’ or ‘Place wall for cover here’, as there’s some genuinely brilliant uses of environment altering here, but otherwise, it can occasionally feel somewhat forced. While the addition of a friend to combat the loneliness of previous instalments is new, some parallels run through its combat system to justify keeping the Bioshock name. Red Bull rivals ‘Vigors’ take the place of Plasmids, and work in the same way. At the cost of morphing his arms into hideous machinations, Booker can ignite, electrify, unleash flesh eating crows or wrap water based tendrils around enemies in a bid to rid the city of assailants in more exotic fashions. The system to equip two at a time on your left hands also means you can swiftly juggle between two Vagors to create some spiffing combos mean that whilst these look great on their own, the ambitious will easily flaunt this technique more. The imaginative range of Vigors on offer certainly outshine the weapons you get. A bevy of nice looking if somewhat generic guns rest on Booker’s right hand, and whilst they do the job to stave off assailants, they occasionally go off with more ‘Put-put’ than ‘Pow-pow’ when forced into more isolated areas. Combat really comes to life when locales open up and enemies start to vary in attack. With a multi-purpose tool known as the ‘Skyhook’ practically sewn onto his left hand, Booker can latch onto rails and spin around huge playgrounds unleashing bullet storms on Columbia citizens. The open worlds and barrier-less locales mean that a strong sense of improvisation can pull you out of a lot of sticky situations, and using Elizabeth’s Tears to such an advantage can leave you so satisfied you’ll be thinking you could have pulled yourself out of this city with your brains rather than your firepower. Nevertheless, get placed in a good arena, and combat gels together brilliantly. Get left in a linear corridor, and gunplay feels just a tad underwhelming. A combination of magnificent performances and gameplay practicality means that you swiftly bond with the damsel in little distress and it’s such a bond that holds everything together so well. Elizabeth’s interactions with the surroundings don’t just solidify your relationship, but the shear reality of a city grounded in the clouds. It’s so easy for Elizabeth and even Booker himself to over-patronise everything given to you on a silver platter, but gently manoeuvre you through the land (with some violent hic-cups as standard) at your own pace. No matter how depressing things get, it’s a constant joy to unravel the plot to discover something new, be it narrative or locale based. It’s hard to find weaknesses anywhere here without sounding incredibly nit-picky. However, there are moments where the narrative does feel like it’s stopping to take a bit of a breather from time to time. Sometimes there would just be moments where me and Elizabeth would be pottering down desolate streets with her only interacting with me whenever she scoured the ground successfully for a spare coin, and the games’ more enclosed arenas for gunfights mean that, should you run out of salts to power Vigors, some conflicts feel like some slightly dull point and kill fests. These are few and far between, and the locales or the lure of an extra clue to just what is going on pull you through, but these do dampen some tiny segments. Nevertheless, these parts stretch out a title
of already reasonable length. Blitz your way through and the campaign lasts around about 10 hours. Those who play with a little bit of patience though, who revel in the stories that surround them and pick up the character delving voxophones will ultimately get a better and longer experience for their money. Hell, the broad and amazing world the game casts you in warrants a replay itself, and the incredibly difficult ‘1999’ mode serves to draw in those who relish in a challenge. And so I come back to reflecting on my adultery. The original Bioshock and its break neck plot twist holds something very personal to me, and so I feel it will always be my one true love in the waves of video games that engulf us all. But Infinite pulls everything off in such astonishing fashion that I might as well jam the entire spectrum of positive words found in a thesaurus here. It shines in everything it attempts to do, in part due to the fascinating locations, in part to the mind bending story and in part down to Elizabeth herself. I’ll apologise to the original for getting caught up in Infinite’s whimsical charms. I’ll justify my quandary by highlighting its clever marrying of narrative and gameplay elements. I’ll note that its climax left me slack jawed and slightly breathless for a fair while. But I won’t say I made a mistake, I won’t regret my decision and will most certainly be returning to its seductive tones much sooner than I thought. I’m a monster.