So Bioshock Infinite by Irrational Games (published by 2K games) was finally released on March 26th, 2013 to plenty of speculation. I'm here to give you a quick review in the video below, and a more expansive review here in my text based world. That being said, let's jump into all the good stuff you need to know!
Bioshock Infinite, originally code named "Project Icarus" is the prequel to the very successful Bioshock series. While I say prequel, it is not a direct prequel, meaning the story is not necessarily connected, but the world it is set within is very connected. The game is a FPS, or First-Person Shooter in which you control Booker Dewitt (his birthday was just a few days before posting this on April 19th!) on his mission to collect a girl for some unknown reason. This girl is Elizabeth. Without getting into any spoilers, Elizabeth is your companion for the rest of the game. And I know, I know... worlds' longest escort mission ever, right? WRONG! This NPC is invincible so you don't need to worry about her while droves of baddies come rolling up on you. She also tosses supplies at you during battles, which is a very nice mechanic. I could go on and on about how she can manipulate time and space to aid you in battles and exploration, but I don't want to ruin it for you.
As you move through an interesting story, you use a collection of interesting weapons which have seemingly two versions (red/blue). This bothered me cause it seemed like a cheap way to include more weaponry instead of coming up with more unique possibilities. I'll let this slide though, because I found myself switching weapons for ones on the ground pretty often, so I was just happy to find something with ammunition in it. You also collect eight (8) different.... let's call them "super powers"... called vigors. These range from tossing fireballs to grabbing your enemies with watery tentacles and dragging them out of cover. The combinations of all these can be quite fun.
Okay, background information aside, let's talk numbers!
Gameplay (9/10): Bioshock Infinite offered a breath of fresh air into a stagnant genre. The core FPS elements are solidly there; bloom from full-auto firing, smooth ADS (aim down sights), moving from cover to cover, and all those classics. It also introduced some very fun mechanics that made the game feel unique from your standard shoot 'em up. The two that come to mind are the rail system and Elizabeth; since I've already touched on Lizzy, I'm not going to explain it. It is far more fun to feel out on your own. The rail system comes in to many of the larger battles you'll face. Allow me to explain this strange mechanic at some detail: There are rails like you'd see for suspended roller coasters that you can jump and latch onto. You'll move down these fixed paths and be able to do drive-by assaults on the hoards of enemies that would have otherwise trapped you in a corner and blasted your face off. You can also go Corvo-mode and jump off the rails to bash their heads in, if that's your thing. The combination of these unique additions, the solid performance of the classic FPS mechanics, and the fun from combining a carbine headshot after flying in from the sky and tearing an enemy into view with a giant watery tendril is impressive, to say the least.
Visuals (9/10): This is a truly beautiful game amid the grey-brown backdrop that is current releases. It is filled with color and impressive architecture that looks straight out of an old timey American dream. Set in an alternate America in 1912, the feel is appropriate for the time period. The scale of the buildings is done correctly, so running down a street past a grocer and a handful of row houses feels like it would running through a historic district of your favorite city. The different enemies and groups of people you run into are decently varied; you can tell what type of enemy they are just by looking at them. This is always something I like in a game. Killing the same three character models in the same grey room gets repetitive all too quickly for me and I haven't had that issue in Bioshock Infinite.
Sound (9/10): Sound isn't something I usually consider in a game, but it was done so well in Infinite that I've been paying more attention to it as I play through other games. The voice acting is extremely well done and I might consider it some of the bets I've heard in a long time for video games. Elizabeth actually makes you feel for her situation. I almost wanted to stop playing because I felt like Booker was being a straight up dick at one point. The gun and power sounds and interesting and unique enough, nothing spectacular there. If nothing else, the sound is something that was clearly worked on for some time and I feel it needs to be mentioned.
Story (8/10): While the story was definitely interesting, I felt like I had seen some version of it before. I realize it is pretty damn difficult to generate a totally unique storyline nowadays, but that is besides the point. Either way, the story was very well done and paced. I felt immersed into the developing events as I moved through. I saw the world change as I moved through it and followed the scripted path. It felt like I had done something to make it happen. I also HIGHLY recommend listening to all the Voxaphones and looking into the Kinetoscopes as they provide a ton of information about what's going on and how things got to where they are.
Overall (9/10): My overall is never an average, I make it a separate category because it lets me get out the last of my thoughts. For Bioshock Infinite, my parting words need to be "Play the game on hard (or 1999 mode) to get the best experience." There is little penalty for making mistakes in your approach to battle and playing on the harder difficulties will allow you to actually think about the situation. The need to do things quickly, correctly, and with determination made the game that much more enjoyable for me. When I did things right, they went smoothly... when I didn't, it required a bit of creative thinking.
If you're wondering if you should get this game, I say it is a definite buy. You get 10-15 hours of content on your first playthrough. This could be stretched if you're a completionist, but it isn't required. You can get all the achievements in one go (use the Konami code to unlock 1999 mode right off the bat!)
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