Bioshock: Infinite Review

 

INTERFACE - 4.5 out of 5

VISUAL - 5 out of 5

CONTENT - 5 out of 5

AUDIO - 5 out of 5

CONTROL - 4.5 out of 5

 

From the city of Rapture deep below the sea, to the city of Columbia soaring through the skies, Bioshock Infinite is a marvel of great imagination and visual delight. Developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games, Infinite is the third title of the Bioshock franchise.

Not being a continuance of Bioshock 2, we start off with our new protagonist, former pinkerton detective Booker Dewitt. Booker is hired by the Lutece twins to travel to the floating metropolis of Columbia to retrieve Elizabeth, a damsel whom has been imprisoned there for seemingly her whole life. Upon landing in this sky borne city, you quickly find that all isn't as it seems. Aiming to remain unnoticed, a civilian finds the initials AD emblazoned on your hand. It seems the cities leader, Comstock, had prophesied the coming of a False Shepherd with the same markings that would terrorise the city and bring it crashing down.

Now wanted for crimes you didn't commit, you battle your way through city guards and incredible open environments to reach the cities main tower and take your prize, Elizabeth. Many troubles await you though, as Elizabeth's power to "Warp" through and manipulate time and space give advantages, but also open a can of worms. Can you escape the city with your prize and your life?

INTERFACE



A colourful and creative backdrop is what I want to see in the main title menu. Infinite does not disappoint. A simple, but worthwhile touch to any game is its opening menu being that this generations titles have for the most part done away with an intro cut scene. Making a great first impression, Infinite not only gives a small peek at some of the textures and design of the world, but also displays your options in a simple straight forward way.
In-game interaction is on another playing field entirely. Taking alot from Bioshock's previous titles, Irrational has done a number on the way you toggle through your arsenal. Vigors (previously plasmids) are activated through the L trigger as before, but an "on the fly" addition allows you to customise what Vigors you have equipped using the left bumper, allowing for a more fluid experience. Weapon toggling is the same as with the other 2 titles allowing you to hold 2 weapons at a time switching between them with the right bumper.
The very intuitive control scheme was obviously well thought through.

VISUAL

 

A Bioshock game would not be complete without its impressive environments, detail and overall creative genius. Again, Infinite takes this to a whole nother level. The seemingly never ending world that is Columbia is comprised of a vast array of textures and impeccable sense of belonging, meaning that nothing seems like it doesn't belong. At any point throughout your adventure there is almost always something to look at and admire. I found myself in certain areas just looking. Walking into a bathroom and being able to flush the toilet, or use the sink and seeing cockroaches skittering around the floor. The level of detail put into this game is staggering, almost letting me forgive Irrational for missing their launch date 2 times. Also, all of the character models a building placement/textures seem to flow together in a way that I can only describe as formidable. Lets not forget the set pieces.....OH THE SET PIECES!! This is something that I felt was lacking in the previous Bioshock titles. Moments of utter insanity were always prevalent before, but now they've taken a bright and refreshing turn, making MY experience that much more worthwhile. The art style as well just floats out of the screen and pulls me in, in a way most games cannot.

 

CONTENT

 

Bioshock Infinite is just oozing with stuff to do, areas to explore, weapons with which to wreak havoc and a story that will blow just about every ones mind. Its very hard in today's gaming world for a developer to create a game with such an intellectual plot and story line. I was taken aback with the lore of Infinite and the endless political and social tie-ins under its skin.

Starting with the "Vigors", I was a little apprehensive at first with the new name and format to our heroes "Powers" as it were. But given a very little bit of time, this world of possibilities blasted open in front of my eyes. Not only was I eagerly impressed with the amount of powers one can accumulate, but the fact that each Vigor has multiple abilities made for a gamer-gasm I will never forget. Just pressing the L trigger will perform the Vigor's main task, but hold and let go and you get a second more powerful attack.

Weapons in this game are beyond spectacular. There are so many to choose from that I got a little overwhelmed at times as to which to keep or throw away. That may be the only gripe I have for Infinite, is that like many other titles it suffers from over exposure. Even with the Vigors, when there are too many options on the table, one tends to pick favourites and stick to those. That may very well be the intention, but I find it is more effective to have a smaller set of options that are all useful in different circumstances. That being said, Irrational did not cheap out on any of them. Each and every weapon or Vigor are meticulously rendered in a way only hands on experience, not the written word can divulge.

Another genius addition to this world is Elizabeth. Hands down the greatest AI companion that I have ever had the pleasure of playing with. Not only does she have fantastic cleavage, but she helps you in ways I've only ever dreamt of in other titles. Liz can open "Tears" in time to unveil weapons, health and cover among other things. She also in times of great need will throw you ammunition, health, money or "Salts" (that you drink to replenish your Vigors) in a believable way. The movement of Liz is also astonishing. She stays right with you at any given time to assist and when I run to an objective, be it a main or side objective, she almost seems to know exactly where I am headed and almost always gets there first. 

Other games need to take notes on this. An AI companion is very important in a single player experience, and needs to be on point. They need to actually help your progress, not just be around, not killing anyone, letting you finish killing everyone and then join in celebrating victory. lol

 

AUDIO

 

The proverbial hammer has struck the proverbial nail in this outstanding and life changing orchestra of awesome! Right from the main menu down to the water flowing out of a bathroom sink, Infinite jumps, leaps and bounds past all of its competitors. I had to turn my T.V. up to theatre volume, so as not to miss even the slightest ping of ammo casings hitting the ground. (add over exaggeration here) The main score of Infinite blew me away. My favourite score of all time is that of the UnCharted series on the PS3.......Infinite almost took number 1 away from it. Even right down to the weapon report, situational ambiance and......footsteps....ya I said it. lol Everything is right on key.

 

CONTROL

 

Controlling Booker was a breeze. Probably for the better part being that the control falls in the vein of most if not all FPS games. I love the FPS format as it is, because it allows you to seamlessly join the world and focus on the games individual accoutrement. The only problem I had with control was on the "Tram" lines throughout the game. A great achievement in its own right, navigation seemed at times tedious and unnecessary. I found myself opting out of using them unless it was for platforming purposes. Other wise, movement is easy as pie, (I still don't know what that means) weapon and Vigor selection/execution and overall travel remain as tight if not tighter than before. It is something to be said when a game can make movement and combat so approachable that it doesn't even have to, for the most part, enter your mind.

 

 

OVERALL RATING - A VERY WELL DESERVED (AND MY FIRST) 5 OUT OF 5

 

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