Was this title worth the wait and does it hold up to the legacy of the BioShock franchise? Read on to find out.
The Plot: (FULL Spoilers)
In 1912, Booker DeWitt is taken by the Lutece twins to an island lighthouse off the coast of Maine; the structure houses a rocket silo which transports Booker to Columbia, with the mission to "retrieve the girl and wipe away the debt".
Booker's presence in Columbia goes unnoticed until a citizen identifies the letters "AD" branded on Booker's hand, a sign of the False Shepherd that Comstock prophesied would corrupt Elizabeth and bring about Columbia's downfall. Now a wanted man, Booker fights his way to Monument Island where Elizabeth is held within a tower, discovering along the way a large device at its base called the Siphon. After freeing Elizabeth, Songbird attacks and destroys part of the statue, and Booker and Elizabeth narrowly escape with their lives. The pair work towards the aerodrome, planning on taking an airship to Paris, a city Elizabeth has always wanted to see. When Booker directs the ship to New York City with the intention of delivering Elizabeth, she knocks him out. He awakes to find the airship under the control of Daisy Fitzroy and the Vox Populi. Fitzroy offers to return the ship if Booker recovers a shipment of weapons from the slums of Columbia.
Booker rejoins with Elizabeth and they venture deeper into the city. While Elizabeth uses her ability to manipulate tears to aid their journey, she grows disturbed by the physiological and psychological consequences of manipulating reality on Booker and the other citizens of Columbia. One tear leads them to a world where Booker has become a martyr for the Vox Populi cause, leading to open warfare between the Vox Populi and Columbia's Founders. This universe's Fitzroy believes that this Booker undermines her Booker's sacrifice, threatening to weaken the Vox Populi cause, and so turns her forces against him. Elizabeth is forced to kill Fitzroy when she threatens to execute a Founder boy.
As they prepare to leave Columbia by airship, Songbird attacks and they crash back to Columbia. While continuing their search for escape, they begin to unravel a conspiracy behind the founding of the city. Comstock had taken Elizabeth as his adoptive daughter to groom her as the city's leader. He had the Lutece twins construct the Siphon to subdue her powers before plotting their murder along with that of his wife to conceal the truth, and blamed their deaths on the Vox Populi. Elizabeth is captured by Songbird and taken to Comstock's mansion. Booker follows but is drawn into the future by an elderly Elizabeth who has suffered decades of torture and brainwashing in Booker's absence; she has inherited Comstock's cause and wages war on the world below. She reveals that Songbird would always stop his rescue attempts in the past, and implores Booker to stop this future from coming to pass by offering him the means to control Songbird.
Booker returns to the present and rescues Elizabeth, and the pair pursue Comstock to his airship. Comstock demands that Booker explain Elizabeth's past to her, and why Elizabeth is missing a finger. Booker becomes enraged and drowns Comstock. Booker denies knowledge about Elizabeth's finger but she asserts that he knows, but does not remember. Booker decides to destroy the Siphon so Elizabeth can access her full power and learn the truth. With Songbird under their control, the pair fend off a Vox Populi attack, before ordering Songbird to destroy the Siphon. When the device Booker used to control Songbird is destroyed, it attempts to attack him. Elizabeth opens a tear, transporting the three of them to an underwater city; Booker and Elizabeth remain safe inside, but Songbird appears outside and is crushed by the immense pressure of the ocean.
Elizabeth takes Booker to this reality's surface and lighthouse. They travel through the building's door to a place outside space and time containing countless lighthouses and alternate versions of Booker and Elizabeth. Elizabeth explains that they are within one of an infinite number of possible realities both similar and drastically different due to choices that have been made. She shows that on October 8, 1893, Robert Lutece approached Booker on behalf of Comstock, requesting that he "give us the girl and wipe away the debt," referring to Booker's infant daughter, Anna DeWitt – Booker's "AD" branding. Booker reluctantly agreed to sell Anna but soon changed his mind. He arrived too late to stop Comstock escaping through a tear; the closing of the tear severed the child's finger. Comstock subsequently raised Anna as Elizabeth, his daughter. Due to the severed finger, Elizabeth exists in two realities at once, giving her the ability to open and create tears at will. Later, Robert, angry at Elizabeth's treatment and Comstock's betrayal, convinced Rosalind to help him bring Booker to the reality where Columbia exists to rescue Elizabeth.
Elizabeth explains that whatever actions Booker makes against Comstock, Comstock will still remain alive in at least one of these universes; the Luteces have tried to enlist a Booker from different universes numerous times to end the cycle. The only way to break the circle is to prevent Comstock from being born in the first place. Elizabeth transports Booker to the place he went to be baptized and cleansed of his sins after his actions at the Battle of Wounded Knee. Booker avoided baptism at the last moment, while in another universe he took the baptism, found religion, and became Comstock. Comstock, aware of his identity to Booker, engineered Anna's abduction to provide him with a blood-related heir for Columbia, as he had become sterile from exposure to the Luteces' technology. Booker and Elizabeth are joined by alternate versions of Elizabeth from other universes. Booker allows them to drown him, preventing his choice from ever being made and stopping Comstock from ever existing. One by one, the Elizabeths begin to disappear, the screen cutting to black on the original.
In a post-credits sequence, a Booker awakens in his apartment on October 8, 1893. He calls out Anna's name and opens the door to her room before the screen cuts to black. -- via Wikipedia
Once reunited with Elizabeth, the player must work with her to escape Columbia. Elizabeth stays out of battle, scavenging the area for ammo, health packs, Salt, and other items, and tossing them to Booker as needed. She can also use her tear-opening powers to aid the player, bringing in weapons, health, Salts, environmental features such as cover or a ledge for higher ground, and automated defense units. Only one tear can be opened at a time, making the player decide between the available options to suit the battle. The player will not directly control Elizabeth, but instead she will react to the player and the current situation in a manner similar to the AI Director in Left 4 Dead, according to Levine. The player will need to protect Elizabeth, but will not need "to babysit and hand-hold" her through the game. Levine has stated that "in no way, shape, or form is this an escort mission", noting that players reacted negatively to a late-game stage in the original BioShock in which they were tasked with protecting a Little Sister.
Several different human forces are at work opposed to the player's progress within the city, including forces representing the Founders and the Vox Populi. Furthermore, the player and Elizabeth are chased by Songbird (sometimes simply referred to as "Him"), who attempts to snatch Elizabeth from the player after being her guardian and companion for the last twelve years. Four types of larger mechanical enemies created by the Founders, dubbed "Heavy Hitters," act as mini-bosses throughout the game, demanding new tactics from the player. One type of such enemies is named Handymen, so named for their large porcelain doll-like hands; they are robotic-like monsters housing a human heart and head, with the ability to jump far distances and easily throw player- and non-player characters alike. A second class is the Motorized Patriots, once used as tour guides for the city, decorated in patriotic colors and wearing a wax mask of a Founding Father of the United States; they assault foes with a "peppermill" automatic machine gun. The Boys of Silence are men in foppish outfits locked into a metal helmet with giant ears; the humans inside are blind but, due to their helmet, have super-human hearing and act as Columbia's security system, requiring the player to choose carefully between stealth and a direct assault, whereupon the Boys can scream to call in backup. Finally, the Siren is a mysterious, completely enshrouded female figure, based on the Spiritualism movement near the end of the 19th century, that can revive defeated foes during combat, requiring the player to decide whether to concentrate attacks on the Siren or the newly revived enemies. The player has several options of approaching the Heavy Hitters, such as by using stealth to bypass the encounter, or to hack into the machine and take control of the units.
The Skyline is a rail-based system (originally designed for moving cargo around Columbia but later used for personal transport) similar to the concept found in the Ratchet & Clank games and described by Levine as "a roller coaster, over another roller coaster, over another roller coaster"; players activate a wrist-mounted tool that Booker and enemies wear to jump and hang onto the self-powered tracks. Players can jump onto, off of, and between Skyline tracks at any time, and may face enemies that use the system to attack; the player can use one-handed weapons in Booker's free hand while using the Skyline. Freedom of movement along the Skyline allows for several varieties of combat, including flanking, cover, and area-of-effect attacks through creative uses of the system. Levine considered the Skyline to introduce new options in combat, in the same manner that the use of jetpacks in Tribes or the vehicles in Halo had done, which had helped make those games unique entries in the first-person-shooter genre.
Irrational Games has stated that the game's set pieces are not heavily scripted; they made this statement in response to reaction to a gameplay preview video released during the week of September 21, 2010, which, within ten minutes, demonstrated numerous elements of the game. The development team called the game's pacing "like BioShock 1", and that while there will be some scripted set pieces, the developers want the player to be able to explore Columbia at their own pace. Unlike Jack or Delta, the silent protagonists of BioShock and BioShock 2 respectively, and who are guided by radio commands from a third party, Booker is a vocal character, with dialogue designed to aid the player in leading Booker to complete his mission. Players in Infinite will revisit areas from earlier in the game, in the same manner of BioShock. However, to create a better narrative, the Irrational team borrowed ideas from Batman: Arkham Asylum, a similar open-world game in which players, on return to previous areas, would find new elements that would advance the plot and gameplay.
In addition to the normal game mode, BioShock Infinite includes a "1999 Mode," so named for the release year of System Shock 2, a game worked on by Levine and several other Irrational Games developers. 1999 Mode is a more challenging version of the game, requiring the player to make mutually exclusive specialization choices, such as choosing Booker's proficiency with certain weapon types, which may make later parts of the game difficult to complete and may require the player to reload from earlier saved games to manage his/her resources more efficiently. -- via Wikipedia
Booker rejoins with Elizabeth and they venture deeper into the city. While Elizabeth uses her ability to manipulate tears to aid their journey, she grows disturbed by the physiological and psychological consequences of manipulating reality on Booker and the other citizens of Columbia. One tear leads them to a world where Booker has become a martyr for the Vox Populi cause, leading to open warfare between the Vox Populi and Columbia's Founders. This universe's Fitzroy believes that this Booker undermines her Booker's sacrifice, threatening to weaken the Vox Populi cause, and so turns her forces against him. Elizabeth is forced to kill Fitzroy when she threatens to execute a Founder boy.
As they prepare to leave Columbia by airship, Songbird attacks and they crash back to Columbia. While continuing their search for escape, they begin to unravel a conspiracy behind the founding of the city. Comstock had taken Elizabeth as his adoptive daughter to groom her as the city's leader. He had the Lutece twins construct the Siphon to subdue her powers before plotting their murder along with that of his wife to conceal the truth, and blamed their deaths on the Vox Populi. Elizabeth is captured by Songbird and taken to Comstock's mansion. Booker follows but is drawn into the future by an elderly Elizabeth who has suffered decades of torture and brainwashing in Booker's absence; she has inherited Comstock's cause and wages war on the world below. She reveals that Songbird would always stop his rescue attempts in the past, and implores Booker to stop this future from coming to pass by offering him the means to control Songbird.
Elizabeth takes Booker to this reality's surface and lighthouse. They travel through the building's door to a place outside space and time containing countless lighthouses and alternate versions of Booker and Elizabeth. Elizabeth explains that they are within one of an infinite number of possible realities both similar and drastically different due to choices that have been made. She shows that on October 8, 1893, Robert Lutece approached Booker on behalf of Comstock, requesting that he "give us the girl and wipe away the debt," referring to Booker's infant daughter, Anna DeWitt – Booker's "AD" branding. Booker reluctantly agreed to sell Anna but soon changed his mind. He arrived too late to stop Comstock escaping through a tear; the closing of the tear severed the child's finger. Comstock subsequently raised Anna as Elizabeth, his daughter. Due to the severed finger, Elizabeth exists in two realities at once, giving her the ability to open and create tears at will. Later, Robert, angry at Elizabeth's treatment and Comstock's betrayal, convinced Rosalind to help him bring Booker to the reality where Columbia exists to rescue Elizabeth.
In a post-credits sequence, a Booker awakens in his apartment on October 8, 1893. He calls out Anna's name and opens the door to her room before the screen cuts to black. -- via Wikipedia
Gameplay:
Like BioShock and BioShock 2, BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter with role-playing elements. As Booker, the player moves around Columbia both on foot and by using a grappling hook on a series of railways connecting the buildings called the Skyline. The player will gain weapons which can be used in numerous ways, including on the Skyline, although the player is only able to carry two weapons at once. Booker gains powers and abilities by using Vigors, the equivalent of BioShock's plasmids and tonics, and wearing gear, all scattered around Columbia. Vigors grant activated powers such as telekinesis, electricity manipulation, and animal control (as shown by the manipulation of a flock of crows in the gameplay demo); gear grant passive abilities that can improve the player's strength or damage resistance. Vigors require Salt, the equivalent of magic points or BioShock's EVE, for powering their abilities. Vigors have upgrade paths that can be purchased from vending machines, and alternate-fire capabilities. With gear, the player only has four available slots, and has to make decisions on which combination of offensive and defensive capabilities work for them.Once reunited with Elizabeth, the player must work with her to escape Columbia. Elizabeth stays out of battle, scavenging the area for ammo, health packs, Salt, and other items, and tossing them to Booker as needed. She can also use her tear-opening powers to aid the player, bringing in weapons, health, Salts, environmental features such as cover or a ledge for higher ground, and automated defense units. Only one tear can be opened at a time, making the player decide between the available options to suit the battle. The player will not directly control Elizabeth, but instead she will react to the player and the current situation in a manner similar to the AI Director in Left 4 Dead, according to Levine. The player will need to protect Elizabeth, but will not need "to babysit and hand-hold" her through the game. Levine has stated that "in no way, shape, or form is this an escort mission", noting that players reacted negatively to a late-game stage in the original BioShock in which they were tasked with protecting a Little Sister.
Irrational Games has stated that the game's set pieces are not heavily scripted; they made this statement in response to reaction to a gameplay preview video released during the week of September 21, 2010, which, within ten minutes, demonstrated numerous elements of the game. The development team called the game's pacing "like BioShock 1", and that while there will be some scripted set pieces, the developers want the player to be able to explore Columbia at their own pace. Unlike Jack or Delta, the silent protagonists of BioShock and BioShock 2 respectively, and who are guided by radio commands from a third party, Booker is a vocal character, with dialogue designed to aid the player in leading Booker to complete his mission. Players in Infinite will revisit areas from earlier in the game, in the same manner of BioShock. However, to create a better narrative, the Irrational team borrowed ideas from Batman: Arkham Asylum, a similar open-world game in which players, on return to previous areas, would find new elements that would advance the plot and gameplay.
In addition to the normal game mode, BioShock Infinite includes a "1999 Mode," so named for the release year of System Shock 2, a game worked on by Levine and several other Irrational Games developers. 1999 Mode is a more challenging version of the game, requiring the player to make mutually exclusive specialization choices, such as choosing Booker's proficiency with certain weapon types, which may make later parts of the game difficult to complete and may require the player to reload from earlier saved games to manage his/her resources more efficiently. -- via Wikipedia
The Verdict:
First of all, I have to admit that I'm pretty green when it comes to this series. I only watched my old college roommate complete the original BioShock and haven't touched BioShock 2 at all. I'm a sucker for the AI companion component in gaming since the days of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus back on PlayStation 2. Seeing Booker and Elizabeth together in the early builds of the game reminded me of the partnership dynamic between Monkey and Trip in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Hoping to see a powerful partnership in another gaming narrative in the current era of gaming perked my interest into giving this game a shot.
Gameplay-wise, the game functions like a traditional first person shooter, but its the various Vigors that makes this series stand out on its own. My biggest gripe about the Vigors are that you never seem to have enough Salts to power them from start to finish for a single mob of enemies, then you are forced to rely on Elizabeth to supply you with more Salts to power your magical offenses and defenses. Another thing that I found to be odd was that the game doesn't inform you how to switch up the various Vigors to your liking. Once you find a new one, it replaces one of your older ones, removing it from further usage throughout the game. That is until I figured out near the end of the game that you could hold down the LB button (or L1 on PlayStation 3) and a wheel of available Vigors come up to select from. It would have been a lot more of asset to let me know about that at the beginning of the damn game, Irrational Games... I mainly blame that shortcoming on myself since I'm still fairly new to this series.
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| Gotta love the Lutece twins... |
That being said, these enemies you encounter are not your garden variety tools you face in every other FPS on the market. These guys will attack you from every angle and opt to flank you at every possibility. There multiple occasions where I found myself overwhelmed and had to retreat to safety to get my bearings and stage an alternate means of attack other than "Ramboing" your way through the masses that seems to work in every other FPS nowadays. Factoring the Vigors into combat forces the stale and true run-and-gun gameplay of the traditional FPS into a more intelligent means of combat. Elizabeth's assists in the form of opening tears to supply you with more firearms, health, mechanical allies, or even the means to gain a better vantage point in combat were hit or miss for my taste. Either the enemies take out your support allies as soon as she summons them or they are not around to be much use in battle. The Skyline sequences add a bit of flair to the combat as well as riding the rails and dropping down with Skyline Strike onto a helpless victim never seems to get old. I'm one of the few gamers out there who is getting rather bored with this fascination with the FPS craze over the last decade, but I found the combat here to be breath of fresh air.
Oh yeah, for those of you who cleared the game you got to see this translation of that letter that Elizabeth receives at the end of the game.
From start to finish, BioShock: Infinite was definitely worth the wait and a magnificent journey across the fictional city of Columbia. As a newcomer to the series, I found this to be a great starting point as the story serves as prequel of sorts to the other games but not tied to them so strictly that one would be lost if they have not played the previous iterations. The story clocks about roughly 10-12 hours, with a ton of replayability for collectibles and experiencing the game again on harder difficulty settings. For what it's worth, BioShock: Infinite is one of those games that players will be talking about for duration of the year as they anxiously wonder what is next to follow-up this brilliant narrative in the series. I'm giving this a 9 out of 10.
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