Its definitely an understatement that I love Bioshock. I practically live and breathe it. The environment, the richly detailed architecture, everything about Levine’s masterpiece still resonates within me 5 years later, as does its predecessor System Shock 2. It seems that whenever Irrational Games the creator of both of these titles take on a game they make it better than the last, something that was reaffirmed for me when I played through Levine’s second take on the Bioshock brand, Bioshock Infinite. I approached this game with many questions and mixed feelings.
“Would it be as good as the first I asked myself?
Would I be okay with that?”
its one thing to love a game and its another to try and love its kin. There have been many instances in my short gaming life that I have in fact been disappointed with sequels or prequels or mostly because I didn’t like the final product (SimCity) but some because it simply detracts from the memories and emotional rapport I have made with the series. Bioshock 2 did this for me. It detracted from the narrative severely in my opinion and destroyed (quite literally) the world that Levine had made ending my fantasy of Rapture (the city in Bioshock 1). However the worst thing to eventuate from this was the devastation of my own imagination which had been robbed of dreaming up the countless scenarios that might eventuate from this underwater dystopia.
“To put is concisely: Bioshock Infinite made amends…”
Infinite has to be at least as good as if not better than the original Bioshock.
I don’t say this lightly as I consider myself a hardcore fan of the series and would never trust these words with a game undeserved of their meaning. You arrive at a lighthouse as Booker DeWitt who living up to his name has to get the girl and wipe away the debt. You eventually end up in Columbia, the city in the clouds during a ‘war of the worlds’ style entrance. THe opening sequences of your arrival to Columbia are breathtaking leaving one with quite a ‘spiritual’ experience as you absorb the faith and beliefs of its people. Gameplay wise plasmids have returned as ‘vigors’ powered by salts (eve) as well as the usual arsenal of weapons. The skyline introduces a vertical aspect to gameplay as you jump and fly throughout levels nailing foes as you go. The girl A.K.A Elizabeth is possibly the best NPC companion I have ever had the pleasure of playing with, in a game. Narrative wise she adds so much she absorbs and makes references to her current surroundings as you or I might opening our own eyes to how human she behaves in every aspect. She will casually start talking to you about her life or Paris which she seems obsessed on getting to; for me these little touches such as the guitar easter egg add so much more to character development and you gain an emotional attachment to the story meaning you care about these characters.
“When was the last time you actually cared what happened to a character? Hell even Bioshock 1 didn’t have this.”
I won’t spoil the plot here However know this, this game should be played immediately, before someone lacking my own common courtesy does spoil this amazing game.
Pooley's Gaming Blog 