Much to everyone’s pleasure, BioShock Infinite has finally been released after several delays, and it does not disappoint. I’ll keep it short and simple, plunging into what makes this game great and some minor setbacks.
Gameplay
Just as a quick note, I played this on PC. The game controls with a solid feel and everything reacts well to your commands. However, ‘Z’, or middle mouse button, is your iron sights hotkey, but that can easily be changed something that suits your needs through the keybinding option.
The gun combat combined with the Vigors (Infinite’s version of Plasmids) makes for a fun time. The vigors offer you several different solutions in combat. Do you shoot the turret with lightning and stun it? Or how about I possess it and turn the machine against its allies? Snapping back and forth between vigors at will as easy, however I can see this being a hassle on consoles. A large drawback is that you can only have two weapons at one time. On the flip side, there are weapons strewn about that are designed for that area–say shotgun for melee baddies.
Also, there are skylines, which are rails that you grind on using your skyhook, and it’s awesome. Several areas in the game are designed around these skylines, having you zip around evading baddies or jumping on them and punching them in the face with the skyhook. It’s all very exhilarating and thankfully it feels very natural to jump on and off the rails.
Another great thing is the game’s simplicity. It’ll tell you “go” and that’s about it. There’s no persistent arrow or words on the screen reminding you constantly–you’re on your own. There is a feature, very similar to Deadspace’s bread crumbs, where you can click a button and a stretched out arrow on the ground will guide you if you’re stuck.
Story/Setting
I don’t want to spoil much, so this will mostly be about the setting. The game is set in 1912 and follows Booker DeWitt, a man who travels to the airborne city Columbia to find a girl named Elizabeth.
Now imagine this floating city with American patriotism cranked to 11 with a dab of steam punk and you have Columbia. Everything is bright is colorful, and the attention to detail is outstanding. From the people just living their daily lives in this city and the audio tapes throughout the game, it’s not hard to get sucked into Columbia and never want to leave.
Rating
I give this game a 10 out of 10. It’s amazing and stands out amongst is peers as something unique and creative that only comes around once in a blue moon.
