Be warned, this may get a bit wall-o-text-y. There'll be a TL;DR at the bottom.
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So, I love me some Bioshock. The original game is one of my all time favourites. I liked System Shock 2 back in the day. Hell, I even thought Bioshock 2 was alright. So it goes without saying that I had some pretty high expectations of Bioshock Infinite.
Well, Bioshock Infinite looked upon my contemptibly petty expectations with a sneer and replied, "Oh yee of little faith", then proceeded to do its thing in spectacular fashion.
Yeah... what I'm trying to say is, this game is multiple flavours of exceptionally awesome.
So naturally I shall start with the things I don't like, as is my wont. Let's see now..
I suppose my main gripe is that there is a bit of a mismatch of gameplay and, well... everything else. You see, Bioshock Infinite is a first person shooter. Now, it's a good shooter and it's an absolute blast to play. However, considering everything else it has to offer in the story, character and setting department, the segments that revolve around shooting people in the face can only feel a bit crude and juvenile in comparison. I just feel it could have been better in another genre. A point-and-click adventure maybe, or... oh, I dunno.
Speaking of shooting people in the face, the weapons are a bit dull. It's mostly just the usual selection of small pistol, big pistol, shotgun, rifle, sniper rifle, SMG, machine gun, RPG, la-de-dah-de-dah. Happily, there are also the "vigors" (read: plasmids/spells) that allow for such shenanigans as catching incoming bullets and flinging them back, levitating your enemies or attacking them with flocks of crows. (Yes, seriously. Crows. It's good fun.)
Let's see, what else? There's a two weapon limit, a la Halo. Personally, I liked that and the way it forced you to use whatever was on hand, but I know some people don't feel that way. (Plasm... vigors work differently. You only have two selected at once, but you can switch them out at will.)
Uh... regenerating health? Once again, it uses a Halo-style system with one regenerating bar and one that needs to be replenished with supplies. Once again, I liked it, but I know others may not.
Oh, and you can't fall off Columbia. Doing so just gets you instantly respawned. I thought that was a bit weak.
If it seems like I'm grasping for things to criticize here, it's because I bloody well am. Those of you who have been around for a while may know that I am rather demanding of games. Hell, I'll cheerfully point out the flaws even in games that I love. So if these are all the flaws I can find in Bioshock Infinite then I call that a win. Which leads me to the bit where I start gushing like a malfunctioning fire hydrant.
The game is utterly fucking gorgeous and the setting is amazing. The aesthetic design is off-the-charts awesome. You could stop at any point in the game and chances are that you would be looking at something beautiful. The architecture, the character designs, the background vistas... everything is beautiful.
The music is great. It stays in the background for the most part, but whenever you do notice it, you'll also notice that it's really damn good.
No description of Bioshock Infinite would be complete without mention of Elizabeth. While Booker is the protagonist and a damn good one (rest assured, he's no Marcus Phoenix), Elizabeth is very much the star of the show. And she's really good, both as a character and as an AI sidekick. It's obvious that immense amounts of effort have been spent on making her as active as possible. During the quiet moments she pokes about the environment, scavenging money and pointing out rare items. In combat she spots the more dangerous varieties of enemies, summons aid and throws you supplies. I lost count of how many times she saved my arse with a timely medkit or shotgun.
You may have noticed that I've barely mentioned anything about the story. That's because it's awesome and if I were to spoil it in any way you would be well within your rights to beat me senseless with a sack of rapid weasels. So for the purposes of this post I shall speak in generalities.
Basically, the story is great. It's expertly paced, from a big beginning to calm and measured middle to steadily building climax to mind blowing ending. Perhaps what I like best is how well it foreshadows everything. It consistently gave me enough hints to make accurate guesses about what was to come. But then whenever what I had predicted came true, it came true in such a way as to amaze me all over again.
So, in conclusion, it felt like a privilege to be able to play this game and I recommend it without reservation. Bioshock Infinite is the kind of game that most games wish they could be when they grow up.
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TL;DR - This game is awesome in just about every possible way. Go buy it.
) my fave characters.
