Bioshock Infinite Review

Bioshock Infinite has a lot to live up to, the two previous games were groundbreaking works of art, and taking the third installment to a completely new setting and time did make me a little nervous, but holy fuckshit, it more than lives up to the series standard, and then some. It's political, racially charged and super interesting.

The first two Bioshocks took place in the underwater industry-driven city of Rapture, and this one took it to the natural opposite, Columbia, a patriotic religious city in the sky. Columbia is connected by rails, called the skyline, that you can latch onto and zip around the city, shooting rockets and stabbing enemies in the brains with your hook from above. It's a blast, and the largest source of fun in Infinite. When a firefight gets hairy, (and it often does), running for your life screaming and plunging off the edge only to be saved by a conveniently placed rail is so exhilarating, swinging around and turning the tables instantly. I loved it, and it's way more than a gimmick, its a whole new way to play a shooter.

You'll notice rather quickly, that the most fortunate citizens of Columbia are shockingly racist, idolizing gargantuan douches like John Wilkes Boothe, seen here in the best video game artwork ever. The game doesn't let up either, forcing you to witness the over the top brutality of the ethnic population, all the while blasting the national anthem through the loudspeakers. This game is totally different if you happen to be American, shoving our own disgusting history in our faces, yes, it is fiction, but the slavery and genocide of our past isn't, and the effect is sobering.

 Elizabeth plays alongside you through most of the game, grabbing ammo, salts, and health. She is less Ico-princess and more dog from Fable 2, her AI works well. She can't be hurt in fights, so you don't have to worry about protecting her, and her dialogue is always interesting while you explore, also making combing rooms looking for supplies less boring. She's a good character, one that keeps revealing pieces of the puzzle till the very end.

Some great stuff happened to me while playing through Infinite for the first time. I got to 40,000 gamerscore, and the achievement that put me over the top was Street Sweeper. I got three achievements with one bullet during the battle of Wounded Knee in the Hall of Heroes, and stumbled into a secret alley of smoking 7 year olds. There are only a couple of things that I didnt like, and they were minor, like the ciphers, which are a lot of fun, but you only come across them three times in the entire game. The Vigors (plasmids) are fun, but don't ever have the same stopping power that your guns do, and take a more secondary role, and no Big Daddy esque enemies, (there are Handymen, but I think you only fight 3 ever), which is one big part of the franchise.

Infinite blew me away, and what was even more awe-inspiring was the ending. I always thought that the plot-twist in #1 would never be topped, and #2 upped the ante with Minerva's Den, but Infinite's finale ties all three games together, in a holy shit kinda way. It's memorable, and makes the entire game just pack a bigger artistic punch. Buy this. Now.

Favorite weapon: Volley Gun
Favorite Vigor: Bucking Bronco
Favorite character(s): The Luteces
Favorite stage: The Hall of Heroes
Favorite Moment: The big reveal