"It's really far less dramatic than people think it is," he says. Just let it tell you its story.Irrational's creative director Ken Levine appears rather laid back when questioned about the departures at the company. Just remember that nothing in BioShock Infinite is an attempt to be cute. The fact that it holds much more feels like an advancement of an art form. That really should be the only quality it needs to exhibit. If you buy a copy of this game, you will have fun, and really, that's the only recommendation that is required when discussing this medium.īioShock Infinite is a hell of a lot of fun to play. Whether or not you take anything away from BioShock Infinite beyond its story doesn't matter. The best aspect, however, is that all of this highfalutin preconception doesn't matter a damn. BioShock Infinite too has an unshakable claim to be challenging what we think games are capable of. In much the same way as Heavy Rain or Dark Souls may not be to everyone's taste, they are still important touchstones in the maturity of video games as an art form. This is a game that lives and dies on its story and to reveal any more of that to anyone who hasn't yet experienced it would be unforgivable.īioShock Infinite exists in a pantheon tagged "required reading" in the gaming medium. I would love to expound at length about the flying city of Columbia and the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth, but to do so would run the risk of ruining things. Really, the only sensible review of this game would be to instruct the reader to close this window, order a copy of the game and play it. Apply your experience as a player of games who can recognise tropes, traps and signs that the game you're playing can pre-empt your expectations and BioShock Infinite offers up some pretty damning data about what constitutes entertainment.Īnd here, already, I feel I've said too much. Follow the game's story to its eventual end and you'll likely leave satisfied, perhaps ready to tackle it on its super hardcore 1999 difficulty setting. They plonk the player in an other-worldly environment informed by historical social conventions and then put the ugliest side of humanity on display.īioShock Infinite is similar to its predecessor in that it offers up a layered narrative. It's a trick that Irrational pull off so well. The year is 1912 and all of the racist and religious zealotry of that time are on full display. Players take on the role of former Pinkerton Booker De Witt who is charged with rescuing a young woman named Elizabeth in a fantastical flying city called Columbia. The bare facts of the plot are as follows. Its central appeal is wrapped up in its story and the less you know about that before booting up the game, the better a time you will have. I could go into lengthy detail about the game's "tear" mechanics, or the number of battles where using a sky-hook and rail adds another series of options, but that's not BioShock Infinite's main draw. There's hardly ever just one way to emerge from a firefight victorious the number of tactical alternatives open to the player is lengthy enough to offer hours upon hours of replay value. The corridors in this shooter are wide, frequently mutli-tiered and crammed to the rafters with weapons and enemies. You juggle guns and superpowers in a seemingly never-ending series of firefights with increasingly tougher opponents. If you didn't play BioShock, here's what you're in for. If you ever played BioShock, imagine a more layered environment where you can hold only two firearms and you have the help of a roaming AI that occasionally hurls you power-ups. It looks gorgeous, its mechanics are sublime and it's to Irrational's credit that the gameplay wrapped around the narrative is far more satisfying than that of its predecessor. If surface detail is all you care about, BioShock Infinite will keep you well stocked. Dig a little deeper, however, and you start wandering into the sort of high-minded philosophical territory that could fuel a dozen or so PhD dissertations. Taken at face value, BioShock Infinite is a ripping science-fiction yarn, a beautiful art show and a tactically layered shooter. Indeed, upon reflection, it feels like an essential footnote. I want anyone who picks up a copy of BioShock Infinite to bear Levine's sentiment in mind. "Nothing of this is an attempt to be cute." But I never forgot his answer and it loomed over the entire 10 or so hours it took for me to complete his new game. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone reading this, so I won't reveal what aspect of the game I asked him about. During the interview, I asked him about something I'd noticed in his new game that referenced his earlier work.
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