Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite achieves a high level of success in categories of story telling, action, gameplay and science fiction. It never fails to be an entertaining vision from Kevin Levine. The real story is about a girl, Elizabeth and she matters more than anything in the world to you by the end of the game. A wonderful look back at America's history that transforms into something the Japanese might do, creating whole mythologies and video games about past emperors and in or case presidents. It seems like a current trend with Assassin's Creed 3, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, and Deadpool's first story arc by Brian Posehn that explore a fictional American history or brings back the presidents as a joke. Having so much, it's not the Bioshock I wanted, spiritual successor has no better meaning than this title.
You start off as Booker De Witt, a New Yorker who doesn't have an annoying New York accent, good for us. You find yourself having to pay off a sizable debt and must head off for Columbia, a floating cityscape. Garsh, it's beautiful and I want post cards. It will probably win some online poll for places to visit in a video game. So many video game worlds have had floating land masses and platforms with no reason behind them, but instead of no explanation you have a back story and science fiction. Columbia started off as a flying warship fleet and became a city that succedded from the US. Columbia may have succeeded, but it worships the founding fathers like G-ds. It turned past presidents into Micky Mouse characters with caricatures of them all over the city.
Infinite becomes dark. Such a city of light and the commercial exploits of George Washington grabs you as things go wrong and questions of morality are asked in just a few minutes after seeing such an amazing floating wonderland. Underneath the city lay cracks of America's own past about racism, revolution and our love and use of guns.
You have a gal pal to help you through it all. You meet her as though an introduction of a Disney Princess, she gently moves her hair to the side and you fall. See Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and every other princess movie. When you first meet Elizabeth I though a musical number might start. She's your princess, your luck, your voice of moral scrutiny, Jiminy Cricket, your debt. She's the girl who you need to pay off your debt. Get her back! Elizabeth is not a nuisance, in overall plot she does get captured like any damsel in fiction, but during battle, which can go insane. In battle she can't be hit, only you can, so no annoying escort missions, few.
Once with Elizabeth there is no time without Elizabeth. The loneliness is gone with her. She is your Kagome from Inuyasha. Be it a much more helpful relationship as she constantly finds extra loot for you or gives you what you need in battle, be it health, salt or ammo.
Salt powers you new powers and that couldn't be more American than I can think of. Salty fatty foods giving you powers, that is rich and high in cholesterol. This time your powers are called vigors. You'll be sure to gain a favorite, perhaps the one where you catch bombs and bullets with your bare hands and fling them back at an opponent. The new feature in these is no more buying of the trap setting, they come with trap built in. So just to remind you it's barely the 1920's and you can shoot electric crystals out of your hands to fry enemies to the bones until nothing is left. Super powers with guns in the 1920's in a floating city.
To sum up the science fiction story elements in this game would be an entire other post. I'll just leave it as a great work of sci-fi with nods to so much it would take pages to fully explore every bit that stood out.
There were some lost opportunities here or there. You meet with a group happy about the death of Abraham Lincoln and worshipping John Wilkes Booth. I thought there might be some more encounters with them, but that subplot became more of a killer robot makeover, I won't explain that, but you'll get it if you play the game. Medium gameplay didn't show much of certain enemies that were shown off in trailers. I would have liked some more run-ins with weirder bad guys then just cops and thugs.
Jumping on the railing and having sky battles perfect for a city set in the sky were tiresome. An element not needed to me, but others might find more appealing.
There were minor hiccups here and there. Some enemies wouldn't notice me unless I stepped somewhat close to them even if I was in there eye line. Some graphics failed to look that nice.
If I did have a rating system I'd give it a 9 out of 10, but it's just not Bioshock. Bioshock was a horror game, having a darker theme , set at the bottom of the sea. It's populace corrupted by their misuse of powers . A different soundtrack, style and feel. It fails to be that Bioshock. Then there's the stupid name, Bioshock Infinite. I get the reasoning behind it, (I get the ending) but it still was an idiotic choice for a title. Couldn't it have been Stratoshock or something conveying being in the air?
Rapture will always be the nightmare I enjoy, the skies are too sunny in Columbia.
spoiler
For a very short period you are returned to Rapture of the original Bioshock and reminded me of the setting, differences and just sounds and it made miss that game. Why not really make Bioshock 3?