Gameplay: This is a video game, obviously. So no matter how much the writer in me wants to forever talk about the artistic qualities—yes, video games are art—of this game, the gameplay will always be a major part of how it is viewed. So, first off, Bioshock Infinite is a first person shooter. But not in the typical sense. In one hand is your weapon—you can carry two—and in the other are your 'Vigors', which, basically, are powers you gain from drinking special mixtures throughout the game. These Vigors are drawn from what is essentially a mana pool: a blue bar at the bottom of your screen which you keep full by consuming 'salts'. There is no shortage of choices for combat style, and the various pieces of gear you find can help shape that. From sniping at long distances, using Vigor traps to protect yourself to charging into battle with a shotgun in hand, using your Vigors to stun your enemies—there's something here for everyone.
The controls are rather simple to grasp for anyone who's
ever picked up an FPS game before, but different enough that the experience is
unique (and for the record, I have yet to play the first or second Bioshock
games, so I cannot compare Infinite's controls to those of the first two). Weapon
choices are simple and uncomplicated (unless you're a gun hoarder like me), and
Vigor and weapon upgrades are easy to understand. There are plenty of minor
details in the mechanics that are sure to please. For example, looting doesn't
pause the game or interrupt dialogue; melee finishers are easy to accomplish
and are worth doing, if only for the cinematics; and Elizabeth will constantly
sling health, guns, and salts your way, accompanied by the quickly familiar shout
of "Booker, catch!" The gameplay and controls, all in all, are fun
without being over-complicated. It allows the game to tell its story, and you
to have tons of fun experiencing it.
Setting: The city Columbia floats above the
U.S. in hidden brilliance. It's truly captivating. Filled with 1912 style
propaganda aplenty, its steampunk roots are undeniably present. Floating
buildings and bits of road litter the sky and the sun blazes over and around the
enormous statue of the angel Columbia on Monument Island. The gorgeous panorama
of the city, specifically at the start of the game, takes your breath away.
Fantastic minor details are everywhere, from the period clothing to the kinetoscopes
that sporadically appear to the people chatting in the streets. As the game
progresses and the city begins to change, the darker, crumbling version of
Columbia is just as stunning as the bright, beautiful scenes from the earliest
view. Absolutely amazing.
Characters: The characters are not lacking
either, in any way. The development of Booker, whose face you rarely see due to
the first-person nature of the game, is stellar. Instead of being the faceless
protagonist most first person games leave the player to control, Booker is
alive and an active part of the story. Booker is a job-first-people-later kind
of guy, with bits of sarcasm ingrained into his personality (like any good
protagonist). Amazingly, though, he reacts when spoken to by passers-by on the
street, he comments on things and changes as a character throughout the
storyline, he has seriously meaningful dialogue with most of the characters he
meets, and he makes you feel all the emotion he does, because the whole time
you’re seeing through his eyes! Whether you see through the eyes of a character
or not, they're almost never as well-rounded and developed as Booker DeWitt.
He's become one of my favorite protagonist characters of all time.
Elizabeth is a major character as well, and very much worth mentioning,
as she travels with you for most of the game. She starts off a naive girl, not
knowing much about her purpose in the scheme of things. However, throughout the
story she becomes more and more the dignified, purposed woman you see at the
end. The Prophet Comstock is the antagonist, and as the religious and political
ruler of the city he is an expert at causing you problems. But he isn't just a
villainous face—he's much more. He's a leader, guiding his people away from the
darkness; a father, protecting his child from the false prophet; a survivor,
insuring his own longevity even if everything else is bound to fall. He is a
worthy antagonist for our protagonist. Also of note are the Lutece siblings,
Robert and Rosalind, who appear randomly throughout the game. Not much can be
said about them without throwing out spoilers, but suffice to say they are
extremely entertaining, impactful, and worthy of their position in the
narrative. Other great characters such as Fink, Daisy Fitzroy, Songbird, and
the myriad enemies themselves also appear to enhance the game's characters'
effectiveness.
Story: The game's overall narrative is
gripping, to say the least. Even early on, it snatches ahold of you. And the nature of the story creates a need to
explore in the player. Pieces of history and facts that add interesting spins
to the epic being unfolded throughout the game encourages the player to find every
detail he can, specifically the 'voxophone' recordings scattered throughout
Columbia. I was thrilled the entire way through by the revelations, big and
small, that were displayed by the characters and the settings themselves. The
game seemingly tells Elizabeth's story and Columbia’s, and that is definitely
resolved by the end. But the ending simply blew my mind. It totally changes the
way you see the rest of the game, using the characters' interactions to that
point to propel your mind into a mode of thought that you struggle to
comprehend at first, and most likely will end up thinking on for days after.
It's stories like this that inspire me as a writer to try and affect people in
ways they will always remember like this.
Overall: I’m impressed. Bioshock Infinite was a game changer
for me, and I highly doubt I’ll ever be able to forget it. I recommend
it to anyone, interested or not. It’s worth playing, for sure.