Bioshock Infinite is an amazing gaming experience. Without spoiling too much (cause I really do not want to), this game offers a twisted story with what appears to be a multiple storyline with an ending that will leave your jaw on the floor. In fact, the few nitpicks I had about the game were immediately quashed when the ending slapped me in the face out of nowhere.
I may as well get those nitpicks out of the way. The combat at the beginning was more or less the same as any other FPS, which was my issue with the first game where I just could not get into the story at all. BUT! The combat issues are eventually eased with the use of "Vigors". These are special powers which allows for different combat styles, and vary the gameplay just enough to completely immerse you, rather that plowing through the combat just to get to the story.
Your partner (who I will describe later), has the ability to rip holes in reality, allowing you to summon cover/turrets/heath/guns in the heat of battle, as well as throw ammo to you when you need it as long as you are not camping. A character like this which you do miss (as opposed to wishing they were not there at all) when they disappear in part of the story, leaving you alone with the combat is one that is noteworthy in my books and can make combat seem less laborious and improve the game overall, but more on that character later.
Another thing that broke up the combat was the skyline, which are pretty much just personal transport lines which swing you around the map, allowing to essentially change combat positions in a matter of seconds. These are also used by enemies allowing for some very interesting dog fights.
Now, I wish I could tell you a lot about the story, but I won't as I really recommend playing the game yourself, so before reading I issue a SOILER ALLERT! The game immerses you into the story without you knowing it, which is the best type of immersion, leading to me start playing the game at 12am in the morning, only to not have realised that I had not moved until sunrise about 6 hours later...
Like the first bioshock, you, Booker DeWitt, a private detective being sent to locate a girl. You are in a boat, heading towards a lighthouse (note I played Bioshock 1, but never finished it), listening to a conversation between 2 NPC's and staring at a box of pictures of the girl you are looking for, her name and a few bits of paper and a gun. Instead of heading downstairs like in the first one, you head upstairs and begin your ascension to Columbia, City in the Sky. This world is wonderfully and beautifully crafted by the developers with a amazing pallet of colors. You are immersed into a world in which nothing was meant to happen, where most games like Oblivion, where you are the chosen one, and the appropriate characters die/turn evil/etc the story is you and starts right away. You become immersed in a world where nothing is wrong, and the game lets you sink into this feeling before really starting the story. The world is this ideal world with nothing wrong happening, except for the massive amounts of racism, but the game is set time period where race was the defining factor in humans, giving you a sense of what it was like to live in the time where people were defined by their skin color, not their personality like they are today. I like this as you can see how far humanity has come over the last 100 years, and I applaud the developers for doing this as it is hard for any game to pull off. Anyway, you are dropped into this 'heaven' world, and immersed in the culture, religion, and environment, with the religion being the one that really drives the plot.
The religion in the world is eerie, driven by "the word of the Prophet" who eventually wants to blow up the world, and also foresees the coming of the anti-prophet who will destroy his plans. The anti-prophet, which turns out to be you, Booker, so you are forced to destroy all his plans as foreseen. As you progress through the story, Booker finds the girl he was looking for called Elizabeth, who is well characterised and a brilliant representation of females in games. She has the ability to rip holes in reality which makes for some interesting game play and story. I was worried with the reality the plot would become twisted like the episodes of Dr Who where they play with the time line, but the developers use it in a way which makes the plot so beautifully executed and twisted that the game sucked me in. This game should be used in the arguments of 'games are art'. I will leave the story there as going any further reveals massive spoilers, but when you play, keep in mind the theme of "Circles".
Elizabeth is a exceptional character in the plot. It is wonderful to see so many games coming out with either female leads (the new Tomb Raider), or secondary characters like in this game (these characters are generally what drives the story, like Alyx in Half Life 2). I say this as many female characters in the history of gaming are generally portrayed as objects, generally placed there as a love interest or bluntly "eye-candy", or are characters that constantly need saving and are viewed as the weaker sex. Elizabeth's character is her own character, with flaws like any human being. While she does not take a massive part in the combat, she explains to the protagonist that she despises the combat you do, even if it to protect yourself and her, later realising it is 'them or you'. She does not actively take part in combat, but assists in the heat of battle by throwing you ammo and summoning turrets or cover when needed. You could summarise her combat style as; passive, but present. Elizabeth is a character that most developers should note when designing a character, flawed, but determined to overcome those flaws in a way that she is comfortable with. With that in mind, let's talk about Booker DeWitt, the protagonist.
Booker is the character that you play, and oddly enough, you never really get to see his face except for the box art. He has not got duct tape over his mouth and you slowly get to learn about his character over the course of the game, as he discovers there are consequences to his actions which lead to the eye popping, jaw dropping ending. I will say it is nice to see a protagonist with flaws, who is not wearing an entire tank as armour, and who's decisions lead him into the world to begin with. He is someone you control most of the time so you can try to make him less amoral and a less horrible person. It is sad that the game like this does not allow you to make different choices at different points, but it would not have been able to pull off that ending without Booker coming off as an abrasive personality with a horrible past, present and future.
The Prophet, who you eventually get to know as Zachery Comstock, is masterfully crafted as a saviour/cult leader. Very much clouded to the player and set up as a sort of dictator who is all seeing and all powerful due to his religious influence over the people of Columbia. He is an essential part of the plot and spoilers will ensue if I reveal anything else about this character.
As you can probably tell, I want you to play the game. I understand that some people play games for the story, but instant gratification/simulation, but if you can sit back and let the story take you in, most people will not be disappointed. You should play this game.
As for the people who already have played the game, and anyone reading this who has not, you should not read any further, I am not joking, this is kind of a massive spoiler and you might regret it. You have been warned, MASSIVE SPOILER AHEAD. To those who have played, imagine if the lead character Booker was a female. One of the things that games have not been really covered in a game is a story like Infinite's with a mother as the protagonist. This game would be just as brilliant, if not more because Infinite explored its own story with the protagonist as a father. I will leave you to think about this some more, but I reckon it would have been brilliant, despite what publishers/developers research to sell the game.
