Several lucky video game and media website have gotten to play the Irrational Games' upcoming first-person shooter, BioShock Infinite. These fortunate sites have actually gotten a chance to see the floating city of Columbia and so far the first impressions are pretty good.
PC Gamer's Tom Francis said, "I've just played the first five hours of BioShock Infinite, and I've come away with the same dazed feeling I got after I first played Half-Life 2. It's a sensory overload: a relentless series of staggering sights, astonishing events, and more story and detail and mysteries than I could possibly absorb." Francis also said that the game is very story driven and that its sense of discovery is reminiscent of the original BioShock.
Joystiq said, "BioShock Infinite's opening is similar to 2007's BioShock in many ways. Both Games feature a hero unsure of what he faces, both leave harsh realities behind, and both enter a world built on a foundation of wonder. Columbia is a marvelous place, identifying its core values and ambitions as soon as you're introduced. It is, like Rapture was, a central character of the story."
In G4's preview of the game, Kevin Kelly said, "We were able to play through the first two and a half hours of the game, which differs enough from the original BioShock to make it a new experience, yet remains rooted in a completely realized world just separated from our own. While Columbia soars high above the clouds and makes Bespin look like a boring day-spa, it still recalls the opulence and grandeur of Rapture. Only this time, the city teems with life and you'll hear snippets of overheard conversation throughout the game as the citizens of this utopia interact with you." Kelly also said that Irrational Games has all brought back period specific music including a version of "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys.
According to Irrational Games announcement about the game's delayed release date, BioShock Infinite is in its final stages of production and the team is just add few more polishes to the game. Here is what Irrational Games wrote:
"Work on the game is now down to final polish and bugfixing. In order to give the team a few more weeks of this polish, the release date of BioShock Infinite is March 26th. We know that this is going to ruffle some feathers. But we're willing to take the heat to make sure that BioShock Infinite is 100% the game our fans deserve."
Check out the game's first five minutes below...
