In the first two BioShock titles, players didn't want to mess with the games' vulnerable Little Sisters, for fear of facing the wrath of the tiny ones' protector, the Big Daddy. While Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth a protector of her own (or prison guard, depending on how you look at it), she's far from fragile.
Like Rapture's plasmids, Elizabeth's abilities are an annomoly connected to the science of the times. Infinite creative director Ken Levine explained that she has the ability to manipulate "tears," windows in time and space. From these windows, Elizabeth can summon people, weapons, vehicles, ammunition, the list goes on and on. However, pulling things in from these tears can drain Elizabeth substantially.
It's these abilities that make her so valued by the inhabitants of Columbia, who are tearing apart the floating city in an ongoing civil war that Elizabeth could easily turn the tides of. She's also highly sought after by protagonist Booker DeWitt's employer. The reasons why are yet to be revealed.
As far as an AI companion goes, Elizabeth will very different from those seen in other games - more observational and aware of her environment. Said Levine, "we spent a lot of time making Elizabeth notice the world and react to the world and engage with the world."
We'll see how the rest of the world, and gamers, will engage with Elizabeth when BioShock Infinite releases for PlayStation 3, PC, and Xbox 360, March 26th.
