"BioShock Infinite" from developer Irrational Games is a commercial and critical success. The third game in the series, "Infinite" is a first-person shooter that manages to transcend genre conventions by telling a compelling story that is not afraid to invoke taboo subjects.
The soul of the game lies in protagonist Booker Dewitt's attempts to wash away the sins of his past; however, he, in turn, is being sucked down into further darkness.
The game comes to life in a fantastical floating air city named Columbia. Booker is being reluctantly transported to this new and strange world with a mission to rescue a damsel in distress named Elizabeth. Elizabeth, a supernatural character with the ability to pull things into the world from other dimensions, spends most of the game alongside Booker serving as a valuable combat medic and supply gopher. As an agent provocateur, Booker's actions, and therefore the players actions, result in bringing turmoil and strife to a previously idyllic landscape.
Players are able to throw objects at their opponents, zap them with lightning, and catch their missiles and then turn them around to strike back at their. You can traverse the floating city via monorail like tracks using a modified grappling hook. The game play is smooth and there is no screen tearing or slow down when multiple enemies are on screen. Graphics aren't the strongest point of the game as everything feels a bit cartoony at times. The character models seem like they came straight from an animation movie in 2008. However, all these concerns fall away as you start blowing up buildings and turning pieces of metal into missiles.
Booker and Elizabeth struggle to escape Columbia. Early in the game the player is confronted with many of Columbia's societal ills such as widespread racism, jingoism and religious intolerance. At the same time, you also confront one of the many core mysteries of BioShock Infinte *SPOILERS* - What is the brand on Booker's hand? In Columbia, it is the mark of the false Shepherd, the culture's version of the Christian Antichrist and the 666 that marks him. Even as the mystery remains, Booker has no option but to run as he is marked as the prophesied fiend. *END SPOILERS*
The combat in the game is exemplary. Elizabeth give you the ability to summon important things when you most need them. Also when you die, you are revived. This does have a downside; you lose precious coins which could otherwise be used to buy new upgrades for your guns or powers. The upgrades that you buy for your guns really make a huge difference although getting coins is particularly easy. This means you have to strategicatly upgrade your arsenal since you won't have enough to upgrade everything.
As Time's Jared Newman rightly notes, "When evaluated on traditional grounds, Bioshock Infinite isn't perfect. As with the previous BioShock games, it requires far too much resource scavenging from dead bodies and abandoned cabinets. It has strayed farther from the role-playing roots of its spiritual ancestor, 'System Shock,' and combat feels too constrained as a result. Some of the game's early ideas, like prolonged boss encounters and story-altering decisions, seemed to be abandoned partway through."
However, this is the sort of a game that inspires more thoughtful critiques than most games will ever do. The game can make you feel uncomfortable, initiate introspection or even invoke anger for the way it handles touchy subjects like racism, religious extremists and nationalism. "BioShock Infinite" is more than just a quality game and it's definitely worth checking out.
