For those of you who don't know me very well, I'm also a big fan of clever video games (though I'm not technically a gamer) and possibly a bit obsessed with the BioShock series. I'm already used to the fact that all BioShock games are incredibly immersive and built around a solid and creative storyline, but Infinite was definitely one of the most intense gaming experiences I've ever had - along with Amnesia the Dark Descent, of course, which gave me nightmares for weeks and made me shit my pants in my own house even when I'd take a break from playing (which was every ten minutes).
I'd definitely place BioShock Infinite in my all-time top five favourite video games, although it can't be properly compared to the environment in its two prequels (they're very similar and very different in a way that makes it impossible to tell which one would be "better" or "more immersive" as an overall gaming experience and, you know, food for thought).
But the thing is I'm simply in love with it and I've annoyed the hell out of everyone by praising it on every suitable occasion. And I'm obviously going to take the opportunity to do that around here as well.
Minor spoilers/plot details to follow.
If you've played any of the first BioShock games by now, you already know game events take place in a desolate, gloomy environment - corridors, parks, abandoned shopping districts and plazas that haven't been tended to for years. Therefore, the city's structure is gradually falling apart, in spite of the history and profound emotional imprint of the areas that are still relatively intact. In the first of the two installments set in the mid-20th century, the player (an airplane crash survivor who discovers a mysterious lighthouse in the middle of the Atlantic) ventures into the underwater city of Rapture, built by megalomaniac Andrew Ryan in the attempt to escape the legal and moral constraints of the modern society, which counted, in his opinion, as the only impediment to the evolution of the human race.
Rapture's carefully selected citizens, the great who were no longer "constrained by the small", had lost their minds due to the excessive use of plasmids - genetically engineered substances that altered the human DNA, offering various enhancements/abilities to anyone who had the means to pay for it, at the same time causing them to become mentally and physically wrecked ("too spliced up") in the process.
Bioshock Infinite daringly breaks the pattern and takes the player to the floating air-city of Columbia, with game events to be set in the early 20th century. In a similar way to the previous games, everything begins with a lighthouse and a man sent to set things right - a man whose face, voice and identity are revealed to the player from the beginning, unlike Bioshock 1 and 2.
Hope you're getting an idea of the kind of stuff I'm talking about. And I still haven't got to the part where I explain the reasons I'm so in love with it.
1. The recurrent theme of dystopia and the player actually being able to explore/interact with the environment before everything went downhill
Columbia is opposed to Rapture's gloomy atmosphere/art deco architecture and unsound citizens the player is presented with from the very beginning (not sure if it's just game art or the fact that they re-built the engine from scratch, probably both). Most of the exploring and shooting takes place in open air, at different times of the day, and the player is given plenty of time to familiarise himself with the environment before the city starts going to hell in the proper sense (which means everything gets completely messed up right before your eyes while you're out there shootin' stuff).
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Also, you can ride the skylines at different speeds, which is pretty fucking amazing
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2. The fine blend between American Exceptionalism and bigotry
I was impressed by the surprisingly wide range of enemies in BioShock Infinite. Among angered policemen, funnel-headed schoolboys and rioting citizens, we also have to deal with the pestering motorised motorized patriots - psychotic George Washingtons firing crank guns at ya while shouting extremely disturbing things in a creepy mechanic voice (e.g. "The Lord judges, I act").
Levels that were meant to reveal more about the history of Columbia are very well linked to the history of the United States, which Columbia had been a part of, and you can notice the fine traces of ancient 'Murican pride (and freedom, of course) in every banner and advertisement throughout the city. Also, from the most useless of props to the most random voice logs you can play to reveal the plot or gain insight of the evil machinations going on in the dystopian city, the level of detail is one of the things that make BioShock games so immersive.
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| Like I said, a fuckton of detail |
3. The brain-bending paradox of the time-space continuum fitted into the story of a flying city led by a delusional self-proclaimed prophet (apologies for the high density of adjectives)
Honestly, too many spoilers required to give more details. Just to say that these two are some sort of eternal, multi-dimensional entities able to travel to any point/moment in space-time only to troll the hell out of you and create even more confusion to compensate for the otherwise useful hints they provide you with.
4. No matter how many times you've played it before, you'll always notice something new at some point if you give it another go.
That one's self explanatory.
Well, that's pretty much everything I can share without revealing massive plot details for those of you who'd actually like to play it someday. All I can say is the ending's not very predictable, so from that point of view, it's totally worth the effort.
I'll be back soon with more awesome games to bore you with - in the meantime, try not to get yourselves stepped on by a Big Daddy, would you kindly.
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