Mini-Review: BioShock Infinite (Infinitely Awesome)

 

It’s no secret that BioShock Infinite is one of the best videogames released in recent memory. The scores at GameRankings will tell you that. As a fan of the first two BioShock games, I was eager for the release of Infinite… though dreading it at the same time since I’m a pansy and the previous games creeped me out. Now that I’ve recently completed an initial playthrough of the game I have to admit that I find myself in awe. Virtually everything about BioShock Infinite is perfect.To kick things off, I’ll start with something you probably don’t hear about too often… the BAD things about BioShock Infinite. Really, these are relatively minor annoyances that I had with the game, but I feel they’re important to mention. First off, you can only carry two weapons in BioShock Infinite. In the end, it doesn’t really detract from your ability to play the game, but it is disappointing that you can’t stock up on ammo and swap weapons out easily. When I found it most annoying was early on in the game, but the farther into the game you get, the less of an issue it becomes. Typically there’s plenty of extra ammo around, so you can get by on whatever weapon you happen to be carrying, even if it’s slightly annoying that you can’t use the weapon you REALLY want.

My second complaint is with the game’s auto-save system. Anyone who reads my rants here often knows that I HATE auto-saving and BioShock Infinite is no different. To make matters even worse, early on I experienced an issue where the auto-save didn’t work properly and I lost HOURS of gameplay time. Very frustrating. Not to mention, it makes it very difficult to backtrack and explore when the game is constantly saving your progress and pushing you forward. And of course, my biggest complaint is that it made it difficult to quit the game when you need to. I love hardcore games but I do consider myself a relatively casual gamer. I have a life… a son… a job. I can’t sit around playing games all day and I need to be able to save on a whim and put the game down. Unfortunately BioShock won’t let you.

Of course, the good far outweighs the bad in BioShock Infinite. Gameplay-wise, Infinite is relatively similar to the first two games, with a handful of tweaks that differentiate it. Plasmids have been replaced with Vigors, but functional essentially the same. And rather than upgrade yourself with static abilities through Gene tonics, you can now arm yourself with a wide variety of handy equipment. Soaring over the aerial city of Columbia on your skyhook and opening tears brings up some new gameplay opportunities, but I’ll avoid saying any more about those in order to prevent spoilers. The controls are intuitive and can be mastered in no time if you’ve played the previous games in the series (or any FPS games, really). At the core, though, Infinite plays like the previous BioShock games… which is of course a great thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I was a little surprised to find Infinite much less creepy than the original two. Pleasantly surprised, of course, since I’m a pansy. The floating city of Columbia is beautiful to look at, and you’ll get some great views as you travel around it via your skyhook. Infinite may not be quite as dark and eerie as the originals, but it’s still every bit as beautiful if not moreso.

What really blew me away about Infinite was the story. Throughout your adventure you’ll be able to piece it together to an extent, but Infinite has a twist at the end that will make your jaw drop. I can say without a doubt it was the biggest storyline surprise I have EVER seen, whether in a book, movie or game. Of course, gamers like they’re stories to be twisted and filled with surprises, so it’s not always easy to follow. But unlike the story in say, your typical Japanese RPG, the story at least makes sense and isn’t convoluted just for the sake of being convoluted. In the end you won’t find yourself saying “Whoa, what just happened?” and instead will say “Whoa, it all makes sense now…”.

There’s also a huge amount of replay value here. Tons of items to seek out (I found many, but not all) and additional gameplay modes to try your hand at. Considering the quality of the game and the amount of time you can hypothetically spend with it, it’s a steal!

 It’s fun, it’s interesting and it’s beautiful. So if you haven’t picked up BioShock Infinite yet, go buy it now! You won’t regret it. My final grade: 95%

Just for fun, here’s my Just-RPG.com review of the original (keep in mind, it’s OLD)