Welcome to the 1900s and Columbia: a city that has separated itself from "Unamerica" both litterally and figuratively. Columbia is a city floating in the sky where things like steampunk, American exceptionalist nationalism, and the worship of the founding fathers as Gods is part of the daily life of a citizen.
The stunning graphics and colorful presentation help bring this amazing world to life. The setting, and subsequently the lore, was indeed so interesting that I frequently spent time actually poking around every single corner and reading any and all propaganda posters I could find - taking in as much as I could of the game; something I haven't done in years.
It was quite a breath of fresh air compared to my experience with Bioshock 2, in which I spent most of my time pushing forward thanks to using the "where-do-I-need-to-go-button" any chance I got.
Indeed, Infinite is another entry in the Shock-series, which have previously covered locales such as space and a city under the sea, both quite claustrophobic experiences where you are simply dropped off and, essentially, expected to deal with it. Having Infinite take place in the sky follows this trend with a nice nudge on the shoulder to the roots of the series, but ends up becoming a much more interesting, and appealing, experience comparred to the places visited in the other entries.
This time around they've also tightened up the gameplay significantly, with new powers introduced throughout the game with just enough time between them so as to let you play around - and not just use them as a curiosity, but as an effective means of taking out your opposition.
At a first glance these powers may seem like they are simple palate swaps of each other, as they start out with a pretty basic ruleset: you press the button to use the power and hold the button to set a trap. This, however, can be modified through the upgrade system, and there's just something quite empowering about jumping into a combat situation knowing that you have the ability to use one of these upgraded abilities, such as rushing an enemy to simultaneously recharge your shield (your first layer of defense) or summon a murder of crows to peck at their eyes while you make your escape. .
Indeed: the game is good at just giving you a bunch of abilities and then letting you do things as you see fit. There are of course exceptions to this, and sometimes the modernization of the game makes it feel like you're being pulled along with a leash around your neck, so as to follow the critical path.
Infinite sports a number of improvements to the shooting, such as a regenerating shield and the ability to aim down the sights. The shooting felt just fine to me, and certainly it's the best in the series in that regard, although veterans of shooting games may find it lackluster and as more of a means to an end or a means to progress through the story.
A story, which (and I won't get into too much detail) goes to unexpected places - which is a huge improvement on the disaster that was the original Bioshock which notoriously featured a rehashed System Shock 2 storyline even going so far as to mimic the main beats of the story.
I would, however, have liked more emotive NPC dialogue to help further the story, or at the very least more NPC interactions - but sadly that part of the game leaves a lot to be desired as oftentimes NPCs will simply go through their respective scripted routines (which for the most part is just saying a couple of words as you approach them) and then resume to, as they say, space out. This leaves an unpolished feel to some locations, and ends up becoming quite a contrast to (and maybe it is more noticeable because of...) your own, very expressive, follower. Elizabeth.
She's with you for most of the game, and it's quite a pleasant experience. More often than not video game followers will have terrible path finding, or simply get in your way or go out of their way to annoy you, but Elizabeth suffers from... mostly none of these issues and when I first noticed how she behaved, I responded with saying "You're not supposed to do that" out loud as she started practically looking underneath a table and appeared to be scavanging for items.
She behaves quite natural, at least when she's not strutting around, and will lean against walls and take just enough of an active part in the game environment (such as reading signs and playing with things) to make her a believable character.
The banter between the main character and Elizabeth is also used really well, but the game does, however, let you down on a number of occasions when it comes to actually interacting with Elizabeth: indeed, some of the scenes play out feeling a bit contrived.
While I understand the game also has a story to tell, it can be quite annoying to not let the player impact events in a meaningful way - even if such interactions would ultimately just be illusory choice. Instead you're asked to deal with it when your character seems absolutely hell bent on doing whatever he's set out to do, and it doesn't really feel like you can change anything - or that his meeting and spending time with Elizabeth in any way changed his mind about things - which is a bummer.
That aside, Elizabeth also serves other gameplay purposes such as throwing you ammo and salt (which is the psi point equivalent of this game, if you're familiar with System Shock... Sorry, I just don't remember what it was called in Bioshock!) and something else which is part of the story and the introduction of one of the most enjoyable gameplay mechanics in the series so far.
That said, Bioshock Infinite is a fantastic game that is well worth your time (which seems to be around 8 hours) but like all things it is not without its share of flaws. However, the things that do work, work so well that it far outweighs any critique I have. That is to say, I find the game enjoyable enough to overlook the issues I have with it, and still feel it deserves a solid 5 out of 5 stars.
