Bioshock Infinite is a first-person shooter developed by Irrational Games and set in the beautiful, floating city of Columbia. You play the role of Booker DeWitt, a war veteran living in New York who racked up a gambling debt with some shady people who want to make sure he repays them. A deal was struck that would wipe the debt clean and that was for Booker to travel to Columbia and bring back a mysterious young woman named Elizabeth. Booker knows nothing about Columbia or Elizabeth but he knows that the people who he owes that debt to mean business and there’s no turning them down. So Booker is off to Columbia and the game starts off with him on a boat travelling to a lighthouse that will give him access to the floating city. Who is this mysterious young woman who is so important and what is Booker’s connection to her? Everything isn’t what it seems in Columbia and Booker will soon learn that.

GAMEPLAY

The first thing I noticed after stepping foot in Columbia was how beautiful it was. The graphics are absolutely stunning.  There are massive monuments, floating buildings that move and connect to bridges and the strong steampunk influences are everywhere. The areas are well populated with NPCs going about their business and conversing with each other. After arriving there I just wanted to walk around and see everything. And I did too. I went into every store possible, every corner and no matter where I went the atmosphere was festive. And that’s no exaggeration either because there was literally a carnival in the middle of town and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sample each of the carnival games. If the thoughts of a city in the sky makes one think of heaven then Columbia was seemingly living up to that kind of thinking.

Is this the new 1912 model?

But something felt off and it seemed like the festivities were distracting from something. You see, before you can even enter into Columbia you have to accept a baptism because there is a “prophet” that is the leader of Columbia. So after being transported from the lighthouse you have to make your way through a temple that is filled with religious imagery about the “prophet” Comstock, his wife Lady Comstock and their daughter who is referred to as the lamb.

Something being off would soon be proven true as the ugly underbelly of Columbia would be exposed (as well as the fact that at least one person knows you’re here) as I came across an interracial couple being paraded on stage in front of a heckling crowd. Apparently racism is not only acceptable in Columbia but a way of life so an interracial relationship is strictly forbidden. As luck would have it I “won” the prize to hit this interracial couple with a baseball as part of their punishment for being together. I was given a choice to hit them or the announcer. I chose the announcer and the situation escalated quickly. Or to put it another way, shit got real. Guards came at me left and right and before I could explain the ball might’ve slipped there were dead guards at my feet courtesy of the newly acquired Sky-Hook. The sight-seeing was over. And if that wasn’t bad enough the whole city was put on notice about my arrival and made aware that I was planning on taking Elizabeth with a description that even knew the initials carved on my hand. Maybe there was something to this “prophet” after all.

Yes Columbia was beautiful and yes the story was very intriguing and entertaining at this point but it would be wasted if the gameplay itself wasn’t fun. So I’m glad to say I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay from the first fight after choosing not to hit the interracial couple to the last battle of the game. If you played any FPS game before you won’t have to adjust to the controls in Bioshock Infinite. If you played any Bioshock game before you’ll be right at home here. It starts off simple enough but as you progress you’ll get deeper into what turns out to be a very rich combat system. At any given time you have in your possession two guns (can only use one at a time), a Sky-hook, which is your melee weapon but also allows you to travel on the skylines in the city, and powers called Vigors. The guns vary and the controls were pretty solid but you might have to adjust the sensitivity of the right stick for aiming to suit your needs. No two guns felt the same and you’re able to upgrade them for money at specific vending machines around Columbia. There is no general upgrade that will increase the strength of all of your guns so you’ll have to use your money wisely to upgrade the weapons you will use the most. The Sky-hook isn’t upgradeable but you can perform finishing moves with it on a guard whose health is low enough. Vigors are what gives you power and can be found by defeating certain enemies who possess them, finding them during different parts of the story or purchasing from vending machines if you can’t find them in game. There’s gear that can be acquired for different body parts with their own passive abilities as well. And lastly there are a total of 8 unique vigors and they are upgradeable as well. Once you acquire one you have it for the rest of the game so you don’t have to choose which vigor you want to have in your possession at specific points in the game. However you can only use vigors based on how much Salt you have and each vigor costs a different amount of Salt to use. The Salts bar doesn’t regenerate itself so in order to replenish it you have to find Salts in the area.

You can use these Vigors in any combination you want to increase damage. So you can use one called Murder Of Crows to distract enemies with numerous crows and then Devil’s Kiss to finish them off with a fire ball. If you assume this makes you invincible you’re wrong. You’re outnumbered and some of the enemies are too tough to defeat with straightforward brute force so there are certain situations where using the skyline to get away and attack from a different angle or allow your shields to replenish is crucial. This makes it so combat doesn’t feel redundant because you’ll be fighting off alot of police in Columbia even before getting to Elizabeth let alone the entire game.

And this is where Bioshock Infinite really shines. It blends the story and action together perfectly and there’s no better representation of that than the character Elizabeth. When you first encounter her she’s caged, so-to-speak, because of her unique abilities. And there has been alot of controversy regarding the use of religion in this game but that misses the point. Elizabeth is the victim of the abuse of religion AND science. The devices keeping her trapped were created by science and she’s been treated as a test subject. And she wants to leave Columbia as badly as Booker, if not more. The story in the game advances with her and she’s not a character you have to protect in terms of gameplay nor is she just tagging along. Her powers are connected directly to the story and they are also extremely useful in combat. She can create dimensional tears and pull items, weapons and other objects in from other dimensions. If you’re engaged in combat, you can have Elizabeth pull in a gun turret to help you if there’s one available in an alternate dimension in that area.  She also finds health packs, ammo and salts when you’re engaged in combat and no damage can come to you while you’re accepting any of those items. She’s also capable of picking any lock in this game based on the number of lockpicks you have. Did I mention she also gives you coins and can decipher codes in the game? No? Well I’m sure you get the point that she’s extremely useful. And even though her initial reasons for wanting to escape Columbia (to head to Paris) are different from Booker’s reasons (to pay off a debt) they work together extremely well as characters.

Booker and Elizabeth’s quest isn’t the only story line taking place so it doesn’t feel as if you’re spending hours just trying to escape from Columbia but it’s all connected. The racism and lies in Columbia directly contributed to the rise in a militant group called the Vox Populi (Voice of the People) led by Daisy Fitzroy. There’s also poverty and sickness and it’s so bad people eat off the streets so they don’t starve. So the initial beauty of Columbia hid this harsh reality. And even though the Vox Populi were viewed as a nuisance early, as the game progresses so do their growth and impact. Bioshock Infinite held no punches when it came to religion and racism through the portrayal of Comstock and then later, Jeremiah Fink, who treated his workers horribly as well. If the question was how could such poverty exist in a world where science is capable of producing floating cities the answer was in the preachings of Comstock and the corruption of Jeremiah Fink. And science didn’t get a free pass because it was the Handymen, Firemen, Zealots of the Lady, Motorized Patriot and other inventions that were used to keep the people being oppressed in check (and made for great battles for Booker). Or the magnificent Songbird that served as both Elizabeth’s protector and warden. Even with all of this it never felt that there was too much going on because it was all woven beautifully with Booker and Elizabeth’s quest. Bioshock Infinite wasn’t afraid to ask when do things go too far and not just about religion or science but even when the oppressed became the oppressors. There will be no spoilers in this review because the story is one that you truly have to experience and appreciate because you will be thinking about every aspect of it after completing it.

Are you related to Bubo? Nevermind

So it’s important to have a mentality of wanting to explore every corner in Columbia because there are voxophones spread throughout that contain recorded messages from the different characters in the game and in retrospect they’re very important to understand certain aspects of the story whether it’s the history of Lady Comstock or the mysterious duo that appears often helping Booker and Elizabeth regardless of the dimension they’re in. The story truly comes together in an incredible ending that has and will continue to have people discussing it for a long time to come.

There is a 1999 mode that is the most difficult setting. It isn’t  recommended for the average gamer. In addition to the usual changes when increasing the difficulty, it costs more money every time Booker dies and if you have less than $100 available when Booker dies you’ll have to start again from the very beginning of the game. So if you have doubts you can do it I suggest playing on another difficulty setting first and unlocking 1999 mode after finishing it.

SUMMARY

There are games that can remind you of so many reasons why you love being a gamer and Bioshock Infinite is definitely one of them. This FPS blends great action and intrigue perfectly and weaves together a story touching on religion, racism, science and the abuse of power. It doesn’t use these topics in a gimmicky way either and that results in alot of memorable moments and characters. And as much fun as the combat and enemies were the story outshined all of that. It’s a powerful story of choice, redemption and hope. I heard so much hype surrounding the ending before I completed the game and I can state to everyone who hasn’t played it or finished it that it definitely lives up to the hype and deserves all the praise it has received. It is an instant classic to me and with high replayability. It’s a must buy.