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BioShock Infinite breaks new ground by being set in a completely new location and trying new things, yet still being true to what the audience of the original game loved as well.
Instead of another foray in the undersea city of Rapture, Infinite takes place Columbia, a floating city in the sky. The city appears to be broken off of the United States, sporting extreme American patriotism around every corner to a point where it becomes creepy.
On the surface, there lies images of racism, extreme religious zealotry and corruption. When the player arrives in Columbia, it is apparent that everything is definitely not as it seems.
Players play through the eyes of Booker DeWitt, a man on a mission to retrieve a girl for a mysterious man to repay a debt. When meeting the girl, Elizabeth, Booker soon learns that what he is dealing with is no ordinary job.
Most players would fret at the idea of an entire game being a giant escort mission, but fear not, Elizabeth does not get in the player’s way. Elizabeth will throw you supplies like health, ammunition, or Salts, which are used for the Vigor powers. Elizabeth throws the player money during quiet moments, which can be helpful.
Voiced by Courtnee Draper, Elizabeth has constant conversations with Booker, who is voiced by Troy Baker. The scripted scenes involving her are very well executed and do not come out hamfisted like many typical video game cut scenes. Even her unscripted reactions to what happens are believable. If the player points a gun at her, she will say “Don’t point that near me!” or just duck if the player is trying to shoot an enemy on the other side of her.
One of the largest differences from BioShock and BioShock 2 is the changes in gameplay. In some ways, the gameplay is too simplified for its own good. The biggest offender is that the player can only carry two guns at a time.
On the flip side, the plasmid-like Vigor powers are awesome as ever. There are fewer Vigors than the BioShock game had plasmids however you can have all of them at once, and each has more than one function.
Easily one of the most welcome additions, which was added in BioShock 2, is the ability to have both your Vigor and gun out at the same time. This way the player can use their Vigor, then immediately fire without having to take the time to switch to their weapon.
Taking place in the sky, there are more wide open combat areas than in previous entries of the series. To emphasize this, there are sky-lines running through the larger combat areas. Booker is equipped with a device called a sky-hook, which he uses as a melee weapon, but more importantly it allows him to attach to sky-lines and move extremely quickly.
While riding on a sky-line, the player can still aim and fire their weapon and land wherever they wish to on the ground.
The number one thing fans would expect from the game is a plot twist. Without spoiling it, BioShock Infinite does have one and it is extremely unexpected. This is definitely an ending people will be talking about years when referring to plots in video games.
BioShock Infinite is truly a work of art that lived up to its years of hype. The storyline is mind blowing, and the gameplay is interesting throughout.