BioShock Infinite

• Pros

  Astounding graphical design. Compelling plot. Excellent blend of old, new game mechanics.

• Cons Linear, low-ambiguity narrative. Surface-level treatment of difficult subjects. Shortage of save points. Stumbles near end.
• Bottom Line

  Gorgeous to look at and complex in its construction, BioShock Infinite is a captivating addition to the popular first-person-shooter series.

By Jeffrey L. Wilson, Matthew Murray

Shattered dreams form the foundation of BioShock Infinite, the third installment in Irrational Games' impressive saga exploring the devastating effects of isolation (and isolationism) on the human psyche. But even if you loved the original BioShock (2007) and its sequel, BioShock 2 (2010), this chapter won't leave you with the impression your own dreams have been betrayed. Wedding familiar game-play elements from the preceding titles with exciting new mechanics, an engrossing story, and stunning visual design, BioShock Infinite is the culmination of the series' aesthetic and promise to turn a mirror on humanity by probing as deeply into the self as possible.

Columbian Exposition
You must, however, begin this game by abandoning your preconceptions of what the BioShock universe is. For starters, it extends well beyond Rapture, the undersea paean to objectivism (in the first game) and collectivism (in the second) you've explored before. Infinite is set in Columbia, an airborne tribute to?and corruption of?American Exceptionalism as viewed from a perspective that recalls that of the now-legendary Chicago World's Fair of 1893. In the game's chronology, that was the year Columbia, self-sustaining and faith-focused American settlement, took flight and eventually broke away from the Union that spawned it. Now, in 1912, a series of civil wars has reduced it to a perversion of the values it once held dear, a place fueled by racism, blind nationalism, and religious extremism that's led the inhabitants to worship the ?prophet,? Zachary Hale Comstock, who envisioned the enterprise and took it to the skies.

It's into this boiling-over melting pot that Booker DeWitt is literally launched. A hired gun on a mission to retrieve a missing girl named Elizabeth and wipe away the debts that are crippling him, DeWitt is taken to a desolate island where he finds that the only inhabitant within the only structure, a lighthouse, has been gruesomely murdered, and discovers a device that catapults him to Columbia. A bewildered stumble through a temple-like welcome center and one eerie baptism by immersion later, DeWitt emerges into the unsettlingly patriotic enclave, where Founding Fathers (specifically Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson) are worshipped as gods, and the morality of that transitional era is frozen in place.

It doesn't take long for the (relatively) more modern DeWitt to fall afoul of the Columbians and their parochial ways. As soon as that happens rescuing Elizabeth becomes for him less a job than a crusade, one that leads the pair through Columbia's various neighborhoods?the town square, the romantic boardwalk, a hoity-toity gated community, the workers' slums, and Comstock's imposing homestead among them?learning more about this stilted society and their troublesome places in it. (One of the first, tantalizing hints: Elizabeth was a ?miracle? child, born after a single week of gestation?an event her mother, strangely, is no longer around to confirm or deny. Hmm.) What the two uncover is an epic conspiracy that doesn't just involve the privileged upper class and the put-upon laborers on whom they depend, but also may reveal to DeWitt and Elizabeth that the only thing less certain than their futures are their pasts.

By Jeffrey L. Wilson

Jeffrey L. Wilson's love of all things shiny/digital has lead to jobs penning gadget- and video game-related nerd-copy for 2D-X, E-Gear, Laptop, LifeStyler, Parenting, Sync, Wise Bread, and WWE. He now brings that passion to...

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By Matthew Murray Lead Analyst, Components and DIY

Matthew Murray got his humble start leading a technology-sensitive life in elementary school, where he struggled to satisfy his ravenous hunger for computers, computer games, and writing book reports in Integer BASIC. He earned his...

More Stories by Matthew Murray

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