Replaying BioShock Infinite always brings back why so many consider it one of the best games ever made.
I’ve been so excited to actually have time to replay this masterpiece. “It's hard to make time with kids,” Lol... I have played the first two games in the series, so I have truly enjoyed the underwater world of Rapture.
The Table of Contents
First Impressions: BioShock in the Clouds
When I first learned that BioShock Infinite was set in the clouds, it didn’t sound much like a traditional BioShock game. The story is in-depth, centered on Elizabeth and the missions leading up to Comstock.
The question I had to answer: Would this game be as creepy (scary) as the previous two games? It’s going to be hard to beat the gameplay and the story, not to mention the element of surprise the first BioShock delivered.
Elizabeth: She doesn't need you to look out for her. During battles, she throws ammo and health packs your way. She also has portal abilities that let her pull in turrets, walls, weapons, and health packs. When she leaves your side, the game becomes a straight shooter.
When she's with you, BioShock Infinite becomes something different; a shooter with a real emotional component. She's the first AI character in gaming who doesn't get in your way while performing any task.
Songbird:The toughest enemy is the Songbird. It’s always unsettling, much like the Dahaka from Prince of Persia.
The Skylines: All over Columbia there are Skylines that travel over different areas of the city. You can hook yourself to these and fly around the map, moving from one floating island to another. You're never forced to use them, but they're handy for getting around quickly and never stop being fun.
Weapons and Combat
The overall gameplay, I thought, was more of a first-person shooter, meaning the usage of guns and blasting your way through the game. I
did more in BioShock Infinite than I did in the previous 2. It didn’t seem to me that the plasmas or vigors, as called in this game, had their true place. Sure, the Vigors acted very similarly to the plasmas from the previous games.
Don’t get me wrong, the Vigors definitely aided in your battles through the game, but I certainly felt more comfortable having the right guns equipped first. I pretty much walked through the entire game with the Shotgun and the Sniper Rifle.
Sure, there were times when the RPG or other guns came in handy, but these were my staples I rolled with. It seemed many times that the salts would run out too quickly for my liking. So I just felt like blasting my way out of situations. This game does give you a shield, which you find pretty early in the game. The shield was a nice touch, just too bad it didn’t have upgrades.
The Two-Gun Limit
I also found that in the previous games, you always had your arsenal of weapons to choose from. Whether you picked up the pistol, the machine gun, or the RPG, you always had these guns in stock in your possession. With BioShock Infinite, you can only carry around two guns, so for me, I would only upgrade the guns that I knew I would always be carrying around.
I used the carbine, the crank gun, and the hand cannon, but not having the guns always in stock didn’t give me the need to upgrade the guns. The BioShock Infinite DLC brings the weapon wheel back, restoring the ability to carry a full arsenal.
Gears and Tonics
BioShock Infinite brought gears into the series, which are pretty much upgrades to the appearance of the character or the armor, if you will. Very similar to the tonics that you found from ADAM in the
previous games. The gears are broken down to hats, shirts, pants, and so forth. You can go into the game screen and change the different gears around at anytime.
This was a nice feature rather than changing them up only at certain points in the game. No need for hacking in this game, which I’ll admit was pretty fun in the first games. Instead of hacking robots, you can use a vigor named “possession,” which would make a robot on your side for a brief period of time.
The Verdict: Does Infinite Beat BioShock 1?
This game was great, but did it surpass a true legend in BioShock 1? Personally, I feel strongly that BioShock Infinite had many similarities to the series, but it felt more like a different game than what I’ve come to expect from the world of Rapture.
The overall story of the game was twisted, as we’d come to expect. I need more character involvement from the first BioShock to make Booker DeWitt feel comfortable with this game being a brother to Rapture.
So, What Does BioShock Infinite Show That Rapture Didn't?
After you finish the game once, you unlock a mode called 1999. It limits your finances, turns off navigation help, and forces you to take
combat and dying a lot more seriously. It's worth playing if you want a real challenge.
Bioshock Infinite’s pre- and post-credits endings are particularly drastic.
The pre-credits ending has the player-character, Booker, sacrificing himself to prevent monstrous future versions of himself from wrecking various timelines; this has the side effect of also wiping his daughter Elizabeth, the game’s main companion, out of existence.
So, you know, everyone we like is dead. After the credits, though, we see a scene from early in Booker’s timeline when Elizabeth (then called Anna) would just be a baby, where we hear a music box-like lullaby from a room with a crib (which may contain Elizabeth, though we never definitely see or hear her), suggesting that a timeline remains where they both live (and hopefully don’t wind up in another dystopia). The story is not the same without this ending—it suggests that the deaths of BOTH protagonists are not final in all timelines.
Rapture has a special place in my heart because of the environment - the creepy gypsy jazz music, the water, the feeling of a city falling apart around you. It just created a vibe I came to know with BioShock. Columbia is beautiful, but it doesn't carry the same dread as the ocean floor.
That said, I appreciate the guts it took to place BioShock Infinite in the clouds. I wrote about this same thing in my Mega Man Legends article - how Legends changed the entire Mega Man formula, but the change was good because it showed the series pushing forward and evolving. BioShock Infinite did the same thing. It's a different game, but it's an enjoyable one.
Collecting BioShock Today
All three BioShock games are cheap on the used market for both PS3 and Xbox 360. The original BioShock sells for the most, but is still under $10 complete. BioShock 2 and Infinite sell for even less. The series was so popular and mass-produced that the huge supply keeps prices low. I cringe every time I sell BioShock for $6. That price doesn't reflect the time, value, and enjoyment that this game delivers.
Collector's editions sell for more, but you need the right buyer willing to pay collector's edition pricing. That's why we generally don't buy collector's editions at The Old School Game Vault. Standard copies are easy to find and affordable for anyone who wants to play the series.
Got BioShock, BioShock 2, or BioShock Infinite? We buy all three at The Old School Game Vault. Get fast cash payments and free shipping!
