I have mixed feeling about the Bioshock series; I want to like them, but they seem to go out of their way to make me dislike them enough to never play them again, but not enough to out and out hate them. Bioshock uno's instant death recovery defanged all the horrors, Bioshock dos's duel wielding awesomeness even more so.

Before anyone jumps down my throat, let me get me a few good thing out of the way first; It's extremely pretty, managing to pull off a wonderful Crapsaccharine World and fills it with fun, interesting characters. The relationship between Booker and Elizabeth is one of the best I've seen, and they become one of the most compelling game duos since Jak And Daxter. Finally, the skyrails are all kinds of fun. Stupid, illogically twisty, but fun.

And now for my favorite part- the bad. The game squanders the good things I've listed above; Skyrails are annoyingly infrequent, so most battles take place inside (beautiful) boring arenas. The combat is weak, mechanically encouraging you to stick with one set of Vigors and powers; Mine was Bucking Bronco+Shotgun, because BB levitates enemies, has huge range, a massive damage multiplier, is extremely energy efficient, on top of an idiot proof area of effect. Heavy Hitters are woefully underutilized, with the inventive and creepy Boys of Silence appearing for all of one level. Story wise, there's a Luke You Are My Father moment that made me feel dirty after it came up (and not the good kind of dirty either), there's a shit ton of padding in the middle act that goes nowhere, and the focus gets taken away from Colombia a third of the way through, and the game ends on a confusing, pretentious, wholly unsatisfying ending that creates more questions than it answers. An ending that it seems all third installments must have by law.

I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I had some fun with Bioshock Infinite. It's just that the tedious combat, inadvisable story turns, and general feeling of this being a game that's gone through too many revisions damped my enjoyment. I recommend renting it and playing it though once. Don't worry, once is all you need.

I wasn't fond of Bioshock. Sure, it had a strong opening and a brilliant twist but otherwise the writing was pulpy, the combat leaden, the moral-dilemma stupid, the enemy-variety lacking, the fetch-quests obnoxious, the RPG elements clunky and the endings cornier than dog crap. Thankfully this sequel fixes the above by being a fun and exciting ride instead of an over-pretentious slog.

PLOT

You play Booker DeWitt, a disgraced detective, who is tasked to find a girl called Elizabeth, who is imprisoned in the flying city of Columbia. On the outset the place is Disney World: full of life, cheer and colour. On the inside, however, the place is also Disney World: full of toil, resentment and xenophobia. It's like that Miyazaki movie but with more racism.

The plot can be a mixed bag at times. There are loads of brilliant ideas, enough for a dozen games, but not all of them get attention. The last act is brain-scratcher territory, full of time-travel and dimension-hopping, but the very last scene gives us a glimpse of a happy ending for our heroes.

GAMEPLAY

The combat is solid and punchy. The guns have weight and feedback and the powers aren't overly contextual. The art direction is superb and the pacing brisk. Hacking is gone, as are the Little Sisters, though the Big Daddies are back as Handymen; massive agile bastards who will completely ruin your day. Vending machines return and are less annoying than their Rapture counterparts.

The rail system is fun, easy to use, and makes use of Columbia's aerial nature. There's no inventory so you'll spend some time eating food off the ground like a hobo to restore health. The game works wonders with a voiced protagonist, and while your AI partner isn't ground-breaking or anything her presence adds to the game, giving it a human element. The RPG elements are streamlined to no great loss.

NEGATIVES

The auto-save only system is a load of old wank. You'll need one eye on a walkthrough if you don't want to miss any collectibles.

The PC port, while excellent, still has issues. I couldn't play the game without an Xbox 360 controller.

The over-the-top gore will bother some players.

CONCLUSION

This game isn't the second coming of Christ, although Christ never made a video game, but it is worth every silver eagle. The game clocks in at 15 hours and has few ties to its predecessors.

I've followed the Bioshock series since it's beginning, so I jumped on the next opus. And it did not disappoint.

Bioshock Infinite is actually both close to the previous games, and very different. The atmosphere, universes, and gameplay are similar, but Infinite is less gloomy than its predecessors and the Survival Horror elements have been lessened. Mind you, some levels are still astonishingly creepy and Columbia is a nightmarish dystopia, but overall, it's much less disturbing than Rapture.

Story-wise, the plot is excellent, although the ending is VERY open and left for the player to interpret. Booker and Elizabeth both get believable character development and their interactions are heartwarming, and while Comstock and Fitzroy aren't villains as charismatic as Ryan and Fontaine were, they both have a very detailed backstory showing how they went from average citizens to violent extremists.

Gameplay wise, Elizabeth is actually very helpful for a damsel in distress, and will save the player more than once. Otherwise, it is pretty similar to most FPS.

The bad elements: the auto-saves are time consuming, and loading can be a pain, but overall, it's not that troublesome. The game is very linear, and being reduced to two weapons, while adding in realism, can also be problematic at times. Only a few special powers and gears are actually useful, so the player will stick with a few.

Overall, while not perfect, Bioshock Infinite is an excellent game one should buy and try.

19/20

I never got around to playing the first Bioshock, but I decided to pick up Bioshock Infinite, as I found it's themes and setting much more appealing than the original. I found this to be an opportunity where I could play a tangentially related sequel without measuring it up to it's predecessors.

The combat isn't anything to write home about, it's simple but above all, fun and engaging. You're often moving about during battle, so the skyline is a fun addition. The weapon limit is frustrating at times, but different weapons and items are abundant. The game is linear, due to it's focus on story, but there's still a lot of opportunity for exploration- which the player will need to do in order to fully understand the story. There's a little backtracking, but it's usually optional and moving around Columbia is a delight anyways. Unfortunately, the gameplay isn't varied much beyond exploration between shooting galleries, it could of used a few puzzles to give the vigors more use and vary the game a little more.

Elizabeth's is great, she helps out during battle and never gets in the way (usually), but she isn't as "groundbreaking" as she's made out to be. That being said,when she's not with you, you'll want her back right away. Her character is endearing and sweet, and shortly after her introduction, I genuinely cared for her.

Having a fleshed out protagonist of a FPS was...interesting. Arguably, he would be easier to relate to if we could actually see him. In spite of that, Booker remains to be compelling and complex. Hell, even he becomes oddly endearing at times with his interactions with Elizabeth.

I certainly enjoyed the story, but the plot needed some more focus. There have been some complaints over the lack of multiple endings, but once you complete the game, it becomes clear as to why there is only one. There's a few minor problems such as the tricky cursor and the sloppy textures. The game doesn't save my progress as often as I'd like either.

With it's high replay value, richly designed and engaging world, compelling main characters, unique soundtrack, and an emotional as well as satisfying ending, in all Bioshock Infinite is thought-provoking and an excellently executed, immersive game that wraps up in a dozen or so hours.

9/10