FAIR WARNING: Though I will try not to overdo it, there may be some light spoilers ahead.
It's not too often that I purchase and play the latest games right when they're released. These days I usually prefer to try before I buy (via Gamefly) or wait it out and snap up a used copy online. I think it has less to do with saving money and more to do with the fact that I just don't like to waste time playing bad games. Actually, that's not quite right... I don't really mind wasting time playing bad games as long as they have some qualities that I find intriguing. What I mean is that I like to do a bit of research about a game before dig in. I read reviews, watch videos, that kind of thing. I want to know ahead of time if I'm likely to have a satisfying experience. Still, once or twice a year I like to give in to the hype and dive in to something new and big. After all, if you don't jump into a game when it comes out --while everyone else is getting a feel for it and discovering it together-- you'll never get the chance to contribute to the conversation about it.
The Setting
I LOVED the setting for Bioshocks 1 and 2. The underwater city of Rapture, with its art deco design and countless mysteries to uncover was really a character in itself. Infinite's sky-city of Columbia might even be MORE intriguing if that's possible. When we were introduced to it, Rapture was a city that had long since descended into chaos and death; all but abandoned by its populace. It was still an incredible place to explore but Columbia may be more interesting because it feels absolutely alive by comparison. In the early parts of the game there are ample opportunities to interact with and eavesdrop on the denizens of the city, and the incredible soundtrack, with its many "old-timey" renditions of contemporary rock songs, really imbues Columbia with a sense of place. Plus, the amazing architecture? The gorgeous vistas? Fantastic stuff!
The Gameplay
I'll level with you, when it comes to the gameplay there are things here that work and more than a few things that don't. I don't have a ton of experience with first-person shooters, but from a mechanical standpoint Bioshock Infinite seems like a solidly built FPS. That is to say, the weapons and the Vigors (Infinite's version of Plasmids) are all fairly easy to get the hang of and use effectively. But there are problems with the combat. I recently came across this statement from Johnathan Blow (creator of Braid) and I think he sums this game's combat issues quite well:
Playing Infinite, I realize that Halo-style recharging shields are actually a huge mistake in shooter design. But all shooters use them now. Since people are going to ask: There are two problems; one is about emotional pacing, one is about gameplay crispness and fairness. With shields, you are always doing okay in the medium and long term. They low-pass filter the emotional high of surviving a tight situation. You can have a tight situation on the order of 10 seconds, but not on the order of 5 minutes, which matters more.
The crispness problem is: In order to provide difficulty, designers now have to overwhelm your shields all the time, which means designing situations that are spammy (get hit from all directions so you can't process what is going on). These are confusing and not fun. These feel messy to play but they happen all the time because they have to. Or, like Infinite does, have super attacks that take away all your shields at once *and* 1/3 of your health, which feels steeply unfair.
So I mostly agree with what Mr. Blow says here. I don't know if I like it when "tight situations" last nearly 5 minutes, but the combat does feel spammy. Whether that was done to offset the rechargeable shields of for some other reason I don't know, but it's easy to get overwhelmed in this game. Again, I don't have a ton of experience with FPS games so I don't really know what the alternative is in this case. I guess it would be to give the combat a more deliberate, tactical pacing. You know, slow it down, make it more about assessing a situation before you engage the enemy. Either way, in the end it doesn't really matter because the game gives you an infinite number of lives, and there's no real penalty for death. Hell, sometimes it's even the smart play to let the enemy take you out so you can respawn with more health. It's not that the combat isn't fun at times, it is, but it's often overwhelming and it ultimately feels kind of inconsequential. That's the thing about these Bioshock games; they're really more about the story and the setting than they are about combat and gameplay. And speaking of the story...
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| I was also fairly put off by the skylines. |
Alright, I promised I wasn't going to go crazy with the spoilers (and I won't) but if you're worried about them then this is the time to bail. So, I have a major problem with the storyline for Bioshock Infinite and really ANYTHING that uses the plot device of multiple realities. For those who need to be filled in, one of the main characters has the ability to open up "tears" in the fabric of space-time and pass through them into "other realities". This plot device has the effect of COMEPLETELY REMOVING ALL STAKES IN THE STORY. Honestly, if your heroes have the ability to "warp" out of a bad situation then why do we need to worry about them at all? Further, if the "ending" to the story is just one possible reality, then somewhere out there is another "ending"...an infinite number of them in fact. So what if a character dies or makes a poor decision? Just hop through a portal and enter a reality where your friend is alive and your decision was the correct one. See what I mean? Why should I care when nothing is "real" or "permanent"? That's not to say that the story is garbage, it's not. I was actually a bit moved by some of the things I saw in the endgame sequences, but when it's all said and done you really take a lot of the emotional weight out of your story when you introduce the possibility of multiple realities, and I left the game feeling disconnected from the characters as a result.
Summary
Bioshock Infinite is a well crafted game with many highlights in its presentation. The city, the music, and the graphics are all stellar. Still, the nature of its combat and its storyline left me somewhat cold. This is a perfect RENTAL game. Much like any decent summer blockbuster it drew me in with is gorgeous presentation, and it was certainly entertaining, but it hasn't really stuck with me the way I hoped it would.
Grade: B-
Here is a video that features many of the fantastic "old-timey" versions of several modern songs. Have a listen, it's one of my favorite aspects of the game.
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