The year is 1912: the Republic of China forms, Cy Young retires from baseball, the Titanic launches for its maiden and final voyage to America, Teddy Roosevelt runs against Woodrow Wilson in the November election, and Booker DeWitt arrives in the floating city of Columbia.
Booker is dropped off at a lighthouse on a stormy night, which is reminiscent of our introduction to Rapture in the original Bioshock. However, instead of riding a submersible to the bottom of the ocean, players are rocketed upward to a city in the clouds. Hallelujah!
DeWitt hasn't come to Columbia to stroll down the boardwalk while eating hot dogs and cotton candy. He is here to extract a girl named Elizabeth and deliver her to his creditors in New York to erase an excessive gambling debt. Booker is no angel. We learn as the game progresses that he lives a life of violence, as both a union-busting Pinkerton man and an Indian fighter, which makes him perfect for the job at hand.
Columbia
Irrational Games obviously meant for Columbia to play the role of main character in this story of alternate realities. Columbia has more personality than any character in Bioshock Infinite, and she is as nuanced and multi-layered as any protagonist, or antagonist, one could find in the annals of history or fiction. In previous Bioshock games, we visit Rapture after the fall and she is well past her prime. In Bioshock Infinite, we get to see Columbia on her best day, then participate in her destruction. On the surface she promotes a facade of clean industrial age wholesomeness: shoe shines, grand statues, street vendors, boardwalks, and penny arcades. The founding fathers are regarded as saints. Statues of George Washington with his sword, Benjamin Franklin with his key, and Thomas Jefferson with a scroll are the very first sights visitors to Columbia see, after the prerequisite baptism. Religious propaganda, courtesy of “The Prophet”, Zachary Hale Comstock, permeates every nook and cranny of Columbia. On the surface, Columbia is populated with happy, religious folks living the easy life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHW78X1XeE
Columbia, like Rapture, has its dirty little secrets hidden behind the smiling, white faces enjoying the fair. Racism is in full swing behind the scenes, where Black and Irish workers work sixteen-hour days in the employ of Columbia’s industrial leader, Jeremiah Fink. Fink’s intolerable working conditions and unfair wages sow the seeds of revolution, in the form of the Vox Populi. The Vox is led by rebel, Daisy Fitzroy, former maid to the Comstocks, who stands accused of the murder of the First Lady of Columbia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk0u6nFdUWk
Elizabeth
The extraction target is a girl named Elizabeth, who possesses the ability to open multidimensional tears to alternate realities. Consequently, her prison consists of scientific equipment designed to siphon her abilities in addition to locks and doors. Her warden, a giant bio-mechanical flying menace, named The Songbird, further complicates the acquisition of the target. Booker gains her tentative trust, through false pretense, and escapes with the girl, bringing the vengeance of both bird and prophet upon the duo. Elizabeth is far from helpless and aids Booker by bringing allies and equipment through tears and into the fray, as well as scrounging for ammo, salts, and cash.
Snake Oil and Shotguns
Players who take the time to visit the booths at the fair will get a taste of tonics: Columbia’s version of Rapture’s plasmids. Almost identical in application and implementation, tonics provide the imbiber with supernatural abilities. My favorite was Murder of Crows, which sends a flock of murderous birds towards the intended target, much like Rapture’s Insect Storm. Other abilities include Devil’s Kiss (fireballs), Shock Jockey (electricity), Possession (enemies to allies), Undertow (water), Bucking Bronco (telekinetic levitation), Charge (bull rush), and Return to Sender (magnetic shield). These vigors are powered by salts, which can be found in almost every environment, or purchased through vending machines. Gene tonics have been replaced with specialized clothing, called gear, which possess ability-enhancing properties.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16xRI8Lmfm4
The firearms in Columbia aren’t terribly dissimilar from those found in Rapture: shotguns, automatic pistols, semi-automatic carbines, revolvers, machine guns, RPGs, and grenade launchers. Most weapons have a Vox Populi counterpart, complete with a homemade look to them, and just as dangerous in Booker’s hands. Players can carry only two weapons at once, and I preferred the carbine/shotgun combo. Irrational added a third dimension to Bioshock Infinite: aerial combat. The Skyhook doubles as a melee weapon and mode of transportation. Shooting foes while whizzing down a skyline or dropping down on them for the whole “death from above” tactic was a blast. Different pieces of gear focus on skyline combat, so be sure to tailor your gear to your play style.
Formidable Opposition
In addition to the alternately antagonistic forces of Comstock’s cops, automated turrets, rocket-firing Mosquitos, The Songbird, and the Vox Populi, Booker and Elizabeth also must face some of the heavy hitting mechanical horrors that Columbia has to offer. The Handyman, Columbia’s version of the Big Daddy, is a giant hulking half man, half machine antagonist of particularly dangerous proportions. The Handyman is very big, incredibly fast, and a huge pain in the ass to put down, especially on the hardest game mode: 1999. Aim for the heart, amigo.
The motorized Patriot is another high-powered pest. A clockwork rendition of George Washington armed with a crank-powered Gatling gun, this automaton usually bolsters enemy forces and is only rarely encountered alone. I would suggest using cover when fighting a Patriot, lobbing Shock Jockey to stun and then shooting the gears in his back. Take him out first as his Gatling gun is fatal in mere seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkqcLIYWj5w
An Irrational Attention to Detail
Despite the highly improbable setting, Ken Levine and crew fleshed out a very authentic 1912 environment. The buildings and attire found in Columbia seem very era-appropriate, if you can get over the fact that the buildings are floating. The hummingbirds in the gardens outside the Temple of the Founders are engaging to watch, the fair stands as a testament to Irrational’s period research, and the AI is refreshingly intelligent. Players will likely note that conversations, although non-paticipatory, are never repeated, if you’re the eavesdropping sort.
Facial animations again showcase Irrational’s attention to detail, especially concerning Elizabeth. She is very expressive, both vocally and facially, and you only need glance at her briefly to gauge how she is feeling. Dropping the multiplayer aspect allowed Irrational to really breathe life into the characters and environments of Columbia, providing some wonderful immersion that was prevalent in the first game, but missing in Bioshock 2.
Almost Perfect...Almost
Not everything in Bioshock Infinite is a triumph of storytelling and attention to detail. The game itself is a short-lived experience: I finished my first run in just under twelve hours. This does not bode well for the single player only experience. Irrational has a tendency to inject politics into their games as well: previous themes could be interpreted as a blow against the Ayn Rand brand of conservatism, and Bioshock Infinite couples that concept of free enterprise gone mad with the dangers of mixing politics with religion. The game also includes a great deal of racism. Although this kind of racism would have been present in 1912 America, I did not particularly need to see filthy bathrooms designated as “Irish and Blacks Only.” The depiction of Daisy Fitzroy, a black woman fueling the Vox Populi with her rage, tended to dehumanize her character to the point that she was almost a caricature in a game full of real folks. I also experienced a few minor gameplay lags, but no major technical glitches. My last point of contention involves the autosave feature. Previous Bioshock games allowed a hard save, Bioshock Infinite saves at checkpoints so when you have to quit and come back to Columbia because you had to wash dishes or whatever, you end up retracing the last ten minutes of game time instead of picking up where you left off. Not a big deal, but it is kind of irritating.
Final Verdict
Yeah, Bioshock Infinite is a short game, but it has some replay value, especially for achievement hunters. I would expect this game to be high on 2Old2Play’s GOTY shortlist at the end of the year, and deservedly so. Very few games can pull me in like Bioshock Infinite did. It was so completely worth the wait, and I’m going back in for another run, on 1999 mode. Wish me luck!
