Review: Bioshock Infinite (PC) ~ Columbia High

Official website

At the end of last year, I took a look at BioShock. A game that started an amazing series. While there are rumors of a 4th game in the making; I’m pretty excited. Look up BioShock Advent if you want to read more rumors. But for now, I think it’s time to take a good look at the last game in the series. BioShock Infinite and the Burial At Sea DLC. Also, this is my opinion. I know that this game is seen as a masterpiece by many. So, yeah. I played this game right after I finished BioShock 2. (Which is a fun game in my opinion). I tried to avoid spoilers in this review, so if you haven’t played the game yet; don’t worry, this one is as spoiler-free as possible. In any case, as usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the content of this article and/or the game in the comment section down below. 

Pay off the debt

In this game, you play a man called Booker DeWitte. (Fun fact, when you translate this name from Dutch, it’s “TheWhite”). You are transported to a lighthouse to pay off your debt. When things go wrong, you suddenly end up in the city in the sky called Columbia, which is the Rapture in this game.

And that’s all I’m going to say in terms of the story. The story is one of the best-written stories in the BioShock series in my opinion. It stuck more with me than the previous games in the series. That’s because the interaction between the two main characters, Booker and Elizabeth, are just amazing.

To some people, the ending of this game is pretty confusing. I understand where they are coming from since the pacing in the end of this game isn’t that good. The last half hour of this game is a big exposition dump. It wraps up the story nicely, but when you don’t understand what they are saying… you get lost in the meaning of it all.

The story in the DLC, Burial At Sea, wraps up the trilogy nicely. Be warned, the plottwists in this game are extremely well done. You will get your money’s worth from the DLC’s.

The voice acting is pretty well done. I felt that the voice actors really loved to play their characters. This charm pulled me into the game even more. Even the voices for the enemy characters are pretty well done.

A side note for the people who loved the choice system from the first two BioShock games, there isn’t that much too choose in this game. So, be warned for that. This game has only one ending instead of various ones like in the first two games.

Same but different

Plasmids return as vigors. Audio logs return as well but in more time appropiate. This game has a very similar vibe as the first two BioShock games but it stands on it’s own two legs as well.

Visually, this game is mind blowing. This game takes place in a very detailed city.

Each area is extremely well designed. This way, every fight feels different since there are so many options to take.

But what I really love in this game is the attention to detail. When you are at a point in the story you made Elizabeth mad, her expression shows that. Sometimes I even felt that she was a real person. It’s that well done in my opinion.

Each area you visit is varied and feels real. I didn’t notice many “this needs to be here since a player needs this to progress.” stuff.

The visual presentation and pacing of this game made the story come alive even more. When I hear a song of the soundtrack of this game, my mind wonders back to the city of Columbia and the memories I have playing this game.

Speaking of the soundtrack, this game uses various famous songs. Songs that were created in that time period. Anyways, the actual soundtrack to this game is very dynamic. In this game, you have sad songs and happy songs. Tense songs and scary songs. It all depends on the situation. There wasn’t any track I didn’t like.

Before I forget to mention this, I finished this game on normal difficulty. This game gave me a great challenge. When you die in this game, you loose money. And believe me, without money, you will have a very harsh time. The harder the difficulty, the more important money is.

There is also a challenge mode in this game. In this challenge mode you test your skills with this game. And the challenges it sets can be pretty tough and unique.

Almost there…

 There are a few things I think this game could improve.

The controls of this game are pretty well done. They are very responsive and feel logical to use. But I have one issue with them. Why do you have to change the pick up buttons between the main game and the DLC? This is a real shame since it confused me an afwul lot when playing the DLC chapaters. When I’m used to press “E” to pick up items or loot… Why suddenly change it to “F” in the DLC chapters?

The menus in this game are pretty good, but some minor tweaks would have made them even better. When you have a list, there is no way to scroll up and/or down with your mouse. This is a shame, since this would have been useful. Also, when there is a list (like in the “Choose Chapter” option), there is no scroll bar. So, you have no idea where the list starts and where it ends.

One of the best features in the game is that Elizabeth searches for supplies during fights. This saved my skin serval times. But there is one nitpick that kind of ruins it for me. When Elizabeth wants to throw you something and the fight is over… You can’t receive it. I experienced this various times.

Also, there is only one autosave slot. This is a shame, but not a big deal in my opinion.

This one is a nitpick, but I really wish was possible. When you start an attack with your vigors, there is no way to stop the attack. So, if you use it at the wrong time, it’s lost energy for you.

In any case, this game is almost perfect but there are here and there some small issues. Issues that could be fixed with a patch. But I honestly think they shouldn’t be patched. Since this game is perfect with it’s minor annoyances. Since they don’t bother the experience of this game that much.

Anyways, it’s time for the conclusion of this review. Since I said everything I wanted to say about this game.

Conclusion

The bad:

-A few minor issues like no scroll bars or changing the controls slightly for the DLC’s are present.

The good:

+ Amazing story and voice acting.

+ Beautiful visuals.

+ Perfect attention to detail.

+ Fun gameplay with the vigors.

+ Enjoyable soundtrack

+ …

Verdict:

This game is a must play for people who like very story heavy shooters. This game has some amazing moments that will stick with me for a long time. I even boot this game up from time to time to play a random chapter. To try out a new strategy to finish the chapter.

This series and this game has me hooked. The praise this game gets is really well deserved. When this game hooks itself into you, it won’t let go.

I enjoyed myself with this game and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Anyways, I’m going to wrap up this review. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this. Have a great rest of your day and I hope to welcome you another time on this blog! Take care and game on :).

Score: 99/100