With the recently released The Last of Us being touted as game of the year and everyone seemingly forgetting about the other games in the running, I’ve decided to jog all of your memories about one of them: the incredible, now three month old BioShock Infinite.
BioShock Infinite was a breath of fresh air, surpassing the original in almost every way: Columbia not only mirrored Rapture but bettered it too, with the religious ideologies of Comstock both paralleling and opposing Ryan’s own philosophy in a way only Ken Levine could craft.
The world of Infinite is truly incredible and one I’ll surely revisit year after year, as I do with Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule and Portal 2’s Aperture Laboratories. It’s one of the best games of this generation, in my opinion, along with Uncharted 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and the aforementioned Portal 2.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big fan of Infinite and I think the game’s 94 score on Metacritic is fully justified. I couldn’t really fault it in my review either, giving it the highest acclaim and a 10/10 rating, summing it all up by saying:
And then I realise aside from some superficial issues, there’s really nothing wrong with the game at all – it’s better than BioShock ever was; it’s fully realised and complete. It’s so, so near perfect and the first words Booker hear when he steps into the land of Columbia reflect my thoughts entirely:
“It’s heaven – or as close as we’ll see until judgement day.”
There’s really no way I could’ve given it any less than a 10/10 if I’m honest – I’ll often look back on reviews and think “I was wrong about that” but looking back at this, I’m confident with my conclusion.
I can’t think of much more to say about Infinite, without sprawling on about how excellent it is, from the story to the world to the characters to even the extremely fun gameplay, utilising tears and skyhooks for one of the most satisfying first person experiences I’ve ever had.
Anyway, enough talking about myself (I have to – no one else wrote about it!) and let’s talk about you – it’s your turn to get your voice heard. Simply write a short review of the game in the comments below and we’ll round them up into the Verdict article next week if you manage to get it done before Sunday afternoon.
Don’t forget to add a Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It rating on the end so we can collate the results. I’ll be really interested to see if anyone tells you to ‘avoid’ this masterpiece.
yiddo
Amazing atmosphere and environment. Decent enough gameplay mechanics. Some great characters, but there are alot of forgettable ones (the Vox Populi leader for example, and the commander in the museum). Still though, it has a great narrative, and it rates as one of my favourite games this gen.
Buy it.
MICKY17
Fabulous game! As a big fan of the first Bioshock, I was in no doubt this would be brilliant. Even bought the Songbird Edition of it and don’t regret it for a second. A brilliant story (I didn’t see the twist coming I’ll be honest) and loved every second of it. Exploring the world of Columbia was enchanting and broke up the shoot this, shoot that elements that others have mentioned. Superb game, BUY IT!!!
wonkey-willy
Rent it…
I did like the twist at the end (wont spoil it)..
And the nods to previous shocks (wont spoil that either)
Didnt feel as enclosed as the last 2 games due to the open air surroundings.
Still liked it
plutoniumdragon
Played this on PC, if that makes any difference. While it was a nice enough experience I can’t help agreeing with the comments that it lacked the atmosphere present in the previous games. Also, although there are lots of enemies that want to kill you and some great characters, the environment is a little too “pretty” and there’s nowhere near the same sense of malefic oppression that you got from the mostly insane characters, leaking water and decay in Rapture.
Because I haven’t gone back to it I’d have to say rent it, but if you find it cheap enough in the bargain bin that works too :)
Kennykazey
I finished it today. It becomes more and more of a simple shooter and less and less of a thrilling and scary facinating game as it keeps going, but I really liked it. The setting is immense, the audio is solid, the visuals are beautiful and the story is clever. I personally liked the ending, it’s better than the original Bioshock but a bit too much of a paradigm between hectic combat and lenghty cutscene. And we see this throughout the game.
Still the story, it’s events, locations and characters keeps it afloat.
There’s no question Bioshock Infinite deserves a BUY IT.
elpablo79
This was one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I have had. I found it to have solid FPS mechanics and the Vigors provided some variety of tactics. However, the main stars are the fully realised story and, of course, Elizabeth. The story itself is captivating and quite fun, the ending is done very well but definitely benefits from collecting the audio records scattered around.
Elizabeth is a great character in her own right, interactions with her are a pleasure, she doesn’t become an inconvenience and she even helps out in battle. I also love how she interacts with the environment in general and feels like a fully fleshed character and not just an avatar.
All in all, a brilliant game, gorgeous to look at, full of character, story and even some moments of awe. BUY IT!
doug
My game of the year
Definite buy
Wardy-77-
Still haven’t started this,so many games!
colmshan1990
I only played Bioshock Infinite this week.
BUY IT.
It’s fantastic. A great and mysterious setting, even more so than the fabulous Rapture, with a deep main character in Booker, and a great antagonist with just as much depth in Comstock. There are some other great characters too, notably Fitzroy and the Luteces.
And of course, I haven’t mentioned the best character in video game history yet… Elizabeth. Bioshock Infinite is essentially a giant escort mission where the escorted character is not only useful, but will become your friend (not just Booker’s, but the actual person playing the game will come to care for her).
The beginning is sublime, the middle act great and the final act literally dropped my jaw a couple of days ago when I played through it.
The game is essentially perfect. They took all the great parts of Bioshock and expanded on them to build something unmatched out if all the games I’ve played.
I only hope The Last of Us can measure up when my new PS3 arrives (my phatty’s blu-ray died 10 mins into the Last of Us, leading me to my laptop for Bioshock) because Bioshock Infinite just overtook Resident Evil 4, Pokemon Silver and Uncharted 2 on my list of all time favourite games.
Columbia and its characters are special, and I know I’ll be returning time and time again to visit often.
BUY IT.