BioShock Infinite: Burial At Sea, Episode 1 – Rapture Before The Fall

It’s New Year’s Eve, 1958, and Elizabeth bursts into Booker’s life once more. It’s not a happy reunion though, more of a fresh start, with dramatically shifted dynamics to their relationship and a new mystery to try and wrap your head around, as the first part of this story releases this week.

In many ways, Burial at Sea is pure fan service, bringing Irrational back to the world and universe they created to such critical acclaim over half a decade ago, but just as the dynamics of Elizabeth and Booker’s reacquaintance has changed, the Rapture you see at the start is also quite different.

It’s much more reminiscent of the living world that was portrayed in the flying city of Columbia; a city at the peak of its decadence and opulence, with a diseased core eating beneath the surface. We all know of the eventual fate that befell Rapture, as Ryan and Fontaine’s struggle rose to consume the city and its populace, and as you wander around the brightly lit and open shopping centre, it’s easy to overhear the gossip of those you pass by.

That relationship between Booker and Elizabeth is particularly key to where this new story takes us. It’s almost the polar opposite as Elizabeth walks into Booker’s PI office, and hires him for a job to find and rescue a girl. She’s now the employer, and she’s the one forcing the issues.

She’s also sporting a new look, and one which deteriorates as the story unfolds, but ties completely into this neo-noir infused tale. Even her entrance, with the way the light streams in through the french blinds, and her face is obscured in shadow is so quintessential and pitched to perfection. The noir influences are everywhere to be seen, once more, with a Rapture completely rebuilt and recreated to a much higher standard and polish than the original.

However, all too quickly and quite suddenly, Booker and Elizabeth are ripped from this almost idyllic setting. Their hunt for Sally, the missing girl, sees them quite forcibly sent to a place which will be much more familiar to those who have played the original game, with roaming splicers and not a friendly face in sight.

It’s back to business as usual then, but the gameplay and mechanics on show are an intriguing fusion of that from BioShock and BioShock Infinite. Stealth is a much more viable option once more, that much is certain, and I had a great deal of fun sneaking up behind splicers and bopping them on the back of the head with the Skyhook (in all but name – it’s now the Air Grabber).

The tight and enclosed arenas of battle too are more in line with what we saw in BioShock, but that Skyhook of sorts sees the return of the rails in air, allowing you to zip around an arena and get the mobility advantage over the enemies.

Plasmids also return, obviously, but take on aspects of the Vigors from Infinite in most regards. Possession returns from Infinite, and is very useful since sentry turrets cannot be hacked, but we also have a new entry in the form of the community inspired Old Man Winter, allowing you to freeze and smash enemies, much like you could in the original.

I did feel that you can hear the gameplay cogs turning behind the scenes just a little too much. That sudden and quite clear divide from the normal day-to-day life of Rapture to the seedy underbelly felt too stark and almost unnatural, while the game funnels you quite deliberately down a set path, with only fairly minor asides and moments to spark your imagination and flesh out the world for the most diehard fans.

Yet maybe that’s what it needs to be, to deliver such a tightly presented adventure. All told it lasts roughly 2 hours, and felt a bit on the short side of things though this varies depending on how much you want to pause for exploration, before culminating in a final battle and ending which would only leave you wanting more regardless of how long it was.

It is the perfect love letter to their fans.

Burial at Sea Episode 1 is available from tomorrow, 12th November, as part of this week’s regular store updates for £11.99. You’re much better off buying the Season Pass though, which is £15.99, and will include the upcoming Episode 2 as well as the already released Clash in the Clouds.