BioShock Infinite Review

In addition to Vigor, the game relives heavily on the first-person shooter genre. As always, there will be a lot of weapons that DeWiit can use and it all varies from a pistol, shotgun or assault riffle. Nothing has changed much when it comes to the weapons that you can use, though to make it more efficient and powerful, a gear system is introduced. As you explore Columbia, you will find items that DeWitt can equip. By finding and equipping the items, you’re making DeWitt more powerful and resistant to attacks as certain gears gives him resistance to attack, and bonus damage for his weapons.

Along with weapons, there are other things that you can do and that’s aerial assassinations similar to the Assassin’s Creed. Using the ‘hook’ that you get early in the game, whenever you hang onto something, you will have an option to ‘Skyline’ kill your enemy. Think of it as an assassination as by doing those will not trigger an alarm or make the enemies go crazy on you.

Memorable Characters
One of the things I love about BioShock Infinite are its characters. Aside from Elizabeth and DeWiit having an interesting background and story, there are others in the game that gives the game a more interesting approach to its storyline and the overall narrative. There are Father Comstock that you will learn to hate at the beginning due to his twisted mind, and others like the ones you will get to hear on the audiologs. To actually learn more on the story behind Columbia and its characters, collecting audio logs will give that information and the people who will be narrating it have done a phenomenal job. Their statements are believable and it helps create an ambience towards the game’s storyline. The memorable lines that you will get to see throughout the city is as meaningful as the ones found on Rapture.

NOT

Graphical Issues
Playing on the console version of BioShock Infinite, I was dismayed as it’s not as perfect I thought it would be. The environments and visuals are superb but there are occasional graphical issues, although they’re not hurting the overall gameplay experience. Fans can expect frame rate drops on a timely basis, especially when a lot is happening on the screen. As expected, the PC version is far more superior. To those who want to enjoy BioShock Infinite at its fullest, getting it on the PC might be the best choice, although make sure you can run it at Ultra settings.

VERDICT

Compared to the first two BioShock games, I must say that BioShock Infinite is a better game and should meet most people’s expectations. Irrational Games has done a great job with the story, which will captivate fans throughout the game, allowing them to seek the answers that engulfs Columbia. The companionship system introduced in Infinite is nothing new, but it shows how AI should be handled. The combat system has been improved with the new abilities known called Vigors and gears that you can equip. Despite its minor graphical issues, I must say that BioShock Infinite is about as perfect as any game this year could be and it’s now on my Game of the Year 2013 list.

[Editor’s Note: Bioshock Infinite was reviewed on the Xbox 360 platform. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]