Where to begin? firstly I am a huge bioshock fan having played the previous 2 games multiple times and had high hopes for appears to be the third and final game in the series. I shall try and split the review into different sections starting with the world/environments:
In infinite we leave the world of rapture and venture into the world of Columbia, a floating city in the sky. Firstly lets start with the world of Columbia, vastly different to rapture, with its bright colours, more open environmnets and there are "normal" people around i.e not splicers. You feel less anxious walking around Columbia, as with rapture you were constantly having to watch your back. As with every bioshock game the environments are well designed and visually astounding and infinite gives us the best visuals thus far, the world of Columbia is beautiful and you cant help but stop and look around every once in a while. It makes a refreshing change from the dark gloomy corridors of rapture.
Gameplay:
With bioshock infinite, its feels much more like an action game compared to the first two which had a more dark "horror" feel to them. You get to chose from a decent number of weapons, including pistols, rifles, machine guns and rocket launchers. In the place of plasmids, we are given what are known as vigors, these act the same as plasmids instead you drink them instead of injecting yourself, there is a range of vigors which you slowly acquire as the story progresses. There is also the addition of the sky hook which allows you to zoom around Columbia on the travel cart lines and which can also be used a deadly weapon.
The gameplay feels solid and flows well with fun action sequences and you have nice variation between the guns and vigors, however as the game progressed I found myself solely using guns 90% of the time and forgetting about the vigors.
Characters:
The two main characters of Infinite are your character Booker Dewitt and your companion Elizabeth. The relationship between the two is well written and brilliantly voice acted. As the game progresses you really start to see a friendship build between the two characters. Booker works well as the main protagonist but its Elizabeth that steals the show, as far as sidekicks or companions go in gaming shes the best I have ever seen, shes helpful (provides ammo,health and money when she finds it) likable and interesting. Plus shes not affected when your in combat meaning you don't have to save her every 5 seconds so you don't feel like a babysitter. this also doesn't make the game feel like one big escort mission.
Story:
Finally the story or plot of infinite, I don't want to give much away but ill say this, if you thought the first bioshock campaign was good wait till you play this! the game leaves you guessing and wondering right till the end. Although the last 10mins of the story is a lot to take in, once you sit back and take in the plot, you'll love it, cleverly written and beautifully executed, kudos to the writers of the game. it is one of those endings that leaves you thinking about it days later.
Overall bioshock infinite is defiantly one of the best games I've played in a long time, from the great story, to the brilliant characters and impressive visuals its not to be missed, it just misses a 10/10 as I found the gameplay becomes a little repetitive and you never use the full potential of your arsenal unless you do a couple of playthroughs although this is very minor complaint 9/10 Excellent game!
