Wow. Just. Wow.

For 5 years, this game had been sitting in the cooking pot, awaiting the day it would finally see the light. It was delayed 3 times. Some people started to lose hope, believing Irrational Games could never do the impossible; create a sequel equal to or better than the original.

They did it.

Bioshock: Infinite is art. If all games are art, than Bioshock: Infinite is Monet's Water Lilies. It's an emotional rollercoaster that actually works, which is surprising with the amount of desensitisation in this current day and age. If you can't be bothered to read the rest of this review, then just know I'm going to recommend you buy it, and you buy it now. Get immersed in it, because there's so much there for you to analyse and consider. The team should be applauded for its effort.

STORY

When I want a story in games, there's only two developers I can trust to always deliver something akin to the depth and complexity of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, or anything of George Orwell. Chris Avellone and Obsidian, and the writing team at Irrational.

The twists and turns in the story arc serve to twist our emotions. It's not a straight path; there are some massive complications and plot twists I won't reveal, but needless to say, one in particular had me chocking up. The story starts off slow and breesy, which is a good thing, as it helps us get more associated with the world that we'll be tearing up over the next 10+ hours. Pacing in this game is, more or less, just as it should be. Tension is something the game plays with, and you'll probably find yourself more than once wanting to break into the game, pull out your machine gun and just kill everything (not in frustration), which is actually a good thing (it means they're successfully drawing on your emotions).

Character development is, except for a few tragic enemy archtypes, bang on the money. The game makes sure not to give you all the details at once, instead lightly dropping out hints here and there. The characters seem to capture the best (worst) qualities of previous Bioshock characters, which enhances the plot and the themes of the game, particularly American Exceptionalism, which entangles subthemes such as racism and religion. Now, it's slightly depressing that Songbird is the only character not to be given a history (the other Heavy Hitters are detailed in the artbook/guidebook), but it's made up for with the complex relationship between Booker, Elizabeth and Songbird. Comstock himself is also a highly convoluted and deeply intriguing character, and you'll be longing for more of him the more you play.

GAMEPLAY

I admit it. I value story over gameplay. That said, this game doesn't disappoint in either department; gameplay is addicting. The skyhook and skyrails are one of the greatest editions to modern day gaming, and if they do not feature as a rollercoaster sometime in the future, I will be highly unimpressed. This game's action sequences are fast-paced, but definitely manageable. I recommend playing on Easy or Normal first, so you can experiment with the skyrails and skyhooks and explore the levels well without the looming threat of perma-death that comes with the game's 1999 Mode (if you don't have any ingame money; you must pay to revive, even on Easy, although the rates change between level). The game does not have regenerating health, although early on you do receive a shield with regenerating energy; generally, it doesn't last long unless you upgrade it with Infusions, special bottles in the world that allow you to increase you Health/Salt/Shield bars, so or don't worry too much if you're not a fan of regenerating elements.

Gun customisation is barely there, but this isn't the game for it. The weapons are nicely varied, and though I found myself in love with the Carbine and the Shotgun, the signature weapons include a gun that fires bouncing projectiles, several explosive weapons that make you grin with malevolent glee, the Pepper Grinder machinegun (they were right to make it rare, because it is HIGHLY OP), but most importantly, the very awesome Skyhook as your melee weapon. Hold down the melee button, and you will perform some of the most brutal moves I have seen in a game since Mortal Kombat.

The Vigors, replacing Plasmids, are fun and extremely helpful. There's no more Pipe-hero hacking; Possession does the job for you, and the fact it can make those amazing Motorized Patriots your allies, and make human enemies commit suicide, is quite fantastic. Murder of Crows is possibly the most fun to use, but I find Undertow also works well. The other change to the formula is the removal of Tonics, and the addition of Gears. You can only have one Gear for each different body part (Head, Torso, Arms, Boots), but this adds an element of strategy that is well received. Do keep checking in and changing your gears, as they can really make things much easier (or harder) for you in combat.

Of course, the big thing that everyone was worried about is Elizabeth. Well, I can tell you, she's the best kind of NPC you can have. You don't have to manage her at all. She'll do whatever she wants, and occasionally throw you some ammo, salts (replacing EVE) or med-kits (replacing ADAM). She can also bring in new elements to the battlefield (usually about 2 at a time), such as hooks for you to leap on to and gain a nice sniping vantage point, new weapons, turrets and Patriots and other things to really help you with the battle before you. She won't fight, but that would just take away from all the combat potential you have.

GRAPHICS

Irrational promised that the PC version would look beyond beautiful. Let's just give that a quick check.

Yep.

PROBLEMS

You can't have a game without at least some niggling issues, and this isn't exempt. As I mentioned before, the lack of detail on the Songbird is disheartening, but it's more than likely we might see something come of it in the upcomming DLC. There's not as many battle locations which have the skyrails, so do take advantage of them if you find one. The Boys of Silence are sadly not as awesome as we thought they would be, and add a rather clunky stealth element to an otherwise primarily action game, which doesn't really work here. 1999 is not *as* hard as promised. The ending is, without analysing it, confusing at first, and there are some gaping plot holes, but considering what kind of ending they went with, it's not a huge deal as no-one else has yet pulled it off perfectly either. The PC lacks manual saves, which isn't a problem if you plan to play this game in one or two long sessions like I do, but if you need to constantly quit out, it's going to be a frustrating mess for you. The two-weapon limit is depressing, considering the wide range of weapons.

The biggest issue for me is length. The game is around 10-15 hours, depending on difficulty and if you go exploring. The big problem I have with this is that, the original Bioshock was about the same length, but because of the setting and the rather dull combat (in comparison to this), it felt longer than it actually was. But here, everything is so open, so bright, so fun, it really does feel like a short experience, which is sad considering the amount of content from previous trailers which has been cut for this final version. Thankfully, we are getting DLC, which will hopefully knock up the length to above 20 hours, and give us a lot more skyrails to play on.

FINAL VERDICT

The above problems aren't so massive in the long-run. The game could have been better if they were addressed, but really, this game is already perfect the way it is. This is a game you MUST play before you die, especially for upcoming game designers.

10/10

Sources: Bioshock Infinite Logo: http://wikicheats.gametrailers.com/images/6/60/BioShock_Infinite_Banner.jpg