OSCAR COOPER
"Bioshocks main draw and theme for me was a 50s steampunk aqua wonderland/Hell set up and being trapped deep on the ocean floor, not humming birds, fluffy clouds and people saying good morning to me as they dipped their hats"
Well if you have read my previous articles on the series you will know I am avid fan of the legendary IP known as Bioshock, the first installment was very close to my heart and still is. It is is widely tipped as one of the most important games of the modern genre. The second in the series is also strong but had a mighty big task to equal that of its prequel, it was still a commercial success and featured the cool new angle of playing as the previous games main enemy, it felt a bit like glamourised DLC however as it stuck very firmly to the original format and location, Rapture is still a favorite setting for me and I wasn’t at all disappointed to see its return and also get to explore its many secrets second time round. Overall I had a great time with it and pushed through to completion, Kev Levine and the original crew had taken a bit of back seat with this one which didn’t show through too much thankfully, nothing like the Devil My Cry 2 incident which I am still emotionally trumatised by.
On to the third installment and holly fuck did they hype this one up; early footage popped up at all the major shows nearly a year before its release date, it was the classic doctored gameplay reel we have all got used to by now. Something stood out however, NO RAPTURE! had Kev lost the plot,,,,,one of the most beloved environments in gaming history had gone, vanished, never to return, instead we had Columbus, a flying city, with blue skies, birds and trees and even a fucking beach, I wasn’t sure about this, Bioshocks main draw and theme for me was a 50s steampunk aqua wonderland/Hell set up and being trapped deep on the ocean floor, not humming birds, fluffy clouds and people saying good morning to me as they dipped their hats, but I had faith in old Kev and like all good things the better and prettier they are the more fun comes when you start to ruin them (like kicking over a nice sandcastle on the beach), The stage was certainly set for that as the demo showed some god dam crazy stuff with killer bird swarms and a female companion with some strong powers that looked to help and warp in cover in gun battles, the protagonist also jumped around on a rail in the sky, leaping on and off and firing a weapon while doing so. It all looked very different and like some adolescent child being told by their mother he can’t have the usual bangers and mash for tea that night, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this colossal change,
So what with my move to another country between the launch date and Biosock 2, I had to wait a little while to get my teeth into this one, the reviews flooded in, GOTY contender was flung around with gay abandon. The big name sites had bigged this one up to scary proporations. I had dam high expectations before even putting the disc in my machine, which is to be expected, the studio has one of those repuations for quaulity and Kev was in the driving seat for this one so I had no doubt in my mind that it could deliver. The thing with the Bioshock series is that it doesn’t try to lean back on its FPS mechanics, instead it adds more depth with interesting physics based weaponry and sharp AI, both are found in there droves with the newest installment and straight off the bat you know you are dealing with some great programming.
Visually I instantly fell in love, wishing I hadn’t already seen the intro five times, I still revealed in the opening sequence and soaked up the lush colour pallet of the first few stages. It eases you in and produces some great introductory walkthrough sections, the soundtrack and architecture knocking you back and letting you know this is no ordinary first person shooter. It’s like a beautiful mural, soft, bright and tranquil. Then you get a gun, blimey the gore factor is ramped up pretty high, heads split, people get buzzed sawed in the face etc. Playing as a character that speaks is also a first for the series, not sure if I am a fan, Booker is likable, but American and good looking, two things I can’t emphasize with, but it’s all about escapism I suppose. He has some good one liners and doesn’t back down in view of a fight so he kind of won me over in the end.
That brings me to Elizabeth, the developers spoke of huge effort being poured into her creation and it doesn’t go unnoticed, she’s like a constantly changing entity, I mean on a visual and emotional level, the bond between the two slowly grows and so does the players concern for her safety. I was suspecting the writers wanted investment in her a for story line purposes and this was true to a certain extent, she is never vulnerable in a fire fight situation but the story arch is firmly placed around her and the future of the pair, this section of Infinite is done with absolute perfection, in hind sight it’s probably the stand out feature of the whole title.
Now let’s get to the guts of the game, the mechanics, enemies, powers and guns, it’s all in the classic Bioshock style, you deal with foot soldiers and larger artificial beasts in a number of forms. The big Daddy equivalent is a faster larger more dangerous Handy Man, with quick movement and striking power, a pretty awesome foe to fight, he can electrocute the skyline to stop you escaping or flanking him and has a tiny week spot placed in his chest, I never shot the dam thing directly however, not for the want of trying.
Its alot of good fun jumping on and off the skylines, trying to shoot at people going the other way or launching off into a violent take down move. The game has been under a bit of negativilty with its weapon choice and setup, you can only have two guns at anyone time in your right hand but a wide selction of Tonic powers in the other. This is not such a bad thing and forces you to contantly swap things around, Halo had the same set up so I dont know what all the fuss is about. I have alot of love for this game and the series in general however something snaps at my heelings regarding Infinite, I think its the gameplay, its slumps into a routine by about mid game and buying the powerups is way too expensive. I never seemed to have much in game currency, due to dying alot as I played the game through on hard so maybe that was my fault. The ending is deep, and carries the usual twist and the new DLC is set in Rapture so I will not hesitate to purchase that, the game is one of the best this year, buut I doubt it will win GOTY.