bioshock infinite game review
Rapture's sticky and oppressive corridors, there is nothing left. But if the drowned and gangrenous utopia of the first two episodes of BioShock has definitely sunk, the powerful will of Ken Levine and Irrational Games to create extraordinary universes has remained completely preserved. Friends surveyors of virtual worlds, rejoice because from this unshakable will was born Columbia, a fantastic new story-city floating among the clouds and in which you will taste hate, hope, madness but above all , to the blood.In 1912, a stone's throw from the coast of the state of Maine, a small boat struggled in the pouring rain in moonlit waters. On board, a couple dressed in yellow raincoats squabbles while leading Booker DeWitt towards a large lighthouse with a threatening silhouette. DeWitt, it's you, and for once, you're not a young adventure-hungry first time person. Forgive a little, but you are even a piece of junk, a "detective", not to say a henchman who once made his butter by beating the leaders of strike movements for rich bosses, among other filth.
You are soulless, without conviction, a little tortured at the edges, but you are also in debt up to your neck. In fact, it was a bit like a pistol to the temple that you had to accept this mission: to find and bring back to New York a young woman named Elizabeth. The problem is that the girl is detained in Columbia, a mysterious floating city that has disappeared from the skies of the United States for several years. Yes, do not doubt it, the parallel and especially the differences with the introduction of the first BioShock are not accidental. And there, if I really wanted to honor the masterpiece that is BioShock Infinite, I would stop my text right here and summon you to go explore, contemplate and sack this world for yourself. Because yes, if the gameplay is more or less the same as in the previous parts, the narration and the world them - again completely interconnected - make this title something unique and brilliant. However, as I have to justify my salary and satisfy the curious, let's go together to strip this BioShock Infinite together.
COLUMBIA, THIS PARADISE ...
Of course, the first and main protagonist of this adventure is undoubtedly Columbia herself. Thus, there is a good chance that your first steps in its streets put you on your side, because beyond an honorable technical dimension (the game runs on a modified version of Unreal Engine 3.0) and textures not always tip-top, the general design based on American post-colonial architecture is breathtaking. The city is revealed as open, alive and bright as Rapture could be confined, dark and dilapidated. Composed of floating islets linked together by a network of rails and trams, Columbia looks like it can be mistaken for the antechamber of paradise. The carefree children play in the sun-drenched streets, the couples embrace and chat in sumptuous gardens crossed by swarms of hummingbirds in syncopated flight and a fair is even in full swing in the background. We also pass some curiosities, such as mechanical horses and other technological marvels. But, as you would expect, there is unease. A discomfort that quickly creeps into you and which brilliantly demonstrates that a story does not necessarily need cutscenes to start being born. Because indeed, everything is too clean, too perky and too enchanting to be honest.
… THAT HIDES HORROR UNDER ITS GOLD
Thus, very quickly, the relative detachment of DeWitt is struck by the omnipresence of religion and more precisely by a kind of worship that all these happy inhabitants dedicate to a so-called Comstock, which all designate as the Prophet. We also understand that the racial segregation born in the bloody wake of the American Civil War does indeed take place in Columbia, with all that it has of ignoble. The whole is also bathed in exacerbated patriotism and in propagandist messages advocating hatred of the world below, the Lower Sodom. The city abounds with references to American history. Some of them are easily understood. Others less. Anyway, the absence of any Manichaeism gives a special flavor to BioShock Infinite. Certainly, at Columbia, everything is not perfect. But after all, can Booker DeWitt really stand above the fray? Did he not come to the floating city to repay a debt of which we do not know the nature? Isn't it his job to kidnap a young girl? Quickly, the cards are scrambled and we no longer know where the writers want to take us. The mystery hangs. And U.S. too.
REAL EXPLORATION?
As in the previous sections, BioShock Infinite is savored slowly. The structure of the game may be linear, exploring the environments is still possible, although I admit, surprisingly, most of the levels seemed to offer less latitude than some of the districts of Rapture. Anyway, it is more than recommended to snoop around everywhere if you want to have in your possession all the keys to understand the background and survive in Hard mode or in Ultimate mode (do not make me the affront to play in Normal please). The decor is full of details, more or less hidden elements, places that we are free to visit or not. We also find the concept of audio journals to collect but also the arrival of short but many black and white films made with care. There is no obligation to look at them but they give an idea of the functioning of Columbia society. If you choose to explore everything, BioShock Infinite will not deliver its conclusion to you, (otherwise masterful but that some will necessarily find too cryptic) only after fifteen hours of play. The others, the criminals, those who like to rot the adventure by going straight ahead and by regularly showing the arrow designating their next objective will take about ten hours, and they will be cursed!
A 100% BIOSHOCK GAMEPLAY, BUT WITH MORE TIPS
But for now, DeWitt doesn't care about all of these considerations. He has a job to do, a debt to erase. But of course, everything necessarily turns into a block pie when in circumstances that we leave it to you to discover, the guy triggers the ire of the population and the local authorities who see him as the "false prophet". All this will then lead to the first shootings of the game. And there, hop, at the beginning, it is not necessarily crazy, because we simply have the impression of replaying the previous games, with similar weapons, a little rigid , who lack feeling, even if things have improved. Fortunately, it will work out later, as you will see. Anyway, pistol, shotgun, exploding bullet rifle, sniper rifle, machine gun, rocket launcher, grenade launcher, there is nothing very original, even if all this pretty stuff can be improved several times in distributors, for a fee. The only differences in the armaments field are due to the fact that from now on, you will have a small shield which will reload automatically and will be able to carry only two weapons at the same time, which will force you regularly to rob the staccato during fight and therefore move more.
This thirst for movement is also illustrated by the addition in your basic equipment of a kind of magnetic hook which will not only be able to serve you for the latter of malandrin in hand-to-hand combat until giving rise to filthy bets to death, but also and above all, during certain fights, to grab yourself and then descend the famous rails that wind through Columbia. Frankly, we say at the beginning that it's a bit gimmick, even if it's pretty classy to be able to jump from one line to another at 200 km / h, except that very quickly, we learn to drop on his target for an instant murder, we dodge, we change direction, we will crash on a roof for sniper ... The level design, fantastic, will allow you to regularly use this gadget. Later, it will even be a condition of your survival, especially against the Handyman, the very nervous Big Daddy from BioShock Infinite. Be careful not to stay suspended too long, it may well be that this guy decides to electrify the rails ... Yeah, it's not so bad in fact to no longer feel like a turret on legs and take themselves for a raptor. Thus, these choices make BioShock a much more dynamic title than its elders, suddenly, we touch the wood and we chain the genuflections to thank Irrationnal Games.
TONES BY HEART
But who says BioShock, obviously says Plasmi ... sorry, Tonics that work pretty much on the same model as what we had injected into Rapture's veins. Because like our Big Dad in 2, our character carries a weapon in the right hand and uses his powers with the left hand, powers that we obtain by drinking vials scattered throughout Columbia, and whose use is governed by a gauge of Ev ... sorry, Crystal. Obviously, the battles are based on the simultaneous use of conventional weapons and tonics: ignited bombs, electric shock (to be used preferably on a puddle or after having soaked and made its victims spin around with the Surfing power), cloud of crows, control mind that works on both humans and turrets, except that the latter will eventually shoot you again, while the soldiers will commit suicide with conviction and delight. We won't talk about everything either, so as not to spoil the surprise. But be aware that all Tonics have two jobs, that they can be combined and can turn your environment to your advantage. However, we are a little disappointed by the lack of originality of the whole, especially when we turned over all the possibilities offered by Rapture in this area.
ELIZABETH ENTERS THE DANCE
I am ashamed, yes I am ashamed not to have spoken of Elizabeth before. But the fact is that the beautiful young lady, who will accompany you during a big part of the adventure, is such a crucial element of BioShock Infinite that I prefer there again to let you discover for yourself. Because as bewitching as it is, the software really takes off only after a few hours, when we finally meet the young woman. Elizabeth has a crucial role, both in the script and in the gameplay. She evolves, she lives, she suffers by your side and her face with deliberately accentuated features, her attitudes constitute an incredible way to link the player to her destiny. Glued to her screen, we start to worry about her, we look for her when we lose sight of her, in short we get attached to this little woman who far from being static, sees her personality evolve over the tests. Believe me, I really thought that having an AI-run character permanently glued to the Basques would swell me up quickly. It is not so. Elizabeth is never a problem, deciphers the universe with you, reinforces the immersion by going for example to warm your hands near a stove while you explore a slum. Casually, this contributes enormously to the atmosphere of this BioShock.
Elizabeth also proves to be of rare use by opening certain locked doors or chests (as long as you have collected enough hooks), by highlighting certain objects, or by distributing ammunition, medical rations and crystal during the fights at the touch of a button, if within reach. She is also able to decipher codes in the context of small side quests, which very often require to retrace your steps to find a very specific place. It is therefore a precious help because the enemies are very aggressive, if not intelligent. But Elizabeth has another significant asset. She knows how to open portals to other dimensions. This makes it possible in particular to import into the present elements coming from alternative worlds. An aspect used during fights. Thus, Booker can ask his sidekick to show in specific areas, highlighted in the decor, hooks to hang with the help of the hook, a low wall behind which to shelter, automatic turrets, filled crates of care, weapons, etc. This brings, during the fighting, an additional strategic dimension that is nice, but ultimately not that crucial.
AND OTHERWISE, IT HAS DEFECTS WHEN EVEN YOUR GAME?
Obviously, young whippersnapper! Yes, some may criticize BioShock Infinite for its somewhat uneven rhythm with its sequences of pure contemplation, others, with already more reason, will rail against its generally stupid enemies who have swapped their brains for very basic aggressiveness. Others will see an evolved skin from previous BioShock, its basic gameplay has not changed that much. The nitpickers will be saddened to see a moral dimension seemingly less pronounced than before, forgetting the words so intelligent that the game holds them however on every street corner. The more grumpy will criticize him for his linearity and will throw Dishonored in his face without good reason. The nags will say to him that it is not ultimately a pure shooter and to the latter in particular, I will answer that indeed, BioShock is not a pure shooter, it is above all a story and a vision, to savor in the first person, with a lot of blood in the middle. BioShock Infinite is one of those rare softs capable of turning your guts and touching you like few others do, especially in the case of triple A. Gentlemen of Irrationnal Games, low hat.
The notes
+ Positive points
The original universe
The incredible artistic dimension
History and narration
Elizabeth who accompanies us: she is a real plus in terms of immersion and gameplay
10 to 15 hours lifespan for a first session
Negative points
The feeling of some weapons still a little soft
We might have liked even more areas to explore freely
There are sometimes games that mark you, that transcend without betraying their nature of "simple" entertainment to speak more intimately and touch you, and BioShock Infinite is one of them. Served by an extraordinary design, supported by exciting battles despite a few quirks, the title of Irrationnal Games above all gives life to a great story, magical, gripping and unforgiving. At the same time more and less than a shooter, BioShock Infinite grips and fascinates while offering a vision of a rare intelligence, without concession, without primary manichaeism, all set in a magnificent case. In short, one thing is certain, those who will fly to Columbia are not about to set foot on earth.
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