After being announced in 2010, fans have been eagerly (and desperately) awaiting the release of the next entry in the Bioshock series. Knowing the game would be plot-heavy, I purposely avoided as much media on the game as I could. Going into games like this without spoilers is a necessity!

The original Bioshock game was one of the best I've ever played. Very few video games have such a strong story and atmosphere. I remember being significantly creeped out as I wandered through the underwater city called Rapture. Bioshock 2 was released a few years later to much less fanfare. The common complaint was the lack of innovation. Everything just felt too similar to the first game. It seems the talent behind Bioshock Infinite was well aware of this when designing the new game. Replacing the dark hallways and mostly drab rooms of Rapture is a brand new location, the sky city of Columbia. While this does lessen the feeling of apprehension the player feels as he worries over what unseen foe will jump out to kill him next, the beautiful new environments are a welcome change.

Columbia is divided into different sections and the whole city can feel alive as you look at it. The game does a good job of differentiating each section to keep things from getting stale. One of my favorite early parts of the game was when you enter a museum type area and fight off enemies from among the displays.

Another change is the inclusion of Elizabeth, an important character who follows you around. The previous games had characters you would need to protect from enemies but this time it's much more integral to the plot of the game. And thankfully, you don't need to actually protect Elizabeth. In fact, she protects you by giving you extra ammo or health packs when you are struggling.

The combat in Bioshock Infinite isn't a steep departure from the previous iterations, merely refined. You can use a myriad of guns with your right hand. Nothing super fancy here, your typical pistol, shotgun, sniper rifle and a few more powerful weapons are at your disposal. With your left hand you can use Infinite's version of Plasmids, called Vigors now. These range from basic elements like fire, water and lightning to some more creative ones. My favorites seem to be based on animals. Murder of Crows lets you release a bunch of relentless birds that damage and occupy the enemy while you fire at them. Charge allows you to charge an enemy like an angry ram and melee them to death. These Vigor attacks are very powerful when utilized properly. You only have a limited amount of uses at one time so you need to think carefully about when exactly to release them. Stunning the enemy with the Vigors and then blasting them with a machine gun seems to be the best strategy most of the time.

The story and atmosphere are topnotch and make Bioshock Infinite an enjoyable ride. One criticism is the constant need to rummage through desks and trashcans to find ammo and health items. It can feel a bit excessive at times and the items you locate can often times be useless. Also, the difficulty can be a bit uneven at times. On a few occasions I would be overwhelmed by a group of enemies. I would fight valiantly and take a good portion of them out before finally succumbing to an unseen assailant. This would be frustrating but then when I would respawn, all the enemies would be gone and I could proceed. It felt like I was given the frustration of dying but then denied the pleasure of actually winning. Thankfully this seems to only happen with the minor mobs. The battles against the bigger boss enemies are much more satisfying. And the game overall is a stunning experience.

Just make sure to avoid any spoilers!

Hint: Make sure to grab all the lock picks scattered around. These allow Elizabeth to unlock special doors and get you a bounty of money and upgrades!

Related Links:
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by Alexis Kirsch