Wednesday, April 3, 2013

BIOSHOCK INFINITE so far (video)


The wait for the original Bioshock killed me.  Well, obviously not literally, but the game sounded perfect to me and took so long to come out.  A first-person shooter with steampunk art design, a weird yet well-told story, RPG-lite elements and beautiful graphics! I played the game on XBox, PS3 and finally the PC...loved it each and every time.

Bioshock 2 was fun.  I played through it quickly without much interest in returning.  But, I am replaying on PC for the achievements. (-']

Early word on Bioshock Infinite was mixed.  As much as everyone looked forward to big changes in location and design, after long delays, critics began to wonder if the game would ever see the light of day.  Irrational Games did the right thing by taking their time to craft the best game possible.  The result is a game that is even more fun to play than the original Bioshock but is also one of the best games I have ever played.

I read that one critic finished the single player storyline in 13 hours. I am almost that far along but nowhere near finished, as far as I can tell.

First and foremost this is a very beautiful game graphically.  On my modest, yet still fairly beefy gaming rig, it runs as smooth as glass.  Except for one minor bug I will talk about below...which now appears fixed.

I will not give anything away about the story but it touches on surprisingly mature matters including racism, fanaticism and much more.  The setting and art design only add to the uniqueness of the game. The whole package is as defining as the original Bioshock, this game will clean up at the year end awards.

Game play will make or break a game, no matter how good the story and this Bioshock improves on it's predecessors in every way.  You are still collecting better powers and weapons as you play but it all works so much more smoothly than in the past.

My only complaint is about your companion, Elizabeth.  Although she is a big help with locks, ammo and health, her animation is very choppy compared to the rest of the game.  As I mention, game play is very smooth but her animation stuttered as if her frame rate was separate from the rest of the game.  Either though a recent patch or by my turning off the v-sync, the problem has disappeared.
I am playing on PC but the game is also available for PS3 and XBox 360.  We are getting closer to bringing movies and games together in a new form of interactive entertainment and BIOSHOCK INFINITE is a great example of where we are headed. You should really play this game.

I will let you know how it goes.  All pictures are actual screenshots from my PC.
















IGN's review:












(-']