BioShock: Infinite, Maintaining the Essence of the Original

Hello my little cream puffs and welcome back to my blog!

Today, I will be talking about BioShock: Infinite which I’ve recently started playing. If you’ve been following my blog, you will know that not too long ago I played through the first BioShock. Now, I haven’t finished playing through BioShock: Infinite yet, so I can’t fully compare and contrast the two, but what I can address is the overall atmosphere and game mechanics used in relation to the first BioShock. Although BioShock and BioShock: Infinite take place in two separate locations and time periods, both games retain the same essence in terms of gameplay and playability. That being said, this post won’t have any spoilers besides basic gameplay aspects, so feel free to read on with ease.

The first thing people usually say when discussing BioShock is the feeling of wonder they got upon first arriving in Rapture, and the excitement they felt when exploring Rapture’s many different rooms and levels. This same feeling of wonder is brought into the new location of Columbia introduced in BioShock: Infinite. From the suspenseful moment when Booker emerges above the clouds to take in the expanse of Columbia, all throughout the game (as far as I’ve played it, of course) the player is able to explore the expansive roads and buildings of Columbia. This is very similar to BioShock, when Jack descends into Rapture and floats through the wrecked yet still beautiful underwater city. Yet this time, instead of being thrust into a world of abandoned darkness, the player instead gets to traverse a beautiful, sunlit city filled with beautiful architecture and statues. Nevertheless, BioShock: Infinite contains the same essence of mystery of exploration and adventure that players originally felt in BioShock.

This ties in with gameplay. As with BioShock, BioShock: Infinite is littered with collectible items for the player to find, whether it be healing items, diary recordings- called voxophones in this game, and film projectors called kinetoscopes, that help the player along the way and give more explanation to the story. As with the first game, these collectible items encourage the player to explore and take in the sights of Columbia’s beautiful city. This is very important to the gameplay of all BioShock games, where the majority of quests involve you searching for something or someone to complete an objective.

Another similar mechanic is the superpower mechanic, delivered in the form of Vigors in this game. Without giving too much away, the development of Vigors in BioShock: Infinite is related to the development of Plasmids in the world of BioShock. They work very similarly, except that in BioShock: Infinite, Vigors can be charged and combined. As with Plasmids, Vigors also give consumers negative side-effects, especially with overuse.

An example of a Vigor in BioShock: Infinite

Besides these gameplay mechanics, BioShock and BioShock:Infinite both explore themes of choice and power, however since I have not finished the game and I don’t want to give spoilers, I will leave these to be discussed at a later time. So, I will see you then!

Until next week, au revoir mes amis!

ricecakerabbit