BioShock Infinite: Haters gonna hate.

I initially wasn't sure if I was going to pick up BioShock:  Infinite.  The game seemed to be taking a drastic departure from the first two games.  It's not set in Rapture?  What?  But, like what normally happens, I saw some trailers and commercials for the game and ended up buying it. And really enjoying it.  You don't have to be in Rapture to have a good time!

The third entry in the BioShock series takes place in another amazing environment--the floating city if Columbia.  Yep, I said floating city.  And it's actually set in the past, 1912 in fact, so any ideas you had about flying around on a jet pack in space are invalid.  The city of Columbia is filled with signs of the time--odd statues of the founding fathers, people dressed in old-fashioned clothing, automaton vending machines, and kinetoscopes (weird arcade movie machines--you can watch videos about Columbia at them).  But there's also a weird sense of technology--how the heck is the city floating?

As you progress through the opening stages of the hame you learn more about your character and his mission.  You are Booker DeWitt, a detective-like guy, who has been sent to Columbia to locate a girl.  This girl is being held against her will and needs rescuing.  Let's just say that the rescuing turns out to be much more difficult and complicated than that.  And let's just say that the girl you are rescuing turns out to be pretty unique.

But what about the combat?  Has it drastically changed since the game is no longer set in 1950's Rapture?  The answer to that is no.  You still have access to conventional weapons (pistols, machine guns, shotguns, etc.).  The only real change is that plasmids are no longer "plasmids," but are instead "vigors."  They still give you many of the same abilities as in the original BioShock--electric powers to zap and stun enemies, fire powers to immolate them.  One fun addition to Infinite is the freight hook and skylines.  Throughout the floating city are a number of skylines that you can connect to and zip around on.  From these skylines you can attack using your guns or perform a drop attack on unsuspecting enemies below you.  It is highly enjoyable to clobber the bad guys with your freight hook.

I can't write much about the story without spoiling it.  The story features some very complicated plot twists and points.  There was much disdain for the ending in particular.  Let's just say that you'll probably want to watch the ending cinematic a few times to figure it out.  Unfortunately the ending has garnered a lot of negative attention on the game.  There are many negative reviews out there and, in my opinion, they are completely undeserved.  I had a lot of fun in Columbia and liked the twists in the game.  Let the haters hate but don't skip out on an enjoyable game.