Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite has received not just a few perfect 10’s to wear in its crown, but a whole raft of them. It’s a rare and wonderful occasion when a game is viewed universally as a seminal, faultless piece of work, by the most respected experts in the in the field of video game critique. However on the last few of these occasions the scores have not managed to stand the test of time. Over the last decade or so we’ve become used to having incredible amounts of info and opinion at our fingertips through the internet and hasty consensus seems to be almost forced upon us. We’ve seen this with some of the big franchises: Halo, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and Final Fantasy. What seems in the wave of excitement to be a 10, further down the line often turns out to be a solid 8.

Often the most useful analogy for an overrated game is the ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ one. Bioshock Infinite absolutely does have a new set of clothes for all to see. They’re colourful robes, glittering in the sunlight that make you want to stand on your tip toes to peer over the heads of all the other excited gamers and gaze in wonder exclaiming “Ooooh, pretty”. I’ll give Bioshock Infinite that. However, to cite a rather more modern analogy, the Emperor does not have a new groove.

Issues of segregation, and even eugenics are woven into the narrative in a way that makes you want to retch.

There is nothing new within the gameplay, tropes, characterisation or structure that we haven’t seen already within the Bioshock series and games like Singularity, and Alan Wake. Irrational even try to make a virtue of that with Bioshock Infinite. That’s not to say there isn’t something special and unusual about the game, just not the things that are being touted by all these rave reviews.

The original Bioshock used a backdrop and a conceit of ethical decision making that rocked the gaming world. The one and only thing in Bioshock Infinite that really stuns is the inclusion of an unflinchingly realistic portrayal of racism and the Nativist movement in America, in the late 19th Century. Terms like “Negro” and “Heeb” are used. There are references to solving the “Irish problem”. You can use a gun called a “paddy whacker”. Issues of segregation and even eugenics are woven into the narrative in a way that makes you want to retch. Not only do these themes give weight and a level of disgust not matched even by gory survival horror titles, but their inclusion serves to show just how shallow and tentative most underpinning game themes are. The science fiction in Infinite seems bromidic and almost trite, washed over the top of the distress and tangible chill you experience from the revolting prejudices smeared all over the game world.

Like the original Bioshock, you’ll find yourself dropped into a self-contained world, armed with a variety of guns and magic powers, which fall perfectly in line with your expectations for a Bioshock game. The audio logs which bring the all-important plot exposition are present and correct and a few side quests are dotted around the colourful and imaginative landscape. Your companion, the much hyped Elizabeth, is a likeable and memorable character, who never gets in the way and manages to always feel like an ally and partner. The “skyline”, which allows you to hook on to a sort of one man monorail to move around the floating city of Columbia, works well but never really lets you break out of the game’s defined path and story. There’s plenty to see in Columbia, but it’s not an open world, and you’ll see it in the order the story sets out.

Like a sharply dressed man with one missed button on his shirt, haste is always apparent at anything more than a cursory glance.

Much has been made of the imaginative setting of Columbia, but the impressive scale of the environments are made a little less impressive by an excessive reuse of assets. If you see a poster you like adorning a lamppost expect to see it another fifty times. An office desk may seem impressively cluttered and detailed but you’ll be seeing that exact same detailed clutter over and over.

As you search for items to refill your health and energy bars, a box of chocolates may yield an apple and some candy floss. Children beg for money and food in one location while both can be found feet from them, just lying around. In one of your first panoramic views of the City at night, the silhouetted buildings far off in the distance appear again and again as you pan around to see them cut and pasted and dotted around in the distance, like a badly photoshopped North Korean propaganda photo.   These things only irk because the game is otherwise so beautifully put together. Like a sharply dressed man with one missed button on his shirt, haste is always apparent at anything more than a cursory glance.

Many have highlighted the end of the game as jaw-dropping brilliance. It’s really an excellent conclusion but it suffers terribly from the M Night Shyamalan syndrome. So prepped are you by the “Would you kindly” moment, that the “I see dead people”, “Swing away Merrill” twist ’em up genre dominates your thoughts throughout. That’s not to say Creative Director, Ken Levine, hasn’t been able to pull off a tea spittage moment, as he definitely has. I’d love to be able to go into that a little more because again the bit that should be impressive isn’t the bit that impresses, but alas I can say no more, and hopefully no one ever will, out loud, as it’s so spoiltastic.

It’s a fab game; it really is. It has some interesting ideas and gameplay and it’s incredibly attractive to look at. It doesn’t stand head and shoulders above other games in its genre though. I’m rarely controversial as I try always to have a measured and professional view when writing about games and I would also consider myself as a generous scorer, looking back through my career, reviewing over 700 games. On a few occasions I’ve even had the great pleasure and privilege of awarding a game a perfect 10. Bioshock Infinite is not a 10 though. In fact it’s not even a 9. It’s a solid 8.  As the excitement and over enthusiasm drops away over time I believe that will become clear, and history will vindicate me.