So, I finished BioShock Infinite, and (surprise!) I had a grand old time. It plays very much like BioShock, for better or worse, so if you prefer innovative gameplay mechanics to story and setting, you may not enjoy it as much as I did (and I would probably recommend Deus Ex: Human Revolution to you).
But man, what a story and what a setting! The world building and attention to detail drew me in most during the first hours, and that high quality held up to the very end. At one point the narrative reminded me of The Lathe of Heaven, my favorite book by Ursula K LeGuin, before veering off in a different direction. As I continued, the question of “Why does Columbia exist?” seemed unanswerable. For a time I wondered if it would only work as a metaphor or parable, but in the end, the story mostly all came together. Even after I inadvertently read clues about the story, the ending was a satisfying surprise.
Infinite feels like the first big budget game to avoid aping the narrative formats of the past (e.g. film and television) and to successfully capture what is only possible in an interactive format. (I am a big fan of the Mass Effect series, but it’s ultimately a Choose Your Own Adventure book in terms of narrative.) Just for reference, if you are interested in exploring some of the unique ways gaming can tackle narrative, try these following titles: Braid, Flower, Half-life 2, ICO and Out of This World.
I don’t play many modern games these days, so I’ve probably missed out on some hidden gems (and I do mean to try The Last of Us sometime soon). That said, BioShock Infinite is right up there with Mass Effect 2 and Super Mario Galaxy on my short list of favorite console experiences of the (now previous) generation. It’s a shame Irrational Games disbanded, but perhaps ‘Yet another BioShock’ was a creative dead end. I look forward to whatever Ken Levine ends up doing next, and I am curious to see what a band of former Irrational Games developers comes up with as Day for Night Games.