E3 2011 Impressions: BioShock Infinite

Before I get into the bulk of the game footage we were shown, which consisted mostly of sky rail combat, let me catch some of you up on the story that is the lead up as well as the background. This is for those just now finding interest in the game.

The city of Columbia was built as a monument to the ingenuity and advancement of the American culture. The city in the sky prospered until those in charge took it upon themselves to attack China for some reason (not revealed at this time). Shortly after this knowledge became public, the city was disavowed and soon forgotten. Years later, the protagonist, Booker DeWitt, is commissioned to board the city of Columbia to rescue a woman named Elizabeth that has been held captive in a non-metaphoric, ivory tower. She is being held by Song Bird, who is both her captor and protector.

Elizabeth has very little knowledge of the outside world as she has only known her "cell." So once Booker breaks her free, he not only has to get her off Columbia, but answer the barrage of her inquiries and help her learn how to control her abilities. The answers to everything being her requirement to willingly going with Booker.

BioShock Infinite E3 Trailer

This leads me to what we got to see from Irrational Games at E3. While the story progressed from the point after Booker saved Elizabeth, I am going to leave that out and move into the actual game. Not that it was uninteresting, but I'd rather not spoil anything.

There were two main features expanded on, as well as a new faction to the city of Columbia. The new group are the Vox Populi, a peaceful counter to the Founders, but have since grown in numbers and have become extremely violent in their actions. Think along the lines of "Reavers" from Firefly, only not as mindless.

Moving on from there, we got to look a bit deeper at what Elizabeth has control over in the game. I'm talking the "tears" she can manipulate and use. For those not inducted, she can alter reality and recreate or pull things into the game world from other worlds/times - things like bridges and pathways that have been destroyed. During the snippet of game play shown - we saw her try and bring a horse back to life, only it didn't work. All it did was open a portal in time that placed them in the middle of a busy street in what looked like the 1990's or more current. You could feel how "not right" it was - not  to mention an emergency vehicle barreling down the street at them.

With this new view of Elizabeth's powers, it has the feeling that the Infinite of the game's title is along the lines of the parallel dimension type of infinite and not just some classy subtitle. It could have just been thrown into the game for a shock value, but that seems extremely unlikely. It does make me curious on what other time/space events Irrational has in store.

Almost immediately after showing this portion of the game off, we got to jump into the rail combat. Movement and combat on the rail system seem extremely fast paced and for the most part follows along the lines of any rail shooter title. The only difference is that you can hop rails on the fly using a mechanic that looks to work like Batman: Arkham Asylum's grappling hook. With the frenetic pace of the combat shown, I am more than okay with letting the game handle the jumps for me.

I'll admit I got lost real quick as to Booker's actual location on the map because of all the jumps and swings that could take place in a small combat sequence. I am hoping that it won't be overly present in the game or if it is, there is something to help players not get lost as fast.

In the end of it all, I actually walked out with many more questions than I had before - only the new ones could not be answered as of yet. I'm also not sure if I would want them answered and ruin the single player story of the game. If you have never played a BioShock title, I'd first recommend playing those but if you don't have the time or want to go back to the original titles, keep an eye on BioShock Infinite. E3 only made the wait for the game that much more unbearable.