This is not going to be a video game review in the traditional sense. I won't be detailing game mechanics or explaining how fantastic the graphics look unless they relate directly to the story. There are thousands of websites out there who do all that and what my focus is when playing most games is the drive to understand the story, completely spoiler free.
To give a basic summary that does very little to truly outline the complexity of the narrative, in the year 1912, a private eye named Booker DeWitt is hired by mysterious individuals to retrieve a woman named Elizabeth from a floating city called Columbia. Columbia is ruled with a bit of an iron fist by a man named Zachary Comstock. A man who has crafted a city so enamored with the idea of American Exceptionalism that people literally pray to Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin. Memorabilia throughout the city exalts our Founding Fathers as gods with Comstock as their high prophet, through whom all decisions on morality are dictated.
Unfortunately, Comstock's values are a little close-minded as he is open about his feelings on white superiority and everyone who doesn't share this same background is treated quite literally as a second class citizen. Throughout the game, special bathrooms exist for the "blacks and Irish" and are absolutely disgusting in comparison to the "white" bathrooms. And in the very first turning point, Booker is witness to a potential public "stoning" of an interracial couple where people gather and throw baseballs at the unfortunate "offenders". It's there where things really kick into gear as Booker is spoken of as the "false shepherd" that the citizens of Columbia have apparently been preparing for.
From there, Booker meets several people who push him along on his journey to take Elizabeth from the confines of Columbia. But as in all stories like these, there's much more to Elizabeth than is shown at first glance. And as a result, the story goes into many thought provoking and unexpected places that elevate it beyond almost anything I've seen before.
What's fascinating about Bioshock: Infinite is the way that it tackles a number of incredibly heavy concepts throughout its approximately 10-12 hour journey and for the most part treats them with respect and thoughtfulness. Infinite follows a similar pattern as the original Bioshock did back in 2007, but does it in a fresh and exciting way. The ending of Infinite even provided me with a personal sense of understanding as to why sequences unfold as they do. Although that's not to say others would result with the same idea. While the end does certainly provide for definite, if slightly confusing, closure, there are still elements of ambiguity that are open for interpretation.
The biggest downside of the game is how it never really follows through on a lot of these thought provoking plot lines, as the story becomes more focused on the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth towards the end and much of the analytical is dropped for a plot that goes all-in with the metaphysical. I certainly would have enjoyed to see more depth in regards to the racial plot line as well as more exploration into the actual effect that praying to America's Founding Fathers had on the population, but I suppose given that the purpose of the story is to explore these characters it can be overlooked somewhat.
Another downside is the fact that in order to get 100% of the story, you need to search for it. Throughout the game there are 80 audio files and 37 video displays scattered throughout the city which give insight and background to a lot of characters who otherwise wouldn't have received it. At the end of the game, I had only found 60 audio files and 24 video displays so I missed out on 25% of this background information simply because I couldn't find it. I understand that the primary purpose of a video game is not to deliver a story but an interactive experience, but it still grinds the narrative to a dead halt when I'm running in circles trying to find a dumb audio file to help explain what's going on and the main narrative is calling for me to continue forward. It's certainly a jarring experience when in a normal series of events, the main character would look at the "Important Thing" in the distance instead of wandering around looking for money in trash cans or an audio file hidden in a remote corner. Who knows? Maybe the resolution I was looking for in some of those plot threads were contained in the things I could not find.
But the most compelling reason for viewing this story in such high regard is the treatment of the character of Elizabeth. Ken Levine and Irrational Games have shown that a female character in a game can be as complex as in any other media without having to resort to typical low brow tactics. When you first meet her, locked away in her tower, she's a self-taught, strong yet naive woman who just wants to see the world. After escaping the tower into another part of the city, she hears music for the first time and begins to dance in a large group. This whole sequence is done in such a way that you are really able to empathize with her experience and you feel legitimately happy that this character is able to participate when you witness the joy she exudes in that moment. But as the game goes on, this innocence slowly deteriorates as she is continually surrounded by violence. (This is a first person shooter, after all.) The arc from innocent bystander to understanding participant is one that makes perfect sense in the context of the story and never feels forced as the result of some sort of required gameplay mechanic. And not only that, but she is a companion in the true sense of the word. Never do you have to concern yourself with her safety before yours, she takes care of herself, and involves herself in your battles when she can.
That's not to say Booker is a slouch character. Despite very rarely seeing his face, his motivations are consistent and interesting which keeps you consistently involved in what happens to him next. I absolutely hate the silent protagonist in games such as these, so it was a welcome change from the original Bioshock to be controlling someone who actually resembled a fleshed out character, even though he's not quite as rich a character as Elizabeth. (As an aside: I thought the silent protagonist in the original Bioshock was very well done as the twist explained the reason for this quite well.)
The other characters in this game all have interesting perspectives on religion, economics, social classes, and government in their own individual ways, but most are simply serving the story of Booker and Elizabeth and don't have much opportunity to shine. But the fact that this kind of attention to these background characters is present despite the little amount of screen time that they have (if any at all) just further illustrates the brilliance of this game.
I truly wish that more game developers would attempt such thought provoking games because that's the only way to elevate the medium when an attempt is made to put the story front and center.
Grade: A
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