Bioshock Infinite review

[Dogg Thang]

Which weapons are you using? Once I got the machine gun, I have pretty much stuck with that using the vigours more as distractions (crows is good for that). There is only one enemy in my current position that requires more firepower and care but mostly I have been relying on filling them with bullets. The only other trick I can think of is looting every corpse as I pass it even in battle and making sure I get everything out of bins.

Actually no wonder Columbia's society is buggered with everyone throwing their money in the bins.

Yeah, maybe you started on hard. I'm definitely on medium.

[Darwock]

I have a machine gun but it barely ever has any ammo, so I can't use it much. Mostly i use the pistol. I used the possession vigor on one of the flame guys earlier in the game and he just continued to run towards me aggressively so I had to shoot him as well (hints indicated he would attack others and then suicide, but he didn't) and since then I haven't really bothered with vigors. I did set a flame trap as per the hints in the place where you get the crow vigor.

[Golgo]

I rifled through bins like a hobo and never ran out of anything at all. Also, experimented with tons of vigors. Some, Darwock, need to be upgraded and 'chained' to get the extra effects you mention

[k0pp0]

I completed this on Normal the other night. Now I love both previous Bioshocks, however this one just didn't feel as good. It's hard to put my finger on it.

I was a little disappointed by some of the graphics - some of the guns looked rough around the edges at times and there was some horrible textures almost as though it was waiting for texture pop in. I ended up turning the brightness way up to see anything in the indoor scenes (the 'crow house' for one), then way down again on the outside scenes.

The gameplay is ok, but felt quite generic - again I didn't really feel that the skylines added to much when they could have been great. I hardly used the vigors at all where as in the originals I relied on them (maybe that's just a difference the designers wanted?)

Story-wise I didn't feel that the game was as fleshed out as in the previous games, at least until the end reveals and even at that point I felt I was just going through the motions instead of getting invested in the storyline

I'll be doing a run through on the 1999 mode to clear it up, so the increased difficulty might change my mind from a game-play perspective.

Oh. The ending was interesting and the

->Open Spoiler<-

songbird death

was surprisingly moving.

[Dogg Thang]

I'm very much enjoying it. Yeah, the vigours aren't grabbing me and most really do the same job. I levelled up the electricity one and barely ever use any other. I do love the locations, the atmosphere and most of all the music. I find I have similar criticisms as the first Bioshock in that I'm not sure their commentary is quite as smart as they seem to think, or maybe that's just me wanting it to be smarter, and there are times I feel they wished they were making an adventure game rather than the FPS it is but, really, they're not big deals and I am very much enjoying it for what it is.

The only thing that actually negatively affects my play is that there are too many areas with speeches being delivered. I'm fed up being lectured to as I walk around. They did that in the other Bioshocks too.

But the FPSing I'm liking, and just loving existing in this world. Reckon I'm not a million miles away from the end which is fine - kind of hoping it doesn't outstay its welcome. But then the question will be: do I pay for the newer expansion chapters?

[k0pp0]

Think I'll pick up the DLC, not so much the horde one but the Rapture ones.

[k0pp0]

Oh yeah, theres a cracking secrets and easter eggs video on you tube at the moment.

[k0pp0]

Yeah, as I suspected it's a bit more fun on 1999 mode - although ammo shortage might be an issue in places I think

->Open Spoiler<-

the ghost/witch woman for one

I've resorted to a guide as well to get all the infusions in one playthrough. Don't think I could stomach a 3rd run.

[Mayhem]

I had the LE version of the game which gives you bonus infusions, so it makes things a bit easier for that achievement (you still only need to collect 25 total regardless). The Siren... depends on what weapons you have and what you upgraded. In the end I found Shock Jockey traps/carbine headshots took care of the zombies, and point blank shotguns for the bitch...

[Dogg Thang]

I finished this tonight and mostly loved it. The atmosphere, music etc which I have already mentioned in the thread really sucked me in and I just loved the world. I did find visibility a problem in the FPSing, particularly in some of the final parts. But not so much that it was a pain in the ass. Overall, a worthy Bioshock game.

Now the ending... SPOILERS WITHIN -

->Open Spoiler<-

Getting to the actual ending took a while but I loved the doors and lighthouse bit and obviously got a kick out of seeing our old favourite location there. The set up to the end moment seemed drawn out (not in any bad way) and then the actual final ending reveal was over in an instant (for me, in a bad way). Because it didn't really give me time to take it in, I really missed that Ah-ha! moment that I reckon I should have had. In one way, I wasn't remotely surprised as I had suspected this twist a couple of times. But on the other, it instantly threw up a whole bunch of questions because the truth is that I really only suspected that twist because it's probably the most predictable twist if you're looking for a twist.

So what I didn't get was a sense of all these pieces coming together. I kind of had to put them together slowly during the end credits and, even now, I'm not honestly sure I know what happened.

Is it that Comstock (DeWitt reborn after baptism) saw DeWitt (unbaptised, another possibility dimension) in a rift and saw that he had a daughter that he didn't have and so then travelled through the rift to take his own daughter? Comstock couldn't have children because of the machine, right? Have I got that right? If so, I kind of wish it had fallen together more cleanly. If not,what did I miss?

But then how do Elizabeth's abilities tie into it? That can't be just coincidence. Did Comstock actually want her for some powers rather than a daughter? That might make more sense given he locked her up and doesn't seem to have taken her out for ice cream or done other fatherly things.

I also wondered if I was missing something with the idea of a debt that DeWitt had to pay to Comstock. Do we know what or why that was? Was it just so Comstock wouldn't feel like he was stealing her?

I suspect there were a few obvious clues I missed along the way. Partly that's probably my own fault for not paying attention enough but it was also a game loaded with people who just wouldn't shut the hell up - speeches, automatons, voxophones, crazies, rift scientists, Elizabeth. Hard to actually pick up what's important in all that noise, also Elizabeth talked over a few of my voxophones.

Anyway, really enjoyed the game regardless of missing that final burst of satisfaction. Fun, playable and in a lovely world.

[k0pp0]

I agree with your view of the ending - a missed opportunity to deliver fully I think. As for what/how/why and spoilers check this out:

[Mayhem]

And the TL;DR version of the video may be...

->Open Spoiler<-

Comstock used Lutece's machine to see into the future and create his "predictions". However use of the machine rendered him sterile. He was desperate for an heir to carry on his legacy and end-game (as shown by the old Elizabeth towards the end of the game, raining fire and brimstone on the sinners below), so he used the machine to portal to a dimension where Booker hadn't been baptised and had a daughter. Comstock still wanted his own flesh and blood, technically from the DNA, to inherit, hence his actions. The Luteces used Booker's debts as leverage to persuade Booker to sell his daughter as a resolution to his problems.

Only that instance of Booker changed his mind, and came after Comstock to get his daughter back. Comstock never intended Elizabeth to have powers, it was an unexpected side effect of her finger being cut off during the dimensional transition. Irrational explain this is why Elizabeth can open tears, because physically, she existed in two dimensions. Once Comstock saw that Elizabeth had powers, he locked her away and harnessed them to better Columbia and himself as a whole.

Then Comstock double crossed the Luteces, stranded them in the inter-dimension limbo by getting Fink to sabotage one of their machines, because they knew the secrets behind what happened to Lady Comstock and who Elizabeth really was. And thus the Luteces set about dragging in other versions of Booker in an attempt to have him defeat Comstock. By the time the game starts, this is Booker #123 that they've brought in (as witnessed by the number of lines on the board when they ask you to choose heads or tails).

[Golgo]

^ I'd gotten a general sense of most of that on playthrough but to have it confirmed...God, what a dreadful fudge of a plot! Why do developers seem to think bewildering complexity and confusing the player equals quality. Irrational's explanation of Elizabeth's tear ability was

[Zaki]

^ I'd gotten a general sense of most of that on playthrough but to have it confirmed...God, what a dreadful fudge of a plot! Why do developers seem to think bewildering complexity and confusing the player equals quality. Irrational's explanation of Elizabeth's tear ability was

Nowhere near the messiness of Metal Gear Solid 2!!

[Golgo]

Very true. The MGS database that you can download on PS3 has some 3000 entries in it to explain the lore, claracters, themes, links, etc. It's absurd, and getting worse with every iteration.