Game Details Developer: Irrational Games

Publisher: 2K Games

Platform: PC (reviewed), Xbox 360, PS3

Release Date: March 26, 2013

Price: $59.99

Links: Steam | Amazon | Official website Irrational Games: 2K Games: PC (reviewed), Xbox 360, PS3March 26, 2013: $59.99

BioShock Infinite

The first thing I did after I finished BioShock Infinite was sit in front of the screen for a few minutes thinking about what I had just seen. The second thing I did after I finished BioShock Infinite was play the ending section a second time, to make sure I had understood what I saw the first time (turns out I hadn't). The third thing I did after I beat BioShock Infinite was try to sleep, but I instead spent the next few hours going over the whole game in my head, even though it was after 2:30 in the morning and I was flying out for the start of a PAX East/Game Developers Conference megatrip the next day.

I'm not going to spoil the details of the thought-provoking, time-and-space-bending, utterly satisfying ending of BioShock Infinite here, which means I can't really directly discuss what happens for any of the last third of the 13 or so hours I spent playing the game (this didn't include some of the optional quests and hidden bonuses).

What I will say is that the ending is literally jaw-dropping. I am actually using that term correctly—there were two distinct times that my jaw involuntarily fell open when I realized what was happening in front of me. That might sound a little dramatic (and the late hour that I finished the frantic prerelease playthrough may have contributed to it), but looking back, I think it was the right reaction.

Infinite's ending is a bit more open-ended than the famously mind-blowing ending of the original BioShock. Many of the narrative choices are going to provoke a lot of discussion and theorizing among fans. That's likely by design, and it ends up being much more intriguing than an ending that simply lays out every answer directly.

It's rare to play a game with a narrative that comes together as well as BioShock Infinite's. It's the kind of ending that seems inevitable in retrospect, yet hard to see coming before it is suddenly barreling toward you. Then, when it hits, it makes you look at everything you experienced beforehand a little differently, and it makes you eager to reanalyze what you thought you knew before.

Of course, here I am getting ahead of myself, rambling on about the ending to a game that I haven't even begun to describe yet (which should in itself tell you something about how I regard that conclusion). Put simply, BioShock Infinite is an early contender for game of the year, a masterpiece of design and world-building which shows the care and attention to detail inherent in its nearly five-year development process.

Welcome to Columbia

The most appealing part of BioShock Infinite is simply exploring the floating city of Columbia, a world that comes to life through details both incidental and unavoidable. Originally designed as a part of the World's Columbian Exposition at the end of the 19th century, Columbia went on to travel the country, docking to pick up new pilgrims that were attracted by the city's jingoistic reverence for America's founding fathers and their ideals. Or at least their ideals as interpreted by Samuel Comstock, a wholly American strain of prophet who demands an explicitly religious reverence from Columbia's citizens. When China's Boxer Rebellion took a number of Americans hostage at the turn of the 20th Century, Columbia rejected the more conciliatory position of the US government, raining fire on the Chinese from above and formally seceding from the country it revered over the issue.

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This is all background for the entry of protagonist Booker Dewitt, a blank slate coming as a stranger into the fully formed society of Columbia in 1912. With only the vague goal to "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt," Dewitt ends up on a search for Elizabeth, Comstock's daughter and the "lamb of Columbia" who seems fated to take over for her father. Rescuing Elizabeth begins a companionship between Elizabeth and Dewitt that drags the latter into the mystery of the "tears," holes to other points in time and space that Elizabeth can manipulate somewhat unreliably. As the game goes on, Dewitt gets drawn into the mystery of those tears and into the politics of the Vox Populi, a rebel group looking to rise up against the cruel ruling class.

In prerelease previews of Infinite much has been made of the relationship between Dewitt and Elizabeth, and the way her presence at your side gives you an emotional tie to the world around you. I'll admit that it's easy to grow fond of Elizabeth as the two of you work through the game's mysteries together, especially if you take the time to watch her ever-changing facial expressions and body language during the frequent banter between her and Dewitt. That said, I found the people and places that made up the world of Columbia to be the more compelling part of the game.

The original BioShock was a dead and lonely place, whose story was told primarily through audio logs and bits of ephemera left behind by its once thriving civilization. Infinite also has these bits of recorded history hidden about, and they're a great way to get a feel for characters' motivations and back story in a way that's minimally pedantic or expository. But it's even more satisfying to learn about the world just by observing the scenery and the people going about their everyday lives, all rendered with wonderful art and voice work.

Around one corner, you may find a map showing the former landing schedule for Columbia as it traveled around the country. At a nearby outdoor cafe, a couple talks disdainfully about the Vox Populi as a "foreign sounding" menace, echoing the message of a Vox shooting gallery at a nearby fair. Down the street from them, past the giant, reverent statue of Comstock, a barbershop quartet sings a beautifully old-fashioned yet seemingly out-of-place version of "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. Down an alley from them, in front of faded propaganda posters, schoolchildren play and sing a schoolyard rhyme about falling from Columbia's heights to the ground below.