BioShock Infinite Critic Reviews

BioShock Infinite doesn't blur the lines between your reality and the game's to quite the same extent as its predecessor, but it's a more complete and polished story, and that's the thing you'll remember.

Bioshock Infinite is a magical experience on every level. Despite a few glitches and a couple of issues with pacing in the later parts, this game is already a clear candidate for game of the year.

For everything it has to say, for all the questions it asks —many of which have no easy answers — BioShock Infinite's big thoughts and complicated narrative don't obscure the brilliant action game that carries those messages through.

Undoubtedly the finest game crafted by Irrational Games, BioShock Infinite is one of the best told stories of this generation. It simply cannot be missed.

Placing bets for best game of the year? We have a solid tip for you.

BioShock: Infinite isn’t just one of the best games of 2013, but also of the twenty-first century. The themes and storytelling are unparalleled and are approached from multiple points of view, without being at the expense of the first-person shooter-action. Besides, BioShock: Infinite is a title that gamers really needed after all these years.

As a game, BioShock Infinite has its successes and its falterings consistent with any suitably complex piece of interactive entertainment. As a story, as an exercise in drawing the player into a believable and relevant world, as proof of exactly what a videogame can mean to a person ... Well, I already said it. BioShock Infinite is damn near perfect.

Dealing with themes like religion, racism, and xenophobia, Columbia is a richer and more nuanced setting than even Rapture, and the unveiling of the city’s culture is masterfully executed.

Bioshock Infinite is both a breathtaking achievement in videogame storytelling and a marquee example of a game that will stick with you long after you see everything it has to offer. Calling it simply a first-person shooter is practically an insult. If you can make it through the game without being emotionally affected - or even experiencing a bit of an existential crisis - you need to check your pulse immediately.

Sky-lines, the suspended tracks you can use to ride through levels like a rollercoaster, turn the first-person shooting into a first-person thrillride. It delivers a new FPS experience entirely, where you hold your breath at the apex of a sky-line before screaming down the rail so fast that no bullet can touch you. You won’t have access to sky-line mobility in the lion’s share of the fights--but when you do, it’s an absolute rush.

I don't know how else to tell you that this is the game videogames were made for. It’s the game every other designer wishes they could make. It’s a watershed moment for our industry, and I’d be hard pressed to tell you that anything that came before is better. More so, however, I can’t imagine that anything else, in my lifetime, will top this. All bold statements, I know, but this is it and I’m reviewing it. BioShock Infinite is the sort of game we dream of reviewing. It’s the Ocarina of Time of this generation (only infinitely better), and will be talked about and analysed for years to come.

To reinvent one's masterpiece without betraying its spirit nor fall into redundancy is one thing. Going as far as to pull the rug out from underneath all narrative FPS's and emotion merchants who planned to come in the coming months is another. But anyway, that wouldn't be the first impudence of BioShock Infinite. Not to fly up to Columbia and explore such a beautifully written journey would be a crime; not to meet the most alive NPC ever that is Elizabeth would be a shame.

Infinite is as lavish as it is cerebral, as difficult as it is accessible. It’ll be many different things to many different people, and it will be discussed, dissected and deified for many years to come...So, when will gaming have its Citizen Kane moment? Forget that. When will anything else have its BioShock Infinite moment?

Any gripes with the action are washed away when the narrative flexes it considerable muscle. It’s a fabulous piece of storytelling, thick with foreshadowing to a gut-punch of a finale. Most importantly, like BioShock before it, Infinite could only work as a video game, finessing the art of player agency and interaction. Proof positive that with the right talent and drive, games can plough their own narrative furrow. And excel at it.

Everything from the pacing, to the artificial intelligence, to the graphics and the music are perfect. This is truly a masterpiece only deserving of the highest grade we can possibly give.

It’s the kind of game you’ll immediately want to replay again from the beginning, not just to experiment with new vigors and weapons and tactics, or to find the backstory-expanding Voxophones and Kinetoscopes you missed on the first run-through, but to see the little bits of foreshadowing, the subtle design choices, the dropped hints that build up to the game’s brain-bending denouement.

With the release of BioShock Infinite, developer Irrational has delivered a bigger story, more polished experience, and created two similar-yet-separate games that can co-exist and remain equal in quality. When the history of videogames is written, not one, but two BioShocks will be remembered for pushing gameplay, story, and subject matter to new levels.

It was not easy to achieve the quality of the first game, but BioShock Infinite survives this "ghost" and evolves in every way. It’s a journey not to be missed.

You'll see a lot of BioShock in Infinite, but even if you try to make direct comparisons between the two, it's clear that Infinite is a far better game than its predecessor. It moves at a better pace, with more meaningful and more playable big encounters than BioShock. But it still carries that sense of exploration and the feeling of dread that comes with knowing that everything is just continuing to unravel before your very eyes.

BioShock Infinite is a hell of a lot of fun to play. That really should be the only quality it needs to exhibit. The fact that it holds much more feels like an advancement of an art form. Just remember that nothing in BioShock Infinite is an attempt to be cute. Just let it tell you its story.