Bioshock Infinite impressions?

[ClassicJokester]

Just finished today, incredibly pleased with how not-terrible it is!

I'm very glad it wasn't just 'Bioshock in the sky' by way of tone. It's certainly not quite as spooky, more uncanny and unsettling, which I like. Not really a fan of horror/jump scares (there is at least one in the game, but it's WAY predictible. As in, "I wonder what will be behind me when I turn around because I know there will be something behind me when I turn around."), and I was apprehensive about being able to play the game to the fullest if it was on the same creep level as Bioshock.

Spoiler: Vague Spoiler-ish Story Things Within

The story reveals get cosmic in a hurry about two-thirds of the way through. Subtle and not-so-subtle hints beforehand, but I can see where people are coming from in saying it jumps the shark a tad. Didn't bother me, as the ending twist/reveal(s) are a pretty good payoff. Enough foreshadowing that a bit of thought will give a couple satisfying "Aha!" moments, and the level (interactive cutscene/vignette?) design is slick and surreal enough to never be off-putting. Found myself shamelessly wanting more and more as the story unfolded.

The combat can become a shooting gallery if you let it, but playing on Hard, I found that once I got the hang of switching Vigors and weapons on the fly it really opened up more than enough opportunities for fun combos.

Spoiler: Slight Vigor Spoilers

Bucking Bronco'ing people up into the air and blasting them off a ledge with a shotgun was way more entertaining than the Undertow Vigor, for example.

If you feel like being game-breaking later on, upgrade Devil's Kiss and Bucking Bronco. Take the gear piece that makes enemies that die while affected by Devil's Kiss, Shock Jockey, or Bucking Bronco chain onto each other and the one that gives you Salt on Kill: Bucking Bronco everyone into the air > throw fireballs everywhere > kill at least one person with fireball > instant victory and wonderful fireworks display.

Found a lot of combat replayability with the gear bonuses and different vigor upgrades (you'll be hard pressed to get every purchasable unlock if you die at all, at least with the modest -I think modest, can't say for sure- amount of scavenging I did.

As other people have said, your lovely lady friend is absolutely never a liability in any way. Her gifts are a bit predictable, but otherwise a welcome addition.

All in all, very enjoyable and gorgeous experience in story, gameplay and world-building. Already looking forward to playing through it again in light of the ending.

 

[Ickorus]

I would love to know if anyone is in the same boat as me: despite desperately trying, I could never bring myself to like Bioshock. Everything I heard tell of it doing right (narrative, atmosphere, interesting and varied gameplay) I just couldn't see in it. Infinite looks a bit different and awesome, but all the reviews amount to "it's just as good as Bioshock." So does anyone who DIDN'T like the original have any impressions to share?

I was in the same camp as you, Bioshock just never 'Wowed' me like it did others, in fact, the only reason I bought infinite was because XCOM was bundled with it and I was planning on getting XCOM anyway.

With that qualifying statement out of the way, Infinite is very impressive and I would recommend it. (And RPG games should take note, this is how companions should work)

 

[latiasracer]

Not been able to play it, Because i'm backwards and still use XP.

Slightly annoyed because steam doesn't actually provide any warning like it usually does that it's not compatible

Oh well

From the Steam page, System Requirements:

-Minimum
OS: Windows Vista SP2 32-bit

-Recommended:
OS: Windows 7 SP1 64-bit

That's pretty obvious to me...

Yeah, i can see that, but normally steam presents me with a orange text box, as it does for Just cause and X-Com. I also was originally going to get it on amazon (Which says XP) but went for steam because i wanted the TF2 Items.

Here's a screenie from amazon, saying it's XP compatible. http://i.imgur.com/1FHOEbV.png

I'm not saying it's not my fault, i should have read more into this. I was caught off guard, because i didn't see the usual warning i'm used too :P

Perhaps this is a good excuse to upgrade.

 

[zumbledum]

about 7 hours in and its really not doing it for me, running on a 680 its absolutely fecking gorgeous! the characters and voice acting are great , love liz and everything they did with her.

but columbia just seems to be pointless, ok slight story motives but so much time is spent underground and indoors it could just be any city circa 1890 America, it looks pretty but rapture set a tone and helped the story columbia just feels arbitrary to me. not finding the gameplay very engaging. the vigors are a bit meh, upgraded the first two and it makes it painfully pointless to use any others because they arent upgraded. and the guy that thought up the 2 weapon system needs taking out the back and beating with a stick! gun play is serviceable but nothing great. and its adopted the crysis 2 set up of of having "arena" areas but with fewer paths and less tactics.

but its the story letting it down really i think , really cant express why without massive spoilers but lack of protaganists and drive pretty much some it up.

 

[flarty]

Just completed it. I enjoyed it. 10/10? no its a strong 8/9 out of 10 imo.

The story being the star of the show and the game play feeling more streamlined from previous games. In other words it feels more like a shooter than a shooter with hints of rpg elements.

Now the story straight up isn't original in the slightest and the combat isn't the tightest. But if you if you enjoyed these aspects of the game the most go play Singularity now. I think i may revisit the game myself after playing Bioshock infinite.

Everything about Bioshock is perfectly realised except the actual game play unfortunately, but as i said everything else is perfect.

Also I'm not happy about figuring out part of the twist a couple of hours in =/

 

[scorptatious]

This sounds like a cool game. I might have to check it out eventually once I can pony up some cash.

 

[Storm Dragon]

The Vox Populi just told me to get them some guns and threw me off my airship.

There was this one moment in the game where I was fighting a large group of enemies and I decided that now was the time to try out my shiny new RPG launcher. So I blew a bunch of them to pieces, but there were still quite a few left and I was almost out of rockets.

Then Elizabeth threw me some more RPG ammo.

It was then that I knew that she is the best sidekick ever.

 

[xefaros]

My first impressions when entering the city was of queen amazed by its own teasel,because its still Unreal 3 dont forget that.Since they decided to keep the Bioshock franchise i found myself comparing it to the original and i wasnt wronged about that,Plasmoids,venders and audiotapes/lore.But the action and story seemed faster for some reason.

Spoiler

10 minutes and you are fighting the 10 or so basic guys

Other than that i believe that the game is well polished and with incredible AI.Yet i found the world completely uninspired after the rage of the protagonist since it was to fast(it might been just me rushing)

 

[Virgilthepagan]

Color me impressed thus far. I'm at about the same point in the game as you. I think my mouth dropped the first time I caught a glimpse of the city. If Rapture was a derelict building filled with squatters, Columbia is a fire hazard with Booker playing the role of match.
Combat's still fun for me, and I like what I've seen of the story so far. One thing's bugging me though, and I'll do the proper tagging.

[*spoiler]The Ros/Guil man and woman who keep popping up, were they pulling your boat into the lighthouse? I think that's the case, and it raises a whole pile of questions. All of them fun. [*/spoiler]

If I've got one gripe it's the autosave function. Two hours in and it already bugs me.

 

[Jaeke]

I beat the game yesterday, or launch day I guess.

I'm going to try to sum this up in as little words, and with as much restriction as possible.

This game, and I'm critical to say the least when it comes to new AAA games (though BioShock and even the sequel are among my favorites), is the quintessential gaming experience.

There is no excuse not to play this game, gamer or not. It stands not only as the best narratively told video game I've played, but one of the most joyful and triumphant narrative pieces of all time, along with classic movies and books such as The Godfather, and Count of Monte Cristo, respectively.

Tell your friends, tell your co-workers, tell your family. This game has no reason not to be played.

 

[Sight Unseen]

I'm loving pretty much everything about it, I'm about 6 hours into it at this point and it's amazing in almost every way. There are a few weird things though about it:

1. Elizabeth sometimes seems to just randomly spawn behind you. This is especially obvious if you jump onto or off of a roof, she doesnt follow you, she'll just all of a sudden be there.
2. Booker doesn't cast a shadow... Was kind of funny when I noticed that.
3. In the controls menu, the Vigor button map is called "use plasmid" even though they aren't called plasmids anymore.

Those are just little nitpicks though in an otherwise AMAZING game so far.

 

[Jaeke]

The end was good but the 8 hrs playtime made me feel ripped off for all of the hype.

You're the only one. Most people I've seen including myself beat it in 12-15 hours. I beat it in about 14 but I was playing Hard mode and restarted checkpoints after I died, and looked around a bit for the voxophones.