One of the initial delights of BioShock Infinite was the sudden
overpowering burst of colour the moment Booker steps into the sky city of
Columbia and this final chapter in Ken Levine's surreal story begins with a
similar rich palette of colours as Elizabeth walks through a Paris scene straight
out of an Impressionist painting.
But as you'd expect, within seconds the tone of universal
bliss and well-being rapidly descends to
fear and uncertainty as colour bleeds out the screen and Elizabeth comes to in
the nightmarish situation that ended Episode One.
If you're not already up to speed on the complex, intricate
and often unfathomable strands in this multi-layered tapestry, then you'll be
hopelessly adrift here. For the diehard fans, though, this is Levine's attempt
to tie up many of the loose ends in both the original BioShock and Infinite and
explain Elizabeth's role in the grand scheme.
Booker no longer has an active role except as a voice on an
audiotape encouraging Elizabeth as she picks up his mission to find kidnapped girl
Sally. Apart from one brief journey back to Columbia, the principal action
takes place in the waterlogged halls and offices of Rapture where a lot of
time, audiologs and conversations are spent filling in back stories.
This works extremely effectively in the context of the new
gameplay that has been developed specifically for this last chunk of DLC -
where stealth is given major priority over gung-ho blasting. Elizabeth's former
powers from the original Infinite are considerably reduced and walking on
broken glass or water will alert enemies to her presence.
She's aided in this sneaky approach by some new plasmids
which allow her to see the presence of foes through walls and even to remain
invisible when motionless. Shades of 'Thief', too, with a crossbow that fires
tranquiliser darts as well as gas darts to take out groups at a time and noise
distractions so you can divert round trouble. In addition, she can use a plentiful supply of vents to cross high danger areas.
Completing this episode thus takes much longer than its
predecessor which seemed to be in a rush to get to the denouement. The stealth
approach means you can take your time to appreciate the stunning sets which
have always been one of the strengths of this franchise.
There are a couple of sequences in this final chapter that
are definitely not for the squeamish (including a particularly nasty torture
scene) but the new vulnerable Elizabeth means there's a greater degree of
humanity in this episode - so saying farewell to what has been a fascinating
journey becomes that much harder to do.
Score: 4/5
