BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode Two

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 665 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 552 out of 665
  2. Mixed: 70 out of 665
  3. Negative: 43 out of 665

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  1. EgoSum
    Apr 21, 2020
    1
    From the technical point of view, this piece of crap effectively hates your free time, it wants to devour as much of it as goddamn possible.
    Using the most idiotic, stupid and despicable (put here all synonyms related to these words) save system - THE CHECKPOINT - into a stealth game (and not only!) it's sheer, pure, crystal clear idiocy. The checkpoints are sparsely placed in the middle    From the technical point of view, this piece of crap effectively hates your free time, it wants to devour as much of it as goddamn possible.
    Using the most idiotic, stupid and despicable (put here all synonyms related to these words) save system - THE CHECKPOINT - into a stealth game (and not only!) it's sheer, pure, crystal clear idiocy. The checkpoints are sparsely placed in the middle arse of nowhere, Liz is a glass puppet, 2 smacks over the head and you are painfully tortured to watch again and again and again *unskippable* veeeerrryyy loooong and extreeeemly anooooying cut scenes.
    "We used the checkpoint system, because we don't want to abuse the system"
    Well... f. you game and your idiotic consideration. Reloading a gun after 1 shot fired, doesn't *abuse* your goddamned system?
    Who the hell do you think you are, to *police* the player, to regulate and control his/her saving behavior?
    If you want to take a break and smoke a cigarette or, I don't know, to pee or poo, you are effectively damned to play this stupid game until it autosaves.
    It is NOT *your problem* if the player wants to spam F5 button like a Singer Sewing Machine, it is *his/her* problem because he/she gave you hard earned money.
    And, in the end, what the hell is wrong with the most reliable, solid and effective save system - THE HARD SAVE? You used to be PC gamers guys, NOT tin cans users... System Shock, Bioshock 1 & 2 ring any bells in your brains?

    You can reload an arquebus faster than you can reload your fancy Cavalry Revolver in this DLC.

    From the story point of view, well...
    Liz is no longer God, she's no longer capable of resetting the Universe and wipe the slate clean, by killing herself too (!) in the process (and *finally* leaving the poor Universe be... atheist, ahem!).

    Liz has magically transformed in *the Lamb*, willing to sacrifice herself for the well-being of Sally, a character with no connection whatsoever with Bioshock 1 & 2, except for being a generic orphan Little Sister.

    Booker is now the 8th Archangel giving advice and sharing thoughts with Liz.

    Andrew Ryan is Satan, tempting the Lamb with choices in the desert.

    Atlas is Pontius Pilate's right hand, torturing and nailing the Lamb in a very looooong unskippable scene.
    ----------------------------
    1 is *not* for you, it is for "La vie en Rose" by Edith Piaf, the *real* master piece of art and music, *not* this overly pretentious piece of crap based on a bad mixture of intellectually embarrassing Bronze Age myths and the theory of Multiverses (Hugh Everett and Carl Bryce Seligman a.k.a Bryce DeWitt).    … Expand
  2. PaulSeralt
    Jan 4, 2016
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You will either love it or hate it, both story and gameplay.
    Gameplay: it's a stealth game. I did not disliked it entirely, but it get repetitive very fast, especially with enemies respawning without reason in places where you already have been just moments ago. It's a 6/10.
    Story: it has few good moments (the beginning), but to me it's a 0 since it means nothing for someone who just played Infinite but not BS1. At the same time, if you have to give it canon status, its retcons destroy a lot of Bioshock Infinite lore making it all about BS 1. Also plotholes big as houses (spoiler ahead: if Liz cannot go back to a universe where she died without losing her powers, how we can find a voxophone in Bioshock Infinite at the photograph store where the owner ask the Lutece how could they be alive if he took the pictures for their funeral, and they didn't lose their powers to travel through tears in BS:I? It's a big plot hole that scream "we just wanted a reason for Liz to not save herself with her powers.) .
    Wish i never played it, but since a lot of people loved it give it a try if you preferred BS1 over BS:I.    … Expand
  3. kingcrimsonbiu
    Dec 2, 2016
    4
    The game is ruined by bad design of combat system. Your character cannot even kill anybody with any weapon. You are depraved of ammo and money all the time and can do nothing in front of the splicers who can kill you with nonchalant ease with only one or two shots. This is not Bioshock anymore, but just a whining sissy sneaking all her way out. Again, Bioshock infinite is a highlyThe game is ruined by bad design of combat system. Your character cannot even kill anybody with any weapon. You are depraved of ammo and money all the time and can do nothing in front of the splicers who can kill you with nonchalant ease with only one or two shots. This is not Bioshock anymore, but just a whining sissy sneaking all her way out. Again, Bioshock infinite is a highly overrated game, and this DLC is particularly so.… Expand
  4. Cookse
    Mar 2, 2022
    0
    Just bad. Ut feels like a fanfiction with all this fanservice.
    And the call BioShock2 a cashgrab.
    The worst thing i've played.
  5. Mauer
    Nov 4, 2015
    3
    Very disappointed with the DLC. Episode 1 was terrible (short, didn't introduce almost anything new, except the setting), but Episode 2 does nothing to fix its predecessor's mistakes.
    First of all, gameplay feels underdeveloped and generic. Opponents' AI is just bad - if you get spotted by someone, you can hide in the nearest shadows and perform a silent takedown on him once he's close    Very disappointed with the DLC. Episode 1 was terrible (short, didn't introduce almost anything new, except the setting), but Episode 2 does nothing to fix its predecessor's mistakes.
    First of all, gameplay feels underdeveloped and generic. Opponents' AI is just bad - if you get spotted by someone, you can hide in the nearest shadows and perform a silent takedown on him once he's close enough. Also, it's hard to being spotted in the first place - even if you stand literally next so someone, he may not notice you at all. I've felt that stealth missions from GTA San Andreas were more interesting than Burial at Sea, not even mentioning stealth oriented games, like Manhunt, Splinter Cell or Hitman series.
    The only good thing about gameplay is its idea - I have to admit, changing the brute force known from all the three Bioshock games was a fresh idea. However its practical usage is less than mediocre, and not everyone has to like it.

    Next important thing - the story. It's simply pathetic. Episode 1 is accused to be nonsensical and diminish/contradict Infinite's ending. Episode 2 doesn't even try to fix the plot - it adds only more nonsense to it. Connection between Infinite and Bioshock 1 fails so miserably, by contradicting with literally every single Bioshock in existence (especially Bioshock 2, but also there are problems with Big Daddies and Little Sisters' history and behavior from Bioshock 1, or events from Bioshock: Rapture novel).

    The entire DLC seems to have little to no character development and chemistry. Elizabeth is actually quite boring and characterless - that's really sad, after seeing her complexity and evolution in Infinite. Atlas is a purely evil antagonist, with absolutely no good sides - thus making him one dimensional. He's portrayed as a dumb thug - nothing compared to Atlas known from Bioshock 1 or Bioshock: Rapture. Sally, not surprisingly, has no personality whatsoever, just like in Episode 1.

    The DLC's ending does not connect Infinite to Bioshock 1 - it tries to shock you and tell "Bioshock 1 is superior to Infinite by every aspect. It's the one and only relevant game in the franchise". The "connection", however, is based upon nonsensical plot, contradicting with other Bioshock games, yet dependant on them.
    Even though the idea of stealth oriented gameplay and Elizabeth being the protagonist is nice, the final product is far from satisfying. It's rushed, underdeveloped and its story, sadly, has no logical sense whatsoever. It's criticized by a huge part of the fanbase, to the point, it's often considered to be a "what if scenario" or, in more extreme cases, as a completely non canon product, rather than a "bridge" between Bioshock 1 and Infinite, as it originally was intended to be.    … Expand
  6. Expospeed
    Dec 2, 2014
    2
    Episode 2 is indeed longer than the first episode. Four hours of gameplay vs less than 1 hour. My breakdown is as follows:

    1. Graphics: 9/10 - excellent as Episode 1 2. Gameplay: 1/10 - unsatisfying, stealth oriented, player basically crouches through the entire game. Want to be a dominating hero? Sorry, but you're a glass vase. 3. Story: 1/10 - little connection to BS Infinite's    Episode 2 is indeed longer than the first episode. Four hours of gameplay vs less than 1 hour. My breakdown is as follows:

    1. Graphics: 9/10 - excellent as Episode 1
    2. Gameplay: 1/10 - unsatisfying, stealth oriented, player basically crouches through the entire game. Want to be a dominating hero? Sorry, but you're a glass vase.
    3. Story: 1/10 - little connection to BS Infinite's actual plot. Conclusion of the series may be disappointing for some.

    Overall, below average game.    … Expand
  7. Sardonic
    Mar 27, 2014
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. If you liked Bioshock Infinite don't go anywhere near this DLC. This DLC is about the torture and killing of Elizabeth for no good reason at all. She gave up godhood, lost all her powers, and adopted a suicidal mentality for what? The random little sister who she used as bait in BoS 1? Bull.

    So because of this, she winds up playing into the bad guy's hands, when she knows he will betray and kill her. What the heck kind of message is that?

    I'm knocking off 4-5 points on what would otherwise be a 7-8 experience. 3 for the incredibly badly written, insulting plot and 2 for the most disturbing torture scene in gaming. I did not play this series to watch a main character be tortured in this way, I had to choke back vomit.

    Also combat is totally broken when you fully upgrade the peeping tom plasmid, just stealth standing still, wait for a target to be vulnerable, then instakill it with your melee, cloak again and repeat. Don't worry, even if the enemies collide with you, they won't find you.

    Also there was no payoff for doing a no-kill run either, thanks for that.    … Expand
  8. mazetm
    Apr 3, 2014
    3
    Extremely disappointed with the game. Graphics is nice, but game play is rigged with instant kills, and story is just terrible! I wish I never play the DLC at all. Because the story destroys my 80 hours I clocked to play original Bioshock Infinite. It is so bad.

    So I played it, finished it and I don't recommend it to anybody. Accept my opinion, or delete my review again from    Extremely disappointed with the game. Graphics is nice, but game play is rigged with instant kills, and story is just terrible! I wish I never play the DLC at all. Because the story destroys my 80 hours I clocked to play original Bioshock Infinite. It is so bad.

    So I played it, finished it and I don't recommend it to anybody. Accept my opinion, or delete my review again from metacritics. I don't care.    … Expand
  9. Ronyo30
    Apr 28, 2014
    0
    Absolute garbage, poor writing, over - convoluted, more pointless than not. Not really anything else I can say about that other than it will be a cold day in he'll before I give Lavine any more money.
  10. Herbalmouse1305
    Jul 26, 2022
    3
    consider this a review of both part one and part two
    for context, I have not played the first two BioShock games (i played the original for an hour then put it back down) , though I did play and love infinite, its gameplay and story were amazing, and it had a personality and themes like no other game. the dlc is a lot more iffy for me.
    to describe this best, it feels like a full sequel,    consider this a review of both part one and part two
    for context, I have not played the first two BioShock games (i played the original for an hour then put it back down) , though I did play and love infinite, its gameplay and story were amazing, and it had a personality and themes like no other game. the dlc is a lot more iffy for me.
    to describe this best, it feels like a full sequel, that was shortened into a 4ish hour dlc, and because of that, it lacks many things.

    such as:

    the game is 1/4 walking sim and/or cutscene, as they had to quickly tell a story (seemingly) not intended to be told so fast

    the dlc is not a continuation of the base game, you play part one as a completely separate booker DeWitt, and part 2 as an Elizabeth which isn't clear if its the same as the base game or a different one. also it completely ignores how (SPOILERS FOR THE BASE GAME) (IF YOU HAVENT COMPLETED THE BASE GAME, GO AWAY) Elizabeth and booker (all their multiverses variants too) were 'paradoxed' out of existence at the end of the main game.

    the stealth is just ok, and not fleshed out as a full game would've been, and the shooting is just like a mix of 1 and infinites gameplay so its pretty good, albeit nothing special, and the limited amount of guns available makes me prefer the main game's gameplay.
    the level design was pretty decent, worse than the main game's levels, but suited the game fine enough.

    i also have no idea who some of these characters who weren't in the base game are, nor why I should feel the way the game wants me to feel about them. who da heck are souchong, the robber guy, and the boss guy. mostly, who is this sally girl that the dlc so desperately wants me to care about, I don't even know her.
    i know everyone's going to say that it's my fault for not playing first 2 games, but a good game (or a more fleshed out one) would at bare minimum re-introduce these characters and allow me to gain knowledge on who they are and why i should care, even if ever so briefly. They attempt this with that sally girl, but it was structured in the exact same way as the (ANOTHER SPOILER FOR THE MAIN GAME) 'Elizabeth being anna Dewitt' reveal from the main game, yet done infinitely worse and not making any sense, probably due to the fact that we were playing as a completely separate booker, and this was a completely separate continuity from the one of the main game, and the dlc wasn't clear about this, making it extra confusing.
    Im not even sure what happened in the end, why it happened, and why i should care. it feels like they attempted to build a mountain as high as the base game, though instead of feeling like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, this game's ending feels more like a fall off a cliff onto spikes, that make you question the four to five hours you wasted

    the only things that saves this game from a 0, is more infinite gameplay, and Elizabeth's interesting conversations with the booker in her mind, which were nice, and creative at times.

    Overall, burial at sea feels like a game that was in the VERY early stages in development, however was quickly adapted into a DLC, undermining the story it wanted to tell, the characters it wanted to tell it with, and instead leaving it just full of callbacks to previous games, which 9 times out of 10, feel like lame excuses to not set up new characters, and get fans to squeal in their chair (I didn't).
    I do plan to revisit the first and second BioShock games eventually, and then i might retry this and hope its better, though i highly doubt it. Infinite was a contained story that felt like a great send off to its franchise, though this dlc pack highly ruined the 'sendoff' for me, though BioShock 4 is in development, it won't have irrational games or ken Levine behind it, which if this was the quality we could expect, that might have been for the best.
    thanks for reading    … Expand
  11. MaxTemp
    Jul 27, 2023
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. what brain-dead retard can grade this dlc higher than 3? The engine is awful for stealth, has no new mechanics and the narrative is so dumb, that at the end everyone uses Elizabeth and she gets nothing. waste of time, but at least now I can hate this game more objectively… Expand

Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Best PC Game of 2014
61
#61 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014
95
#95 Most Shared PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 34
  3. Negative: 1 out of 34
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    May 16, 2014
    40
    What it gains on atmospherics, it lacks in gameplay and the story is uneven, saved only by a few brilliant scenes. [Issue#241]
  2. Ragequit.gr
    May 14, 2014
    99
    A gorgeous, utterly immersive and hugely satisfying conclusion to one of the greatest video game narratives of all time.
    Read full review
  3. Games.cz
    Apr 23, 2014
    70
    Elizabeth is a match for Booker's first episode, she even outdoes him with several intense scenes. Besides, if you belong to those that saw the shooting as a nuisance, you'll agree with this one's freer tempo along with an option to get around the shooting.
    Read full review
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