BioShock Infinite

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9926 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8,187 out of 9926
  2. Mixed: 1,100 out of 9926
  3. Negative: 639 out of 9926
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  1. kinsang
    Apr 7, 2023
    7
    อย่างแรกที่สังเกตเห็นเลยก็คือโลกของเกมนี้มันแปลกใหม่และน่าค้นหามาก ด้านเกมเพลย์ก็มีอาวุธและพลังให้ใช้หลากหลาย แต่น่าเสียดายที่ส่วนใหญ่ก็เลือกที่จะใช้ปืนเพราะไม่เห็นความจำเป็นที่จะต้องใช้พลังอะไรเท่าไหร่ เนื้อเรื่องถือว่าทำออกมาให้ดูลึกลับ น่าค้นหา ติดตรงที่ถ้าไม่ตั้งใจตาม ก็แอบเข้าใจยากไปนิด โดยเฉพาะ DLC นี่ขนาดตั้งใจเล่น ยังแทบไม่รู้เรื่องอย่างแรกที่สังเกตเห็นเลยก็คือโลกของเกมนี้มันแปลกใหม่และน่าค้นหามาก ด้านเกมเพลย์ก็มีอาวุธและพลังให้ใช้หลากหลาย แต่น่าเสียดายที่ส่วนใหญ่ก็เลือกที่จะใช้ปืนเพราะไม่เห็นความจำเป็นที่จะต้องใช้พลังอะไรเท่าไหร่ เนื้อเรื่องถือว่าทำออกมาให้ดูลึกลับ น่าค้นหา ติดตรงที่ถ้าไม่ตั้งใจตาม ก็แอบเข้าใจยากไปนิด โดยเฉพาะ DLC นี่ขนาดตั้งใจเล่น ยังแทบไม่รู้เรื่อง
  2. MaxieZeus
    Sep 20, 2022
    7
    Decent game with good mechanics and a really deep story, too bad it sucks at telling it. In a game where there are a lot of cutscenes and dialogue you expect to understand some of the story without reading or listening to every recording. At the end of the game you'll probably look up the wiki page to understand the story like I did.
  3. Ringsofpowerbad
    Jun 26, 2023
    7
    As a fan of the original Bioshock, I give this high of a score only for the art direction which, as an artist myself, I think is superb and fully worthy of at least 6 of the 7 I am giving this game. In other areas I was dissapointed at the game. It was severely lacking a good horror element that made the first game so engaging, and a lot of the good gameplay/rpg elements are just missing,As a fan of the original Bioshock, I give this high of a score only for the art direction which, as an artist myself, I think is superb and fully worthy of at least 6 of the 7 I am giving this game. In other areas I was dissapointed at the game. It was severely lacking a good horror element that made the first game so engaging, and a lot of the good gameplay/rpg elements are just missing, making it feel much more like an on rails shooter like a Call of Duty campaign mode than a game with depth and choice. Essentially, it felt less realistic and more scripted because of this. Talking of script, the story of this game was all over the place. It was incredibly convoluted and tacky, and dealt in the topic of multiple realities but in an incredibly cliche's and pseudointellectual way that had me rolling my eyes by the end. Unlike the original bioshock, with its strange self aware commentary on the work of ayn rand, this game takes place in the skies in a turn of the century version of religious zealotry and old american ideals of purity and independance, which is a really cool idea on the face of it. It doesnt just stick to this concept though, that is the problem. The game starts out great, and you are lead to believe that there are many avenues that will be explored in this. It feels like bioshock, with a creepy sense of unease and insanity crawling at the back of your mind as you ascend to a racists idea of heaven. But the game just lets you down, its cartoonish and unserious, i get that they were kind of going for that with elizabeth appearing like a good old american disney princess, but it just doesnt land. And the story is stupid, and story is the second most important thing in Bioshock after the art design, so its a 7 from me (the other 3 is the good story its missing)… Expand
  4. witchrott
    Dec 7, 2022
    7
    Bioshock Infinite is more of an action shooter than anything else which was disappointing to say the least. I don't find it as interesting or enjoyable as the first Bioshock but the concept behind it was interesting enough to get me through most of the game. Although, in all honesty, when I separate it from its predecessor I'm a lot more forgiving of its faults. I just think this game isBioshock Infinite is more of an action shooter than anything else which was disappointing to say the least. I don't find it as interesting or enjoyable as the first Bioshock but the concept behind it was interesting enough to get me through most of the game. Although, in all honesty, when I separate it from its predecessor I'm a lot more forgiving of its faults. I just think this game is too removed from the original Bioshock both in aesthetic and the overall theme of the story to really compare them.… Expand
  5. HeitorCampos
    Mar 13, 2023
    7
    Very messy, holy hell. The writing can be all over the place, but it´s not bad, and the ending is really good. The main characters have a great relatioship, which is quite an achievement considering the protagonist is goofily tragic. It´s very fun despite it´s faults.
  6. co3676
    Jul 4, 2023
    7
    Yedi. .
  7. Dartza
    Aug 1, 2023
    7
    One of the best things about the first 2 Bioshock titles was the world. Bioshock Infinite tries to recreate the magic with a city in the sky vs in the ocean, and while Infinite has its own theme, it also brought some problems. The game drops the RPG elements of the original for a more classic RPG approach, only allowing 2 guns at a time. The story is rich and it is very integral to theOne of the best things about the first 2 Bioshock titles was the world. Bioshock Infinite tries to recreate the magic with a city in the sky vs in the ocean, and while Infinite has its own theme, it also brought some problems. The game drops the RPG elements of the original for a more classic RPG approach, only allowing 2 guns at a time. The story is rich and it is very integral to the campaign of the game.… Expand
  8. Captiosus
    Mar 28, 2013
    6
    I can't help but wonder: If we took the Bioshock name off the title, would it still be receiving such praise? Frankly, most of the elements that were unique to BioShock have been utterly stripped from this title. There's still plasmids (Vigors) and a steampunk setting but that is where the similarities cease. The hacking elements are gone, lockpicking is taken away from the player andI can't help but wonder: If we took the Bioshock name off the title, would it still be receiving such praise? Frankly, most of the elements that were unique to BioShock have been utterly stripped from this title. There's still plasmids (Vigors) and a steampunk setting but that is where the similarities cease. The hacking elements are gone, lockpicking is taken away from the player and given to an AI, the research camera is removed, and paying attention to health has been replaced with the all-too-generic "regenerating health" mechanic. BioShock's "Big Daddies" are replaced with "Handymen" who are seen far too infrequently, and "Motorized Patriots" which are overused. The vast majority of the enemy AI are merely footsolders who are easy to defeat (and completely stupid) even on the hardest setting. The shooting mechanics have never been particularly strong in the BioShock franchise but BioShock Infinite strips it down further, allowing players to carry only two weapons at any given time like any other stock FPS title. In addition, the vigor powers themselves are lackluster and chances are you'll go through the entire game running with Possession (the hacking "replacement") and Bucking Bronco or Murder of Crows (the two Vigors which have the most effect on enemy mobs loss of control and stun+damage, respectively). We get Vigor powers like "Shock Jockey" (the name should tell you what it does) and the game points out how we can use it to power up devices but then we only get one particular device to use it on and little reason to use it again. So this leaves us with the story which seems to be getting the most praise. However, the story itself is a series of walking cliches and tropes about multiverse theory and time-space manipulation and, frankly, has been addressed better elsewhere in countless science fiction novels, movies, TV shows, and even comic books. When the game explains the concepts of "constants and variables" in the multiverse it feels more like they're attempting to justify why the game took such a hard 90 degree turn away from previous gameplay demos in order to proffer this metaphysical theme. Where, for example, is the Elizabeth AI we were shown where she fought along side of us? Gone and replaced with a cowering AI that gets in the way and offers little help but tossing us items from time to time. Where, for example, were the critical moments in the game shown during gameplay demos of E3's past? Gone and replaced with overly cerebral tropes about quantum mechanics and multiple realities. Where, for example, are all the examples of how the sky-rail plays a critical role in the game? Just gone, entirely. Don't get me wrong, the story is heads and shoulders better than MOST games these days and the attention to detail is second to none. For those reasons alone the game should be experienced at least once. It's just the story isn't nearly as new OR earth shattering as many claim it to be and, if I didn't care about spoilers, I could point out how Infinite almost perfectly parallels the story of Walter and Peter Bishop from the TV show Fringe. While the story is better than most it really doesn't make the shortcomings of the gameplay easier to bear. Finally, for a game which was designed exclusively for single player, the game is very short, clocking in at a total of 14 hours on the hard difficulty setting with most of the collectibles obtained. Given the fact that many elements were chopped out of the gameplay videos, I can't help but wonder how much is sitting on the cutting room floor, or if key parts were stripped in order to push out fast DLC. There's no reason this game shouldn't have been AT LEAST 20 hours in length, especially given how linear it is designed. All in all, it's a decent game but painfully average in terms of gameplay and only barely above average in terms of story. Levine spent so much time on the metaphysical that it feels like he and the development team forgot that it was all of the elements, combined, that made BioShock so distinct and enjoyable. It's worth playing at least once to soak in all the wonder but, sadly, you won't really be going back to play it again since nothing (except difficulty) changes between play throughs.… Expand
  9. aleatoric
    Apr 7, 2013
    6
    Pros: Setting is masterfully crafted and well-detailed. Good main characters. Lots of style and flair. Decent story with a moral backbone that few other games have.

    Cons: Gameplay leaves lots to be desired. Like its predecessor, Bioshock, it still leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to the game these titles are supposed to be the spiritual successor for: System Shock 2. Bioshock    Pros: Setting is masterfully crafted and well-detailed. Good main characters. Lots of style and flair. Decent story with a moral backbone that few other games have.

    Cons: Gameplay leaves lots to be desired. Like its predecessor, Bioshock, it still leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to the game these titles are supposed to be the spiritual successor for: System Shock 2. Bioshock Infinite is a shooter with extremely light RPG influences, and even as a shooter, it's only an OK one. Playing B:I, I myself looking forward to the dialogue between the main characters--which thankfully there is plenty off--but nearly falling asleep during gameplay segments, looking forward to them being over so I can get to the next scene. Also, the UI looks nice, but it's terrible from a usability perspective, especially on the PC. The gear system, for example, is pitifully designed.

    All in all, it's a well-polished game. I love that it's focused on single player only with no frills. I love the game's themes and design. But the gameplay is so shallow, the AI is weak, and I'm left with little desire to play the game again.    … Expand
  10. cajun67
    Jul 20, 2013
    6
    The game has stunning visuals and a great story line. But the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The pacing is very slow; it took me 45 minutes of playing before the shooting began. The money that you need is mostly found by searching barrels and boxes and trash cans (who's throwing away all this money?!?) and bodies. And there are a LOT of things to search... it gets pretty damnThe game has stunning visuals and a great story line. But the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The pacing is very slow; it took me 45 minutes of playing before the shooting began. The money that you need is mostly found by searching barrels and boxes and trash cans (who's throwing away all this money?!?) and bodies. And there are a LOT of things to search... it gets pretty damn tedious. Overall, the game doesn't live up to the first Bioshock, and it doesn't live up to the hype. In fact, it feels more like an RPG than an FPS; the developer is really keen on you exploring the world and eavesdropping on conversations. Bioshock 2 left me cold; I had been hoping that Bioshock infinite would recapture the magic of the first game, but it just doesn't.… Expand
  11. Nasher
    Jun 6, 2013
    6
    A mostly fun game, but not one I feel the need to replay since it was very generic most of the time. It's very much a tunnel shooter. This game had a LOT of hype, but was not as good as the original, nor anything that special gameplay or technically wise. Though the story was good.
    It's a 6/10 at best tbh
  12. Jorderon
    Dec 23, 2013
    6
    This game is really quite overrated by the so-called critics. It is certainly not a masterpiece of storytelling, or even particularly interesting in its apparent critical treatment on American exceptionalism. The pseudo-Americans seem quite impressive and exceptional with their flying city, even if their social beliefs seem beyond the pale. However, the "Columbians" don't even seem toThis game is really quite overrated by the so-called critics. It is certainly not a masterpiece of storytelling, or even particularly interesting in its apparent critical treatment on American exceptionalism. The pseudo-Americans seem quite impressive and exceptional with their flying city, even if their social beliefs seem beyond the pale. However, the "Columbians" don't even seem to hold beliefs that are terribly out of pace for the day. Eugenics, racism, and a puritanical protestant faith emphasizing civic life were part of modern life in early twentieth/late 19th century America. If anything the game only exaggerates the actual belief systems held by most people in those days. The populist faction is also portrayed just as exaggerated, and are shown to be bloodthirsty maniacs who just want to steal everyone's property as the game unfolds.

    The game has more plot holes than Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. The ending seems to be a play at some deep, philosophical point, but winds up imploding under its own absurdity. When you beat the game (12 hour finish on hard for me, and I will probably not be playing through 1999 difficulty, unlocked after HM completion), you will likely come to the conclusion that the game would have been better without the ending. A simple fade-to-black after the final battle would have been more satisfying. Instead the player endures a painful revelation sequence where all questions about what is going on are answered, and simultaneously rendered moot.

    If I had payed the sticker-price for this game (I picked it up on a Steam sale), I would have been very disappointed. It was worth 10 USD.

    As a FPS it is fine. As the inheritor of BioShock it does not live up to BioShock 1 or even 2. Several interesting features are left out which were enjoyable and well-tuned in the previous games. There is no map; making completion difficult. Money is tight in the game, but this is intentional and forces the player to prioritize upgrades. Ammo was always a problem on hard, and there was never quite enough cash to buy anything, so pluses for that.

    The primary failures of this game are in the narrative, which might seem nitpicky, but for a single-player FPS, the story is all we really have to hold the thing together. Without a tight, compelling narrative there is really no reason to play the game to my mind. There were several instances in the game where the main character develops a case of macguffinitis, and can't see that it is actually absurd that he continues toward the next objective given what is going on. If anything the highly-trained Pinkerton agent would have been intelligent enough to figure out there were better ways to go about his objective. At least in BioShock there was a concrete in-game reason for the mindless objective chasing, and the second part followed naturally. Infinite has no such coherence on the plot level.

    This game is really a 6, maybe a 7.5 if the reviewer was feeling generous. I cannot understand how this game gets such fawning institutional reviews. It is a mixed bag at best.

    If you're a BioShock fan, you will (somewhat) enjoy this game. Wait for a sale.    … Expand
  13. nighter-3d
    Mar 27, 2013
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well i can't deny that the story from beginning to end was quite intriguing and nearly brilliant. i use the term brilliant as it caused quite some confusion halfway trough when the first inter-dimensional travel happened. It felt...Forced. First you are in the relatively normal world and suddenly your in the dimension where the Rebellion was already full underway. if the transition was less sudden it would have helped, but alas. There were also the loose ends here and there.
    ..
    Game-play wise. it was poor. The details were great but the game-play felt simplified. the world lacked the depth and freedom of the former Bioshock games. The enemies where rather bland (they were fodder. 1 shot to the head with a pistol and done most of the time!) and the few "special" enemies were spread out thin. you encounter the Handy-men a few times trough out the game (they were miniature bosses) and the Boys of silence you encounter in only one level and have no single importance. The Vigor system (tough nicely thought up) wasn't needed most the time and i still have yet to hear where they came from unlike their plasmid counterpart that was properly explained.
    ..
    Its a good game, but in the end im afraid the over focus on the story has left the game-play slightly lacking. I did like the Luteces tough. added a little bit of silliness here and there which was surely needed.    … Expand
  14. Vasot
    May 5, 2013
    6
    Good game but there is no replay value after finishing it The game world and the story are a bit ridiculous for my taste and the graphics are very "cartoonish". I gave it a 7 for being a good game but this is not a classic as it is majorly overhyped by some people
  15. shoegays
    Apr 4, 2013
    6
    It's a pretty enough game, both in visuals and sound, but that doesn't cover up what's fundamentally the same Bioshock gameplay we've had for years (and found lacking.)

    Let's be real: Infinite is the best in the Bioshock series, easily, but the Bioshock series leaves a lot to be desired. They've done a lot to dress it up and go crazy on spectacle, but it's not doing anything Half-Life 2    It's a pretty enough game, both in visuals and sound, but that doesn't cover up what's fundamentally the same Bioshock gameplay we've had for years (and found lacking.)

    Let's be real: Infinite is the best in the Bioshock series, easily, but the Bioshock series leaves a lot to be desired. They've done a lot to dress it up and go crazy on spectacle, but it's not doing anything Half-Life 2 didn't do years ago, and it's not even *trying* to do anything Bioshock didn't already do.

    Don't believe the hype, folks.    … Expand
  16. BoTheMastaOfAll
    Aug 21, 2013
    6
    Alright all you fanboys and Inception worshipers I'm about to school you hard in why this game is completely 100% basically ok and nothing more. I think I'll rip on the combat first.

    In Bioshock 1 you could carry all your guns at once. Ammo would still be tough to come by for certain guns, but that was ok because you could carry your gun until you found or bought ammo for it. This is    Alright all you fanboys and Inception worshipers I'm about to school you hard in why this game is completely 100% basically ok and nothing more. I think I'll rip on the combat first.

    In Bioshock 1 you could carry all your guns at once. Ammo would still be tough to come by for certain guns, but that was ok because you could carry your gun until you found or bought ammo for it. This is why it made sense to upgrade weapons you weren't currently using. The upgrade system in B1 made sense because you always had access to the guns you upgraded. The upgrade system in this game is completely stupid because of the 2 weapon limit. I want to use the guns I spent money on upgrading, not be forced to discard them because I can't find ammo. The game also has several variations of the same gun for some reason. Why are there 3 different machine guns when clearly the original machine gun is the best one? These only serve to water down the chances of finding a the machine gun variant I upgraded. This still would have been ok if it were possible to upgrade all weapons in the game to full by about the 1/2 way mark, but you only have enough cash to upgrade a few guns by end game. If you hit a stretch in the game where you can't use your upgraded guns, too bad sucker! You wasted money, and you have to use sh*t tier weapons now.
    Despite this combat has a good feel to it... until you rescue Elizabeth. Don't get me wrong, she is the ideal escort mission, but right then is when the game starts to go from swashbuckling adventure fun to typcial brown/grey modern shooter. There's even health regen. Imagine that.

    Right when you go to the poor district of the city is when the game finally says "screw it, I'm a modern shooter, sort of" and goes complete corridor shooter. You still have magic, but it's not as well developed as I expected it to be from Bioshock 1. B1 had obvious issues with plasmids but I expected them to be rectified, not worsened. You never see the sun for the rest of the game btw. Everything is brown/grey, and color schemes like this for several hours really kills the mood of any game.

    Time for the story. It feels like all the writers were in the middle of writing a story set in a world about Nazi Germany (Everyone is basically Nazis. Hell, they're even all blonde and blue eyed) mixed with the French Revolution when some nutter ran in saying "Hey everyone guess what! I just discovered this great game called Half Life 2! LETS RIP IT OFF!". And so they did. They even have the Gman, except there's two of them, and they're British.
    The game sets up a compelling and organic world about revolution, racism, and showing the folly of violent uprisings. Or at least, it sets itself up to tell this story really nicely. Before it can get to that part, it decides to interject alternate reality scifi nonsense that obviously tries too hard to be deep. The worst part is though, is that the game expects me to be surprised at its plot twists. Imagine watching a gamer who says he's the best in the world, but then you watch him turn on god mode. That is what alternate realities are to stories; They are the story teller's equivalent of god mode. They declared open season on their own story and said to their audience "I can do anything now!". Because of this, I was able to predict every single plot twist. I knew that because the game devs activated god mode, they would try to pull the weirdest sh*t they could get away with, which was anything. None of it surprised me. It was as if a magician gave me the schematic to a trick, then expected me to be surprised even though he gave me the tools to predict the ending.

    Speaking of the ending, it totally sucks. It's some completely forced surreal ending ala Mass Effect 3 or Inception. It makes no sense, but it has to make no sense, because the game set itself up early on to have the ending make no sense. For lack of a better phrase, during the last 30 min of the game, the story goes up its own ass.

    On a side note, something I find really hilarious though is that all the reviewers who say that this story wrapped itself up in a nice neat bow, also called Halo's storyline convoluted.

    This isn't bringing into question the complete lack of relation to B1. There is one part where they make a nod to Rapture, but Andrew Ryan isn't here. I expected Ryan to interject to want you to kill Comstock because he's totally screwing up Columbia, but that didn't happen. I expected Elizabeth to relate to the Jewish doctor from B1, but that didn't happen. There are no ties to Bioshock 1, other than a glimpse of Rapture, but that's it. That scene basically served as a reminder to say "Remember, this is Bioshock". None of the B1 characters were even involved at all.

    Here's what I recommend: The ME3 remedy. Play the game until it starts to get really weird. Then stop and pretend that it ended in a sensible, satisfying way that makes sense for you and coincides with the world setup.    … Expand
  17. Dunge
    Apr 10, 2013
    6
    Best game ever in an artistic sense. Story/ levels/ events/ textures/ animation/ presentation, everything is perfect. On the other hand, it have the worst gameplay that a first person shooter could have. Shooting totally feels wrong.
  18. Nyurena
    Apr 18, 2013
    6
    The Bad: DON'T think too hard about the plot or you WILL be disappointed! They throw out so many interesting plot threads and potentially deep societal commentary that it draws you in. I was hooked! I had to know what happens! Then what could have been woven into a fine tapestry turned into a couple of threads hot glued together at the end. It became a job just to finish the thing onceThe Bad: DON'T think too hard about the plot or you WILL be disappointed! They throw out so many interesting plot threads and potentially deep societal commentary that it draws you in. I was hooked! I had to know what happens! Then what could have been woven into a fine tapestry turned into a couple of threads hot glued together at the end. It became a job just to finish the thing once this dawned on me.

    The Vigors seem a little unbalanced and you are likely to only focus on a few.

    NO HACKING! None.

    The Gear you find, which doubles as your customizable character traits,  is completely randomized. If you reload a checkpoint, the item changes. (This could be good or bad really.)

     

    The Good:

    The Art design is fantastic! Most areas have something new to look at and explore and even the disturbing areas can be visually appealing. It feels like the art took up most of the games budget and it shows. Very memorable visuals around almost every corner, some are subtle, so stop and take it in!

    Combat, especially when leaping on and off the rails into melee, is often quite a lot of fun. You'll almost never run out of ammo or Salts once you join up with Elizabeth.

    They did very good research on the era they are portraying. From the dialect to the billboard adds, it really feels like you’re in the early 1900s. (Minus the floating city aspect. lol.)

     

    Bottom-line:

    A deeply flawed and over hyped game that really did try to tell a good story, but ends up a frustrating and empty mess of a plot with great visuals and decent game play.    … Expand
  19. l3wdandcr3wd
    Apr 5, 2013
    6
    I've played system shock 2, Bioshock, and Bioshock 2 before ever touching or hearing about this game. I played on normal first. I am still replaying it on 1999 mode, as I didn't know about the unlock code. I found the combat to be somewhat bland and boring compared to the previous Bioshock titles. However the control over the mouse and movement is better, it doesn't feel like there wasI've played system shock 2, Bioshock, and Bioshock 2 before ever touching or hearing about this game. I played on normal first. I am still replaying it on 1999 mode, as I didn't know about the unlock code. I found the combat to be somewhat bland and boring compared to the previous Bioshock titles. However the control over the mouse and movement is better, it doesn't feel like there was any mouse acceleration this time around. The story was IMO terrible, they obviously had the rush a release as the ending was contrived BS, a cop-out as they couldn't think of and actual closing to the game. 1999 mode has made the game much more enjoyable for me and I find myself getting stuck in some combat sections, that's a POSITIVE thing for me. Overall I'd give the game a 6.5. Combat isn't super good, story is terrible. Do not pay full price for this, wait til it's cheaper.… Expand
  20. nutcrackr
    Apr 5, 2013
    6
    Infinite is a competent action game with a layered story and good art design. The introduction is incredible. It leads the player into the sky city of Columbia, and has them experience gameplay mechanics through sideshows. Elizabeth is, of course, a pretty good character. She is not without faults though, including an obsession with coins and the ability to go invincible whenever there isInfinite is a competent action game with a layered story and good art design. The introduction is incredible. It leads the player into the sky city of Columbia, and has them experience gameplay mechanics through sideshows. Elizabeth is, of course, a pretty good character. She is not without faults though, including an obsession with coins and the ability to go invincible whenever there is combat. Elizabeth babysits the player, rather than the other way around, as she throws you ammo and health when the game decides you could use a hand out.

    The core of the game is shooting and action. You’ll be unleashing Vigors (Plasmids) left and right. Sky-lines are decent fun to zip around on, but are not used in enough encounters. It’s actually quite a linear shooter against pretty bland enemies. Larger levels take away a lot of intimate qualities of the series. I really miss the Splicers from the first two BioShock games.

    Handymen are basically scripted mini bosses, they show up when the game designer decides they should. They appear about 4 times and aren’t interwoven into the game like Big Daddies. You certainly don’t get the opportunity to pick when to engage. Elizabeth yells “Handyman” and the game is on. The Songbird is barely worth a mention. It basically only appears in cut scenes and cannot hurt the player.

    Disappointingly, for a BioShock game, there are no significant changes to the world based on moral choices. The world shuffles you down a narrow path with side rooms and dull voxaphones. I rarely felt compelled to explore the world of Columbia but there are some decent audio logs near the end. The save system is incredibly disappointing. Checkpoint saves are bad!

    The game loses focus during the middle. It’s clear they intended for these bits to be a demonstration of what they try to explain at the end. However, I lost all care for the world of Columbia after some annoying backtracking. I wasn’t invested in the world and could have done without the Call of Duty scenes. The game would have achieved something greater if it stuck to a more grounded Columbia shown in the intro.    … Expand
  21. tazdevil41
    Apr 4, 2013
    6
    I find this game pretty boring and PC version is full of gamebreaking bugs. Twice the game has been impossible to continue in without redoing an entire level due to zero bug testing during development it seems.
    Sometimes Elizabeth just stands there instead of doing what she is supposed to and even resetting the checkpoint doesn't allow you to continue past this point.
    If devs are going    I find this game pretty boring and PC version is full of gamebreaking bugs. Twice the game has been impossible to continue in without redoing an entire level due to zero bug testing during development it seems.
    Sometimes Elizabeth just stands there instead of doing what she is supposed to and even resetting the checkpoint doesn't allow you to continue past this point.
    If devs are going to continue to release such shoddy products i am amazed it can get such a high review score.    … Expand
  22. Boltfrowah
    Apr 13, 2013
    6
    Meh. Overrated on mere graphics alone. Yes, yes, yes. We know the "critics" believe it's a "masterpiece", but the vigor's are pointless, the weapon combat is repetitive, and the incessant searching to purchase upgrades is nonsense.
  23. MrSniker
    Apr 24, 2014
    6
    The good, the game has probably the best atmosphere I've ever experienced in a game. Certain parts of the game just ooze ambiance and you can tell that the people at Irrational gave total thought into every single set piece that was placed. The game has probably the best environment I've ever seen in a game and its' pretty much the sole reason the game gets a 6. The atmosphere is topThe good, the game has probably the best atmosphere I've ever experienced in a game. Certain parts of the game just ooze ambiance and you can tell that the people at Irrational gave total thought into every single set piece that was placed. The game has probably the best environment I've ever seen in a game and its' pretty much the sole reason the game gets a 6. The atmosphere is top notch and you literally can't help but not be awed by the sight of Columbia. The bad, well it has this great atmosphere in a floating city but for most of the game you're exploring confined spaces. In all 8 hours I played in only a ten second span, did I feel like I was in a floating city. This was when the PC had to traverse a ledge to get to another point in the area. Another problem, the game uses checkpoints to save your game. The game prizes itself on exploration to flesh out the world through audio and visual diaries, such as Bioshock 1 and 2 yet at times I noted myself having thirty minutes between saves due to me exploring. I found myself rushing exploring just because I had to go to work or school. Another problem, there's not much variation in enemies or is there much of a challenge. The most challenging enemy called a, "Handyman," is only encountered around six or seven times and its' the only time you'll ever encounter a challenge. The gameplay is distinctly average, which is a shame. The game shares problem with third person shooters, in that it they telegraph where fighting will occur. The vigors also feel like direct rip offs from Bioshock 1 & 2 yet are harder to aim. The games story is decent, but the foreshadowing is literally jammed down your throat. and not only that but its' confusing as hell towards the end and makes no sense. I paid $7.50 for the game and it took ~8 hours. Overall the game's decent but don't expect the second coming of first person shooters.… Expand
  24. kotekzot
    Mar 29, 2013
    6
    Pretty mediocre. The gameplay is generally boring, the enemies are stupid, the "vigors" (read: plasmids) are often interchangeable (3 out of the total 8 can be summarized as "stun") and there is far too few of them, and the skylines are a gimmick. The graphics and the level design are neat-o, but graphics don't make a game. The story failed to grip me, perhaps because it is full of clichesPretty mediocre. The gameplay is generally boring, the enemies are stupid, the "vigors" (read: plasmids) are often interchangeable (3 out of the total 8 can be summarized as "stun") and there is far too few of them, and the skylines are a gimmick. The graphics and the level design are neat-o, but graphics don't make a game. The story failed to grip me, perhaps because it is full of cliches or because I was already bemused by the other lackluster parts of the game.… Expand
  25. Twobles
    Mar 26, 2013
    6
    Well I can start by saying. It is a very unique and artistic setting. The visuals are great. To be quite honest it isn't as good as the game deserves. I found it too be a run and gun. The enemies were not that exciting and the game itself was very easy. Gameplay hours ran me about 6 hours in total. In terms of gameplay itself the only unique thing about it was the skyline which was fun toWell I can start by saying. It is a very unique and artistic setting. The visuals are great. To be quite honest it isn't as good as the game deserves. I found it too be a run and gun. The enemies were not that exciting and the game itself was very easy. Gameplay hours ran me about 6 hours in total. In terms of gameplay itself the only unique thing about it was the skyline which was fun to use. The rest of the game itself just didn't feel that great. Looking out in the distance and looking at the view and the world that they created was awesome. One thing to expect is repetitive gameplay. You will find all the missions to be the same. You will be running from map to map running and gunning. There were no unique quests. Even after finishing I felt as if it was extremely liner and have no desire to return to this game. The only thing this game has for it was its super awesome voice acting and its stunning visuals. The skyline added a very unique system but it was a bit disappointing. All in all I gotta rate this game a 6.5/10. Due to the weird plot twists, uninteresting enemies, repetitive gameplay. If this game would improve its maps. Making everything more like its original. This game would easily make my top of the list. It all came down to its average gameplay and linear story. The game was incredibly easy. I toned it up to hard and still found my self sprinting through the game.… Expand
  26. greenpLayer
    Apr 10, 2013
    6
    An immense world with gothic buildings and very nice artwork stuff with hype and a boring story. After a few hours you'll realize that that's all there is it to is a laggy fps with absolutely no interest. I never finished the game so I dont know how the ending is. The rest was nice but boring.
  27. SittinginBasket
    Jul 27, 2013
    6
    A disappointing game, although that is somewhat expected. I've come to expect the content and gameplay concepts of pre-release gameplay demos and trailers to not be present in the game.

    To start off, the story is above average. The storytelling is below average. The concepts behind the story are intriguing, and also link back to the previous games. The depth of the story through the    A disappointing game, although that is somewhat expected. I've come to expect the content and gameplay concepts of pre-release gameplay demos and trailers to not be present in the game.

    To start off, the story is above average. The storytelling is below average. The concepts behind the story are intriguing, and also link back to the previous games. The depth of the story through the game's backstory, which is often shown through audio logs, or "voxophones", lets you piece together the story, and helps with the eventual "epiphany" at the end of the game, as if the game was some sort of mystery/corridor shooter where you get thrown information, and while you are trying to figure this out, the game continues to tease you with the fact that there is going to be some sort of twist at a later part of the story. However, the fact is that you cannot figure it out until the twist, and the fact that you expect the twist for the majority of the game. Unlike the previous games and also many other works of fiction, the content of the twist itself may be a complete surprise, but the existence of the twist is completely expected, so instead of truly being surprised by the twist because it's so unexpected that you had never even thought of there being a twist, or that the twist was what it was, you simply think "Oh, so that's the twist.". Other works of fiction have genuinely surprising twists in both aspects of a twist that I have mentioned, for example in the first Bioshock. The twist(s) in that game come as a complete surprise, and are much more well done.

    In terms of the story through characters, the characters themselves have a decent degree of depth to them, but every character in the game simply seems flat and uninteresting. Even Elizabeth, a companion that you spend time with throughout much of the game, seems completely uninteresting. I found that I barely gave a damn about her until the closing parts of the game. There simply is not enough character development and interaction. Elizabeth speaks occasionally throughout the entire game, and the conversations between Elizabeth and Booker are simply short and meaningless. Their attitudes towards each other seem quite static at times, and even when they seem to suddenly change, they immediately change back and you are left asking yourself "What the hell was all that about?". This is essentially the same with all major characters as well, they are simply 2D characters that do the things they do simply because, and they stay the same way. Elizabeth essentially felt like some sort of AI pet who just follows me around and serves as an extension of my will. If Booker was given the power of opening tears, picking locks, and randomly finding ammunition, health, and salts in the middle of nowhere and Elizabeth simply followed me around, it would have been the exact same experience. With literally every single other character in the game, whether it be a major character or not, there simply is not actual interaction except for a few lines of scripted events and dialogue here and there. Whatever miniscule amount of interaction you have with those characters seems to have no repercussions, and whatever it is that you do, you'll simply not give a damn and forget about it. The E3 gameplay demo for Bioshock Infinite had more character development that the actual game (excluding the ending and twist).

    Now the gameplay is nothing shabby, but it really isn't anything amazing either. Based off of the early E3 gameplay demos and gameplay details, the gameplay had such great potential. However, the actual result was essentially the opposite of what was shown and expected. Levels were "massive", but closed and segregated. A level was essentially divided into tiny little section. You can only ever choose to be extremely aggressive and militant, as hostile attention will always be drawn to you no matter what you do. The skylines are mostly pointless decoration that is limited to what is essentially a total area of 20 meters cubed that you can completely play without other than a few parts of the game where you simply must use them to reach point B from point A. Most of them also do not make any sense in an actual logical manner, as if they were placed there just so Booker can swing around and fight on them if he wants, and not because the city planners thought it would be of actual use, which it seemed to have been in the early parts of the game. Miniscule gameplay elements like the gate-lifting, stealing, powering machines with the shock jockey, and so on are introduced in the beginning and then completely forgotten, never to be seen again. And the only vigor that enemies use are the Devil's Kiss by the firemen and the shock jockey by a single mid-game boss. Oh, and vigors are useless.

    I could go on, but the character limit won't let me. However, I definitely believe that Bioshock infinite is simply a highly overrated game that is just disappointingly mediocre.    … Expand
  28. kalv
    Apr 18, 2013
    6
    It's a good game, but vastly over rated. People claiming that this is game of the year, 10 out of 10... give me a break. The story is fantastic, the presentation is eye candy and the combat is fun... that's about it. My main concern is the lack of content in the game compared to other action adventure games out today: single player is too short, few types of weapons/abilities, no varietyIt's a good game, but vastly over rated. People claiming that this is game of the year, 10 out of 10... give me a break. The story is fantastic, the presentation is eye candy and the combat is fun... that's about it. My main concern is the lack of content in the game compared to other action adventure games out today: single player is too short, few types of weapons/abilities, no variety of enemies and just not a lot of things to explore(I explored every corner and opened most locked doors). The movie clips you find throughout Columbia are just lackluster and pointless. It tries to add to the story, but it's just a lazy addition that most people just end up skipping.

    People are going to argue that the story is so amazing that it compensates for the lack of content, but it's a video game... not a book. Of course you have to take into a count the contents. Honestly this game seems much more simplified compared to the other Bioshock games. And of course like most game developers today they are going to charge people for extra content in DLCs instead of putting it in the base game. I would have gave this game a 8, but people are over rating it way too much.    … Expand
  29. Rigel86
    Aug 30, 2013
    6
    What so many people see in this game? I'm so disappointed based on all this hype I bought it,expected something fantastic, played for some hours, and... stopped. For me, that's a boring game, average,
    Yes, devs lost time and energy working on it and i respect their work. But these critics with scores of average 96... There must be something wrong with me, I guess...
  30. Grumppi
    Apr 1, 2013
    6
    An over-hyped piece of reductio ad absurdum with a deeply disappointing ending. This game does not deserve to be mentioned in the same conversation as the conclave of truly great games of this generation, of which the original Bioshock belongs, along with Skyrim, Fallout 3, etc. While the game does possess fun and interesting gameplay, the story is quite ridiculous and full of logicalAn over-hyped piece of reductio ad absurdum with a deeply disappointing ending. This game does not deserve to be mentioned in the same conversation as the conclave of truly great games of this generation, of which the original Bioshock belongs, along with Skyrim, Fallout 3, etc. While the game does possess fun and interesting gameplay, the story is quite ridiculous and full of logical paradoxes relating to time-travel and other possible worlds that cannot be reconciled. Interesting ambiance and fun gameplay are not enough to make up for the lipstick-on-a-pig of a story. A truly disappointing experience that could have been something worthy of the greatness unperceptive people are lavishing on it.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PC Game of 2013
3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
8
#8 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
94

Universal acclaim - based on 68 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 68
  3. Negative: 0 out of 68
  1. PC Master (Greece)
    Jun 5, 2013
    92
    Play BSI slowly, relish the moments and don’t rush to the end. It’s certain that you will have lived one of the richest gaming experiences that, as far as narration, lyricism and story are concerned, will take a lot of time to forget! [May 2013]
  2. CD-Action
    May 7, 2013
    85
    A very solid, but not revolutionary shooter in an amazing setting, with a story that struggles to convey its authors’ ambitions and is only seemingly complex. The vision is less focused than in previous Bioshocks and it does a worse job on binding the plot with gameplay. [CD-Action 05/2013, p.46]
  3. PC PowerPlay
    May 1, 2013
    80
    Problematic plotting and excessive amounts of poorly balanced combat apply friction to what is otherwise one hell of a rollercoaster. [May 2013, p.80]
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