BioShock Infinite

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1990 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,653 out of 1990
  2. Mixed: 180 out of 1990
  3. Negative: 157 out of 1990
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  1. endings
    Jun 9, 2013
    6
    BioShock Infinite is not a bad game. The setting and game does a good job matching two of Bioshock 1's big strengths, scenery of immersion. Story-wise, I think it tries hard and comes up with something interesting, but not particularly great. The combat takes center stage in this game, with shootouts galore. The vigors/tonics you use are somewhat underwhelming, a few decent. I'm not aBioShock Infinite is not a bad game. The setting and game does a good job matching two of Bioshock 1's big strengths, scenery of immersion. Story-wise, I think it tries hard and comes up with something interesting, but not particularly great. The combat takes center stage in this game, with shootouts galore. The vigors/tonics you use are somewhat underwhelming, a few decent. I'm not a fan of the sky-hook, but that is me. Your companion through much of the game is probably the brightest part, far more engaging than Booker (your persona) and not a hassle to keep around at all. This is worth a play through, but little substance here. I could not imagine waiting for the DLC content from launch day, there is nothing to tide anyone over for a great length of time. 12 hours possibly tops, and little replay value as it stands sans-dlc.… Expand
  2. AliStark
    Oct 14, 2013
    6
    This is a good game but not better than the previous installments. The main disappointment is the storyline which is just too confusing to understand. All in all a good game but I prefer bioshock 2.
  3. MrCommonSense
    Dec 17, 2014
    6
    In all honesty this game is a cheap attempt to bleed the series for every cent they can. The game preforms well and does what it is supposed to but it is missing the charm that made the first game so great! Not to mention the EXTREME amounts of blatant racism. I managed to beat the game but I never played it again, Nor would I want to. It just isn't bioshock without the beauty of rapture. :/
  4. ChuckDee33
    Apr 4, 2013
    5
    As a preface, I will say that I haven't finished the game yet. Although, I feel what I've seen thus far (about 50% or so) is enough for me to give my overall impressions and still have some weight behind them.

    GRAPHICS On a technical level they are actually pretty bad and it pains me to say that. Textures are muddy all over the place. In places it honestly looks like a late-gen    As a preface, I will say that I haven't finished the game yet. Although, I feel what I've seen thus far (about 50% or so) is enough for me to give my overall impressions and still have some weight behind them.

    GRAPHICS On a technical level they are actually pretty bad and it pains me to say that. Textures are muddy all over the place. In places it honestly looks like a late-gen original Xbox game, no joke. Moreover, I have experienced numerous graphical aberrations with water and lighting effects. I just wasn't expecting this poor quality considering the first Bioshock still looks really good and that was released in 2007. Some games hold up even as you inspect closer; not this one unfortunately. From an artistic standpoint though things improve, so I applaud the development team in that regard at least.

    SOUND Good voice acting, nothing groundbreaking though. The songs are pretty cool. Standard FPS effects. They use some similar cues from the original Bioshock which are nice.

    STORY It's probably unfair for me to rate this since I haven't finished it. So far, I can appreciate the ties into American history and the religious overtones. It seems pretty far out there but I have purposely shied away from any spoilers so far. I'm not feeling a strong sense of player agency though, as others have mentioned. Levine might have bitten off more than even he can chew here. We'll see.

    GAMEPLAY Obviously the most important aspect of any game and this bring my biggest complaints to this title. I can easily encapsulate my feelings here: I'm not dying to pick up the controller and play this again. There is hardly anything here that I haven't done a thousand times in other games. Basically run around looking in trash cans and looting from dead bodies, madly pressing the X button. That is in no way FUN. Then stopping for a pretty standard gun/tonic battle against some mediocre intelligence level bad guys who seldom have any charisma or stand out personality traits. The fact that the levels are floating in the sky doesn't really do anything for me. If the developers were trying to create a sense of wonder and suspense from this, then they failed in my mind. Case in point, if you accidentally or even on purpose jump or fall over an edge you just magically teleport right back to safety. That just kills so much of the world for me right there. And yeah I was expecting the same kind of thing when you died, you just get placed in an area a little bit back from where you died and lose some cash. But it's just jarring when you die like 8 times in the span of one firefight and you see the exact same sequence with Elizabeth every time. I could go on about other specific ways I think the gameplay is stale, just as a FPS/adventure game in general and also compared with the original Bioshock, but I won't.

    In summation, I'm pretty disappointed with this game. It feels tedious rather than fun to play in and explore the world. In my time with it so far there have been a few moments that were neat and made me smile, but few are far between. It offers maybe one new gameplay mechanic (sky hooks). The tears are not very original as a mechanic. No inventory, limited choices in how you manage things, unoriginal upgrades and weapons. I'd rather go back and play Tomb Raider again 9 times out of 10. That's just my two or three cents.    … Expand
  5. x_ares_x
    Mar 27, 2013
    5
    The game's fine as far as story and gameplay goes, but beware! If you buy this game, don't expect autosave to actually work. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. Due to the lack of a manual save function, you'll be at this game's mercy for autosave to actually function properly. If you buy the game, just hope you're one of the fortunate people who don't have this problem. Calling 2K gameThe game's fine as far as story and gameplay goes, but beware! If you buy this game, don't expect autosave to actually work. Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't. Due to the lack of a manual save function, you'll be at this game's mercy for autosave to actually function properly. If you buy the game, just hope you're one of the fortunate people who don't have this problem. Calling 2K game support offers up similar frustration as they will blame you or your Xbox/PS3/PC, or weather, or temperature. Anything apart from their work/game. Had the autosave function worked properly, the game would easily be an 8-9.… Expand
  6. AlphaBandito
    Mar 28, 2013
    5
    So, after 4 years Levine came up with this? The game looks ugly on X360, textures and draw distance are terrible and gameplay is average at it's best. The story is excellent but that's not enough, there is no magical combination of various elements that made original Bioshock immortal, just mediocre FPS with good art direction, nothing revolutionary here.
  7. Bo33y
    Apr 2, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I will go middle road on this game. Mainly due to being hugely impressed by story, graphics and concepts. Although these don't make a good game, it is the game play. This game really didn't have much game play. The story was so short, the campaign lasting as little as 6 hours max 10 hours in 2 playthrough's. The AI was no existent committing suicide, getting stuck, or running away. While your guns and a lot of the vigor's were for the most part the same or very similar. Ammo, health, salt were in huge abundance, making this game so easy. While you had those massive I win buttons, through gear and vigor killing all enemy very easily. Upon death if you where very unlucky, enemies retained the same loss of health and any killed remained so most oftenly. Lack of any real in game choices apart, from the rpg element of leveling vigor and guns. Nothing in the story line apart from flip a coin and choice of pendant. Which you had to play a certain way always going forward rarely returning to the same area's once progressing. For the most part it was a crime that this games, game play, played like poo. Away from these very bad elements the game had some favourable points. It was a lot of fun, this came from collecting all the collectibles which each had there own story. Exploring each location to find all of the collectibles. While playing a very engaging thought provoking story. Using vigor and Skyrail system was also very fun. Having Elizabeth as support again was great. Great graphics, humour, and concepts. Although ultimately what a complete and utter rip off that really should be avoided. It is so criminal to support a game that has a very small story and where the AI is practically non-existent and also the game play is far to easy. At least wait until all content is available while the game is at hugely discounted price. Undoubtedly a DLC will arrive later with a mass effect 3 scenario. Freaking rip off lame. Do the critic's even play these games?… Expand
  8. Dazdnconfuzed
    Apr 4, 2013
    5
    I give a 10 to the marketing department a 5 for the game. $65 for a 2 day game with no multiplayer?? No challenge at all in this game due to built in free supplies and unlimited lives. The A.I. Stood there and let me take my time to line up the head shots. I bought one upgrade the whole game on hard. Story? I think the multidimensional stuff was a cop out to many questions you might haveI give a 10 to the marketing department a 5 for the game. $65 for a 2 day game with no multiplayer?? No challenge at all in this game due to built in free supplies and unlimited lives. The A.I. Stood there and let me take my time to line up the head shots. I bought one upgrade the whole game on hard. Story? I think the multidimensional stuff was a cop out to many questions you might have about the characters. "What about this? Just add an alternate dimension to "fix" it". I'm a hardcore gamer and this game lacks any challenge. Rent it,beat it,forget it...… Expand
  9. SkipTheCutscene
    Mar 27, 2013
    5
    The beginning is great, and I was immediately blown away by the art design, but after a while, the constant checking every prop in the game, every crate, cabinet, and desk (God the desks, so many desks rooms filled with desks. Desks on top of desks...) looking for coins becomes... a... grind. You spend half the game pointing at every piece of furniture, and if it glows you press the xThe beginning is great, and I was immediately blown away by the art design, but after a while, the constant checking every prop in the game, every crate, cabinet, and desk (God the desks, so many desks rooms filled with desks. Desks on top of desks...) looking for coins becomes... a... grind. You spend half the game pointing at every piece of furniture, and if it glows you press the x button. Woo-hoo! I think the game took me about ten hours. That's roughly five hours of looking and pointing at furniture. Bioshock? How about Interior Decorator shock? "Furniture: Infinity." But money is scarce, and upgrades are expensive, and the thought of screwing up and having to wade through another molasses paced in-game cutscene kept me motivated to always be checking for loose change. And there are so. many. desks. to check. If the intention was to force players to slow down and take in the incredible architecture/lighting/design, I confess it worked. At first. After awhile though, it had the opposite effect. I started just running past all the crates/cabinets/desks to get the checking done so I could get back to the fun stuff. But this gave me the worst possible vantage point to take in the scenery; just skimming, flush along the furniture, spamming the search button to grab loose change or sometimes cake or pineapple. Why so many decrepit desks seemed to have edible cake or pineapple in them was perhaps explained in an audio log I failed to listen to. Maybe that same audio log explained why I could eat fruit out of an old decrepit desk but often lost the ability to eat fruit that was sitting on a fruit stand. Anyway, yeah, I spent much of the game pressed up against stuff looking for change and fruit, and speeding past textures that probably look better a few steps back.

    Here's the thing: when I started the game, I vowed to take it slow. I was gonna look at all the in-game movies and listen to all the audio logs. The movies were the first thing I gave up on. They were mostly redundant anyway. But eventually I stopped caring about the audio logs too. I had desks to check! I started to rationalize, "Let me get my desk checking done and I'll go back and listen to the logs", but nah, never got around to it. I never cared enough about the story. The best thing about the game is the concept, an alternate 1912, combined with genius art direction. The plot points and dialogue, in true video game fashion, were all kind of meh. Trite. Derivative. A medley of various cliches, except not done as well as the films and novels it borrows from. The best thing about the relationship of the two leads is that she throws you stuff during battle. It's a neat effect that never gets old. Everything else, her backstory, your backstory, the "emotional" stuff... as I said... meh. I never cared. But clearly the designers cared, because they slowed me down so I could listen to her wax on about her past and the mystery ahead. I hate games that do that one minute you're playing the game, the next, your character slows down like he's stuck in a tractor beam of boring exposition as an NPC fills you in on the "plot". If I were really part of the story my dialogue would have been, "Move! Can't you move! Why are you walking so slow?! I don't care about your relationship with your parents! I want to attack things with my magic birds but I'm stuck here listening to you! Do you have any idea how many desks need to be checked before I can get back to my birds?! Shut up already!"

    A word about the sky-hook. I know people are saying it's the best thing in the game, so this might just be me, but, yeah, no. There were two kinds of sky-hook events: area travel, and arena fighting. During area travel, my sky-hook experience went like this, "Wait, am I going the right way? Should I stop? Did I pass it? I'm going the wrong way, aren't I? I should've stopped. I passed it." I did not enjoy sky-hook travel. During my arena fighting, my sky-hook went more like, "Wait, where is everybody? Where are the bad guys? Am I going the right way? There they are! I'm shooting, I'm shooting! Where'd they go? Wait, where is everybody?" The sky-hook had it's moments, but mostly it was frustrating, discombobulating, and not to my liking. Every once and a while I managed to time a button press that had me automatically hurl myself off the rail onto an enemy, but way more often I just sort of fell off onto a roof somewhere and tried to get my bearings and get back into the game.

    I'm giving the game a five, because when I wasn't slogging through the boring parts the spells were fun, though fighting in general was less tactical than I expected. Should I use lightning or fire? Eh, either is fine. Should I have the girl warp in some cover or set up a turret? Eh, either. It all kinda plays out like a chaotic Borderlands 2 style mess. Which is fun I love that kind of thing. But at least Borderlands had the decency to leave out an additional five hours of furniture browsing.    … Expand
  10. Consoledead
    Mar 27, 2013
    5
    Bioshock Infinite is a tough game to give a proper score. On one hand, it's one of the most thought provoking games to ever hit store shelves. On the other hand, it presents a story that seems noticeably absent for at least half the game. None of it really culminates into anything meaningful until the last minutes of the game, arguably where the game is at it's best since the beginningBioshock Infinite is a tough game to give a proper score. On one hand, it's one of the most thought provoking games to ever hit store shelves. On the other hand, it presents a story that seems noticeably absent for at least half the game. None of it really culminates into anything meaningful until the last minutes of the game, arguably where the game is at it's best since the beginning stroll through Columbia. While most might think that it was the most boring part of the game, it did an absolutely brilliant job of presenting the setting of both this city in the clouds and life in 1912. However, as great as the beginning of the game is, the rest of the game feels like a step back from what we got from Bioshock 1 and even 2. Why were Bioshock 1 and 2 so entertaining? Was it because the setting was just THAT good? Was it because the characters were just so memorable? Was it because they didn't hold the player's hand and let you explore large levels that could take anywhere from 1-2 hours to finish everything? Yes, but the main reason we didn't get bored was the sense of progression. When those games began, we felt weak as a player. We felt vulnerable even against 1 or 2 splicers at a time, let alone a big daddy. As we found health, EVE, weapon, plasmid, and tonic upgrades, they felt valuable like we were lucky to even have them at all. We had to put in the effort of taking down a big daddy and dealing with little sisters. Bioshock Infinite removes all sense of progression by letting the player start out as a badass capable of killing 20 or so enemies at a time. I beat the game on "hard" difficulty and not once did i ever feel challenged. The culprit of this issue is *sigh* regenerating health... yep, in a Bioshock game. This turns the game into a pseudo cover shooter. The other half is spent bum-rushing 90% of enemies with your melee attack which is ridiculously overpowered and makes the game a cake walk. Even the big daddy equivalent of Infinite, the motorized patriot, is nothing more than a push-over when spamming him with an electric punch. Infinite sports 8 "vigors" this time around which is far less than what was available in Bioshock 2. the game also has replaced "tonics" with gifts of gear. However, unlike Bioshock 1 & 2 most of the gear is useless. You will likely find yourself sticking with the same 2 or 3 pieces for the entire game and there are no upgraded versions of this gear. You can upgrade "vigors' but upgrading them and weapons alike are all done with money. Money is quite scarce for the cost of these upgrades though, so you will find yourself not upgrading many of either. Speaking of weapons you can only use 2 at a time which also makes you resort to melee most of your enemies in fear of not having ammo when you'll really need it. Also gone is hacking. Anyone who has played either of the first two remember how often you'd find yourself hacking one thing or another. Now all you do is find a lockpick and let Elizabeth pick door locks how fun for ME THE PLAYER. why am i not the one doing these things and why is something that was so prevalent in the first two taken out completely? Remember that other element that added another layer to Bioshock 1 & 2's combat the research camera? It's gone now. Researching helped alleviate the difficulty in fighting certain types of splicers but now it's all about fighting more at once than fighting enemies that feel like they spliced themselves too to become stronger opponents. The level design leaves much to be desired. In the first 2 games, each level was large and took 1-2 hours to do everything. There were countless rooms and entire areas a player didn't have to see if they didn't want just because it was optional. Infinite's level design ranges from extremely linear to quite linear. there is no sense of exploration in the game. The only actual exploration comes from having Elizabeth pick a lock that leads to a room that was blocked off along the main level so you go in, do your search for items, and resume your mission. It gets old very fast. Among the linear level design was an absence of some of the best design choices in the game. The game was heavily advertised with the sky-hook, but these section are few and far between. Any time you can use them in a combat scenario is easily the most fun part in the game but its so underused that you feel the entire game is an average on foot shooter because of it.
    Gone is inventing and gone are hypos and first aid kits. It's all been turned into an average shoot em' up where health is hardly lost and most damage is absorbed by a regenerating shield so damage against you has no real consequence. There isn't even an option to turn off being revived anymore making the game that much easier and lacks any tension. Although I pretty much ragged on this game I don't hate it. It's disappointing and as bare bones of a Bioshock game as it can get. As a Bioshock game it gets a 3, as an action game, an 8.    … Expand
  11. DudeBro187
    Mar 28, 2013
    5
    Nothing spectacular about the gameplay. Typical shooter with an added sky rail gimick. Controls are not as smooth as most other shooters. The upgrade system is lacking to say the least, leaving you to comb for gear and purchase upgrades rather than grow with the abilities you tend to use the most. Combat is nothing out of the ordinary from your AVERAGE shooter and actually feels aNothing spectacular about the gameplay. Typical shooter with an added sky rail gimick. Controls are not as smooth as most other shooters. The upgrade system is lacking to say the least, leaving you to comb for gear and purchase upgrades rather than grow with the abilities you tend to use the most. Combat is nothing out of the ordinary from your AVERAGE shooter and actually feels a little dumbed down/ easy. Gameplay and mechanics get a 6/10.

    The story and sense of immersion, however, are superior to most of its peers. The environment is very well developed and the characters are colorful and full of personality. The story is a great discourse on the social climate in America both historical and present. Story and immersion get a 9/10.

    Overall the game gets an 7/10. I have seen a lot of 10/10 ratings out there. This game is not a 10. Other than the story, the game is par.    … Expand
  12. HypotheticBunny
    Apr 1, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What a Disappointment. On Xbox 360 Bioshock Infinite (BI) looks great from afar. Up close and personal it looks worse than any game in my recent memory. Textures, fonts, details, shapes of small objects all horrendous, poor, devoid of realism to a bizarre degree, lacking sharpness, depth. Please don't tell me that Xbox 360 isn't capable of showing good realistic textures. Yes, it's not a souped-up gamer PC, but I just played Dishonored, and it looked very good. I just finished Far Cry 3, it looked terrific, and you could walk from one end of the giant island to the other without loading anything.
    The gameplay.. oh, where to begin.. this is supposed to be a Bioshock, a but a bigger better one, right So, at every turn I was forced to compare BI to the original game and the conclusion was quite disheartening. As many critics point out, BI gameplay is drastically dumbed down, simplified and stripped of most elements that made it exciting in the 1st game. Rapture was full of mad splicers who attacked you without regard for their own life, but in BI you fight police, soldiers or thugs who also lack any common sense, often attacking the grenade launcher wielding you with batons instead of having a second thought. Gun fights feel very subpar, partly due to very mediocre enemy AI, partly due to vast open areas that completely killed off any sense of frantic closed quarters combat. Weapons suck, they don't visually change with upgrades, some are quite similar, most' don't even sound believable or powerful. Vigors blow as well, there less of them than plasmids and in conjunction with almost non-existent security infrastructure and inability to combine vigors you pretty much find two that suit your gameplay and stick with them. I remember having a lot of fun in original Bioshock painting big daddies as enemy and watching how small flying turrets come from all directions and drain their life. Similar vigor in BI doesn't work as well, mainly because they don't trigger multiple elements of security system which is quite rudimentary compared to the original game. There’s no equivalent of big daddies in BI, handymen don't count. Fighting a big daddy was one of the best parts of Bioshock, you could avoid him altogether, could hide from him, could jump to a side when he was charging at you, and big daddy had a reason to be in the game, a very important role to play. Handymen are inserted into BI only to provide a heavy enemy class, but they are poorly executed, too fast, have no depth to their character and fighting them is simply frustrating, and the fact that's there is only 4(!) of them in the entire game is both ridiculous and good. The Siren that was advertised as a separate enemy class is nothing of this sort, it’s a level boss you have to fight 3 times in 3 locations but that's it, only one "siren" in the game, having many would be much more exciting. Boys of Silence is a total letdown. We were led to believe that these disturbing creatures will be another creepy enemy class, but it's only five of them, they don't fight you directly and you never even get to kill any of them and watch their metal head explode. Songbird The one creature that was endlessly showcased in every promotional video and was either supposed to be a boss that you absolutely have to fight or a big daddy- type monster Forget it. You two will never cross swords, and it's not even explained what or who this is. It has a purpose, but not the one I wanted or anticipated...
    There is no hacking whatsoever, an element that was fun and could set off security system in the original game is completely removed from BI. No puzzles of any sort.No inventory which is just a travesty, you can't store anything or see it, can’t use it the way you want, can’t drop items, can’t accumulate salts for refill during combat.. why, Irrational Games, why Are you that irrational nowadays Invisible walls is another thing that separates a good game designer from a bad one, yet BI team doesn’t consider it worth the attention. Too many corners, piles of rubble, seemingly friendly structures were protected by ethereal force field. In promo videos Sky-line looked more intoxicating than I found it to be, it’s not a game changer and didn’t alter the combat in a great and useful way. Remember this http://kotaku.com/5951936/two-more-key-developers-leave-bioshock-infinite
    This is why BI has sucky AI and combat dynamics. Yes, BI has a great story, but this is not a book with beautiful pictures, it’s a game, gameplay here is paramount. I will always remember original Bioshock as one of the best games I ever played where the story was provocative and gameplay electrifying. Bioshock Infinite is a game with a great story and overall great art design ruined by hype, bad graphics (xbox/ps), uninspired combat, forgettable enemies and disregard for many key elements that made original Bioshock great. Dishonored, you win.    … Expand
  13. ReBilly
    Apr 1, 2013
    5
    The scores you are seeing are very inflated. This is not a bad game. But it's not a 10, it's not a 9, not an 8 or even a 7. It's a 6 at best, 4 at worst. The story is good. The game play is above average. The graphics are average. The game mechanics are below average.

    I found myself laboring over finding loose change for half the game yet it didn't seem to matter much in the result. The    The scores you are seeing are very inflated. This is not a bad game. But it's not a 10, it's not a 9, not an 8 or even a 7. It's a 6 at best, 4 at worst. The story is good. The game play is above average. The graphics are average. The game mechanics are below average.

    I found myself laboring over finding loose change for half the game yet it didn't seem to matter much in the result. The vigors are a bit nerfed so, it's not like you have that fun superhuman feeling as in last games. The experience is less creepy than previous editions.

    I did have fun blowing stuff up and sniping at times. But the enemies got repetitive, and the hook thing was less useful than I had hoped.

    I can't for the life of me understand how many 10 reviews this game got here. It's worth playing, but the execution just didn't meat the lofty ideas behind it. It was a good game but underwhelming overall. I am convinced that many of these reviews are planted. There's NO WAY this is a potential game of the year, or a game changer, or historically significant. It's just another Bioshock with some changes. Some good and some bad.    … Expand
  14. GrayJester
    Apr 8, 2013
    5
    Bioshock infinite what is there to say about it... well there is a lot of things to say about this game, but i will just tell you about a few of the many many things about it. First off i want to say that the game is amazing i loved playing it, i do not have many bad things to say but i just about one thing bad about it its that nobody of the enemies in the game seems to care aboutBioshock infinite what is there to say about it... well there is a lot of things to say about this game, but i will just tell you about a few of the many many things about it. First off i want to say that the game is amazing i loved playing it, i do not have many bad things to say but i just about one thing bad about it its that nobody of the enemies in the game seems to care about Elizabeth at all, sometimes she can be right in front of them and the still care about me more then her. But over to the good things, the gameplay is awesome i loved to go around levels with the sky hook and the guns and and vigors was fun and entertaining to use. The story is the best one during the past few years, it is a rich and good story that everyone should pay much attention too. I really think that this game is a MUST HAVE for everyone who is just a little bit into FPS games and if you are not this is really a good start. Thank you for reading my review of Bioshock infinite… Expand
  15. Malevi
    Apr 18, 2013
    5
    Wonderful setting and world detail.
    ~ Creative and enjoyable story.
    ~ Elizabeth is a NPC that adds to the overall experience and she's useful to boot. ~ Mediocre game play(I'm being nice). ~ lack of weapons(variation). ~ very little character customization and advancement. The immersive world off BioShock Infinite is awesome. The games unsatisfactory gameplay and subpar     Wonderful setting and world detail.
    ~ Creative and enjoyable story.
    ~ Elizabeth is a NPC that adds to the overall experience and she's useful to boot.

    ~ Mediocre game play(I'm being nice).
    ~ lack of weapons(variation).
    ~ very little character customization and advancement.

    The immersive world off BioShock Infinite is awesome. The games unsatisfactory gameplay and subpar mechanics are a real stinker. I really want to like this game but just cant.    … Expand
  16. Alcaclarke
    Apr 23, 2013
    5
    Really? Why is this game so highly rated? It's nowhere near the calibre of Bioshock 1 or Bioshock 2. This shouldn't even be called Bioshock at all. It's something completely different. The atmosphere that Rapture provided...non existent. The suspense that was Rapture...gone! Columbia felt like just another setting. Exploration is basic at best with no surprises or significant side storiesReally? Why is this game so highly rated? It's nowhere near the calibre of Bioshock 1 or Bioshock 2. This shouldn't even be called Bioshock at all. It's something completely different. The atmosphere that Rapture provided...non existent. The suspense that was Rapture...gone! Columbia felt like just another setting. Exploration is basic at best with no surprises or significant side stories to find.
    By the upteenth hour I just wanted this game to end. B1 and B2, I played several times over. I feel bad for all you gamers who rated this high. If this is what excites you in gaming then youre just as much a sucker as I am for letting myself be hyped up over this. All I could think about while playing was starting another playthrough of Bioshock 2...
    Gone are all the elements that made Bioshock grand! And what is with all the Critic reviews? 10/10 all over the place. Huh? What?! Even the Man Jim Sterling gave it a 10. I don't get it.
    Okay, it does have some great things about it. The Tears were great. The story was good. Gameplay was alright. All I found myself doing was stripping the areas down for resources. Other than that...what was there to explore?
    I don't know.... I was very dissapointed as a Bioshock fan. You should be too...    … Expand
  17. JayBe89
    May 3, 2013
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Sorry, but this game is just OVERRATED! I finished it two times, and I'm a huge bioshock fan, but there are so many flaws, that's why this game doens't deserve a good rating.
    Here a the biggest mistakes, imho:

    - poor weapon upgrades hello? bioshock's power to the people upgrades where kickass, and you could see them directly on your weapons!!!! )
    - Songbird is just.... lame?! he hasn't any own story, no character, he just shows up a few times, screams, looks angry, just to die in the end! I mean, hell, the Big Daddys where so creepy, and they had a own story, but this birdy is just a lifeless object, and obviously, the developers didn't want to give him a purpose or an own story!

    - Elisabeth: POOOOR relationship between her and the main character. She is only tossing coins and amo, and runs away one time because she is mad at you... I mean, COME ONE! Even my unborn son could construct a more emotional, deeper relationship between this to main protagonists..

    - Story: Okay, the end is cool, BUT! The motivations of the inhabtians of columbia to blast my head off didn't satisfied me... in Bioshock, the splicers where degenerated junkies, most of them just wanted to kill and loot me. But in Infinite, the whole City just turned mad, and it just feels kinda unrealistic...

    I give 5 points, because I still enjoyed playing this game. But after you have finished the game, and you start to reflect and think about the story, you will have to admit, that this game isn't that great, as we all thought it would be...    … Expand
  18. ragekoi
    Jul 19, 2013
    5
    Extremely overrated. Does not hold a candle to the original, seeing as how BioShock revolutionized and paved way for future FPS game and the implementation of mature and cleverly written storytelling. This game has amazing graphics and and unique use for the sky-hooks, but that's all that's really new. It's just another FPS game with badly executed plot devices, a convoluted andExtremely overrated. Does not hold a candle to the original, seeing as how BioShock revolutionized and paved way for future FPS game and the implementation of mature and cleverly written storytelling. This game has amazing graphics and and unique use for the sky-hooks, but that's all that's really new. It's just another FPS game with badly executed plot devices, a convoluted and pretentious story, a massive amount of filler, irrelevant choices, poor design, transparent characters, and unnecessary consistency that puts a damper on the immersion and story. This game receives a lot more praise than it deserves.… Expand
  19. doggystyle
    Jul 21, 2013
    5
    Loved Bioshock and Bioshock 2 and thus had big expectations on this. Was totally disappointed. Long but boring. Repetitive battles and enemies. After the first third or so I was just hoping it to finish already. Also autosaving sucks bad.
  20. t3hgraemek
    Sep 22, 2013
    5
    Being a fan of the claustrophobic settings of the previous games, I was very dissapointed with the sudden transition to such a large environment, I enjoyed the older games better (just my opinion) the game did excell in gameplay and story, but it just wasn't my kind of bioshock.
  21. WinkOrDie
    Jun 25, 2014
    5
    Bioshock Infinite has received countless awards and more ten out of ten's than I can count. However, that does not make those true.

    This game a good story. Yes, good, not amazing, not life changing, but good. With no spoilers the game lasts for what seems like forever to give you just a good ending which is unacceptable. With the build up and lore of Columbia you expect a fluid, amazing    Bioshock Infinite has received countless awards and more ten out of ten's than I can count. However, that does not make those true.

    This game a good story. Yes, good, not amazing, not life changing, but good. With no spoilers the game lasts for what seems like forever to give you just a good ending which is unacceptable. With the build up and lore of Columbia you expect a fluid, amazing ending but it fails to deliver.

    The combat is terrible. The combat has resorted to the "Call of Duty Syndrome" of releasing an onslaught of enemies on you for you to kill. When that said "wave" of enemies is defeated you progress a little forward, then another wave of enemies is there for your disposal. Repeat.
    There are some sections of the game that get extremely tedious in which you have a "boss" to kill while grunts are attacking you while the "boss" is reviving the grunts you have previously killed. This is just there to pad the game...

    The mechanics you have known to love like different weapons, upgrading your weapons, hacking, vigors (formerly known as plasmids) have been reduced to an extremely basic state. The weapons have basically been doubled however, you can only hold two. Going from holding eight unique weapons with a different type of approach and feel to two similar, watered down guns ready to pump out ammo.
    Hacking is gone. Just gone.
    There are eight vigors and those too feel alike in use. The only one I had fun with was Undertow but all the others basically are auto kill or distraction.
    Upgrading your weapon is useless almost. The chance of you keeping the same two guns throughout the game are very slim because with all the enemies you go through ammo like crazy. So you have to pick up other guns that your enemies drop so when you upgrade Sniper Rifle all the way then have to switch guns makes all that money you spend go to waste.

    What does the game do well besides a good story? The graphics! I am not one to praise/fault graphics unless they enhance the experience or hinder it. This game looks gorgeous and I mean that. When you shoot up into the sky at the beginning of the game and take that first glimpse of Columbia, well its breathtaking to say the least.

    Is the game worth picking up? Not really. Just a generic FPS with amazing visuals.    … Expand
  22. Phantos
    Oct 13, 2014
    5
    From everything I had read up on this game prior to playing it, I was expecting an abomination on par with the likes of Duke Nukem Forever. I'm not sure "relief" is what I should feel when a big-budget, overhyped blockbuster turns out to be merely competent, if overly self-important.

    We've been over and over how the game world doesn't make a lick of sense, how the combat is a big step    From everything I had read up on this game prior to playing it, I was expecting an abomination on par with the likes of Duke Nukem Forever. I'm not sure "relief" is what I should feel when a big-budget, overhyped blockbuster turns out to be merely competent, if overly self-important.

    We've been over and over how the game world doesn't make a lick of sense, how the combat is a big step backwards from even Bioshock, itself a "streamlined(read: dumbed-down) System Shock 2. We've gone over how the plot and the BIG TWIST AT THE END (™) is actually supremely stupid and shows Ken Levine doesn't understand time travel OR the infinite universe theory he based and named his entire project on.

    I knew all of that going in.

    But I was surprised at how... bland it was. How so much time went into painting a gorgeous, if hollow world where there is little to no complexity to any of your actions, filled with nothing but racist cartoons and Ken Levine's creepy daddy fetish-I MEAN THE GREAT AND EPIC AND TRAGIC CHARACTER ELIZABETH(™).

    I also suppose I'm less upset about this game knowing it's hubris collapsed the enterprise of its' founder, a man who let himself be convinced he was a "visionary" by millions of sheep, and in trying to make the most beautiful world possible only ended up destroying everything.

    I'm sure there's an allegory for that somewhere...    … Expand
  23. Tobi_Whatever
    Nov 13, 2014
    5
    This game is nearly everything that is wrong with modern games and is by no means a worthy successor to the original Bioshock. I would even go as far to say that nothing in it justifies it's existence.
    The gameplay is that of an uninspired shooter with an unnecessary gun limit, the plasmids are all the same and copy pasted from the predecessors, Elisabeth is basically not even there and    This game is nearly everything that is wrong with modern games and is by no means a worthy successor to the original Bioshock. I would even go as far to say that nothing in it justifies it's existence.
    The gameplay is that of an uninspired shooter with an unnecessary gun limit, the plasmids are all the same and copy pasted from the predecessors, Elisabeth is basically not even there and the enemies are bullet sponges.

    The story is badly written, most of the characters don't even act rational and all the mentioned social criticism is as deep as the developers understanding of the string theory. The player is at no point required to think.

    Infinite still has a few redeeming factors.
    The world looks gorgeous, the setting is rare and fits very well. The game runs at stable 30 fps on the 360 and has no screen tearing. I didn't encounter any mayor bugs on my playthrough.

    All in all Bioshock Infinite is nothing more than a mindless casual shooter with no replay value that runs well.
    I do not recommend it in any way, but since it at least runs better than most console games of our generation I still have to give it 5/10.    … Expand
  24. Godudu
    Aug 16, 2022
    5
    Amazing gameplay. A sky city thematic was very cool too. That ending of the story though, it was one of the worst things ive experienced in my whole life. Enough to drop the score.
  25. Ravenous
    May 9, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Bioshock Infinite was a HUGE disappointment. One of the most overrated games ever. Here's why:

    The weapon/ammo system was FAR less engaging than in the previous Bioshock. I was bored to death with Infinite’s extremely limited combat mechanics.

    Sadly, there was none of the cool gadget-type stuff that helped make the previous game so much fun: no hacking, no trap ammo, etc. I wanted to be using all kinds of different ammo, setting traps with my weapons (trap rivets, spear traps, etc.), hacking lots of machines to fly around and help me out…. but none of that was in this game. I couldn’t believe it.

    The powers/perks system was pretty boring this time around too. No ice power so you could freeze enemies? WTF?

    The enemies themselves were also boring as hell. There was nowhere near the variety of interesting splicers and whatnot from the previous game. Most of the time it seemed like you just fought regular-type dudes, and every once in a while you’d fight a robot patriot guy. YAAAAAAWN. The enemy selection for Infinite was downright awful.

    No Big Daddies/Little Sisters? That is a Bioshock trademark, and yet they took that out and replaced it with really lackluster enemies. Unbelievable.

    Lastly, Elizabeth was there to do the rogue-ish stuff (i.e. pick locks), but a huge flaw was that she didn’t really contribute much to the actual fighting. She should have been able to use her powers to damage/confuse enemies, but instead she just threw you ammo every once in a while and allowed you to open “tears” which weren’t very interesting.

    Overall, the story/characters/graphics were very good, but the gameplay was downright TERRIBLE. Bioshock Infinite just wasn’t fun at all.    … Expand
  26. Aonien
    Mar 29, 2013
    4
    Honestly disappointed in this game. I was expecting alot more, but wasn't satisfied. While the story, graphics, music and voice acting is incredible, the gameplay seems to lag behind everything else. There are only 8 vigors, as opposed to the 11 plasmids from the first game, and only about 8 weapons, most of which are useless and boring to use. The hacking puzzles that I personally enjoyedHonestly disappointed in this game. I was expecting alot more, but wasn't satisfied. While the story, graphics, music and voice acting is incredible, the gameplay seems to lag behind everything else. There are only 8 vigors, as opposed to the 11 plasmids from the first game, and only about 8 weapons, most of which are useless and boring to use. The hacking puzzles that I personally enjoyed are gone. Weapon upgrading is nowhere near as good as it was in the first two games, The Sky-Hook, though, was really awesome and cool. Landing those fatalities with the weapon was so satisfying. The last thing I'll say about this game is that the ending was a huge disappointment, and not rewarding at all. But hey, alot of people seem to be calling this game their GOTY contender, so keep playing. I still think it sucks, I still think it's stupid, but keep playing.… Expand
  27. Husk989
    Apr 7, 2013
    4
    This game is visually stunning. However it doesn't bring anything new to the genre and in fact is worse features wise compared to the earlier games. In infinite the entire story is on rails you make no decisions that effect the ending there is no mechanic based on morality. Games in the same series that offer less than the previous games for the sake of better graphics are not better games.
  28. DribbleGribble
    Apr 20, 2013
    4
    What happened to the gameplay following on from the great Bioshock 1 and 2?
    Bioshock Infinite has no right to have the word Bioshock in the title! Where's the choices and consequences? Where's the scares? Where's the excitement? This is the most dissappointing game I have ever played, based on my expectations!
  29. fedro
    Jul 31, 2013
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The bioshock franchise has been blinded and overpraised by this new trend that "Videogames are art". Looking at this game gameplay-wise makes it a very average game and a disgrace for a series so praised as bioshsock. I don't have any problems with the change of genre but why this particular game doesn't get the same flame as many other games saying they are flooding the market with FPS and CoD rip-offs,and this game had no reason to change from a vintage health bar to a cover and wait shield; there is no point on changing. It also changes to a two weapon mechaninc... sounds familiar. But if the gameplay is different it should be better right? But all the strategy and real challenge the previous games had were torn appart into a dumbed down shoot-run-hide CoD ripoff. The weapons you use change because you become tired of using one and you want to change to another and there is no real point on thinking what weapon you should use in these particular scenario, given that all "battles" are virtualy the same being as I said shoot-run-hide-repeat. The weapons aren't memorable and you just stop using some of them to use just, well, better weapons. The same happens witht he vigoors, until you get a particular vigoor, you only need one permanet which is the mind control one and the other slot you can use whichever you feel like it. I know there are some enemies that have a weakness to a specific vigoor but you can still use the bronco one and pass the game as a breeze. And the upgrade path has been also dumbed down into a three way no brainer and upgrading your weapons and vigoors have no strategy whatsoever specially the vigoors as the traps have no purpose in a battle heavy FPS. Also, you don't get the option to unlock the poorly excuse of a vita chamber here so dying is only an issue in 1999 mode which gets me to my other point. There were claims that the 1999 mode was going to bring challenge again to the gamers but it just lets you die like a normal game and it offends the name challenge by making the enemies bullet sponges and with an unhuman acuracy. In bioshock 1 and 2 it made sense that the splicers have this king of acuracy and resistance given that they augmented their body to the point they went mad. So if you are going to change the whole mechanics of the game, you should also change the AI of the enemies for a fair challenge. It is still the easiest of the franchise but also the most frustrating. You can tell they didn't change the AI because the frikin policemen attack you the same way a splicer would; rushing in and shouting like a mad men without thinking a bit. So like many reviews had said the thing that stands the most are the skylines but it doens' change the fact that the gameplay was butcherd then grouped around some CoD and then pasted again with our next topic which is the fake gold or pyrite which is the artistic design. of the game. In every review I had heard of this game, half of it is about the plot and character design. Which people praise for reasons I can't explain. The plot is transdimencional that just explains EVERYTHING with multiple unvierses and isn't interesting at all. Also at the middle of the game all you have done to get somewhere is trowned to the trash and just go to another universe that changes everything which is just dumb. And remember, when I say everything is explained with multiple universes, I MEAN EVERYTHING even stupid things like ghosts. And compared to the depth and scientific acuracy of what was bioshock 1 and 2 this one has some serious problems and inacuracies for me, a 17 year old guy who just happens to love physics and know about some topics. It just says quantum particles which stay at a fixed height and doesn't go into depth to what it does or how it is powered. There is also NO explanation for the vigoors. Seriously, non, go and try to find out. And now with the characters, they are simply generic characters that doesn't compare a little to the characters of bioshock. I don't want to go in depth with all as I would never finish so lets go with the most overrated character of the game if not a contender for gordon freeman and master chief, Elizabeth. She is a one-dimensional generic women that does what all animes do, generate a waifu. A bland character based on millions behind her which can be or very over the top or a quiet character. Elizabeth isn't either as she is not Japanese, but her character is a copy paste from the most one dimensional characters that this world could ever imagine, a disney princess. This is not just the obvious, not, there are intreviews where they say their character is based on Bella of Beauty and the Beast. So, NO, Elizabeth is as bland as princess Toadstool. And finally, the "super deep satire and criticism of the US". I will wrap it up saying that thisdoesn't complement the plot. At theend it is just "look we're racis"t without a point just squashed into it.But the graphics are good meh ugly faces… Expand
  30. Cjbarbrill
    Aug 20, 2013
    4
    I loved the first bioshock and when I saw the trailers for this game I set my expectations WAY to high,
    so the fact that this game BLEW ME AWAY should be a you need to know. The game is beautiful even though its on Xbox and the art style is one of the best I've seen in any game ever. The gameplay is SO much fun, it's fast paced, balanced, fluid, and addictive. I don't know why people    I loved the first bioshock and when I saw the trailers for this game I set my expectations WAY to high,
    so the fact that this game BLEW ME AWAY should be a you need to know. The game is beautiful even though its on Xbox and the art style is one of the best I've seen in any game ever. The gameplay is SO much fun, it's fast paced, balanced, fluid, and addictive. I don't know why people complain about it "not being revolutionary" when it introduced awesome features in the skyline system, tear manipulation, and had one of the best, if not THE best, companion characters. Speaking of characters they're all fantastic, each one of them had such depth. And lastly the story which was just phenomenal, I'm not going to say any more about it. This game is must play and it's the only game I've ever played that I'd give 10/10. It's my favorite game and you NEED to play it if you own any type of console.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2013
3
#3 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2013
8
#8 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Gamers' Temple
    May 27, 2013
    98
    An instant classic that should be kept in a special place in every gamer's collection.
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  2. GameFocus
    May 11, 2013
    87
    BioShock Infinite is a sure-fire game-of-the-year candidate, and definitely one of the standout single-player games of this generation.
    Read full review
  3. GameCritics
    Apr 19, 2013
    70
    Fuzzy-headed narrative and thematically irrelevant auxiliary mechanics make Infinite feel sloppy even when it's working. Combat increases in frequency and decreases in impact after the Hall of Heroes, so for most of its length the game sinks towards a deflated ending rather than rising towards a climax. However, that slow descent starts from a great height, so there is still much to value in Infinite even as it drowns in its own shortcomings.
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