Here is the review of BioShock Infinite that I wrote for this week’s print edition of Entertainment Weekly:
The original BioShock is a definite contender for the Greatest Games of All Time list. The 2007 undersea dystopian adventure could have been just one of the niftiest first-person shooters ever. But creator Ken Levine infused the game with a surprising amount of intellectual depth. (How many games do you know that deconstruct Ayn Rand?) READ FULL STORY »
In the long lead-up to the release of BioShock Infinite, you’ve probably read a lot about how visionary game developer Ken Levine has layered all sorts of intriguing big-idea themes into the new game. You’ve probably also read a few think-pieces about the original BioShock, a videogame that functioned as a deconstruction of Ayn Rand’s principles of Objectivism. Lost in all this deep-think chatter is the fact that the original BioShock was also an addictively fun game. The newest trailer for Infinite puts the focus on the gameplay, with a whole elaborate array of weapons and superpowers.
Watch the trailer below: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: BioShock Infinite
One of the most hotly anticipated games of 2013 is BioShock Infinite, a dark steampunk adventure set in an alternate-universe in 1912 on the flying city of Columbia. It’s the first game that designer Ken Levine has completed since the first BioShock, the Ayn-Rand-Goes-to-Atlantis megahit that is still widely regarded as one of the great achievements in modern gaming. EW got to play the first few hours of Infinite, and then we spoke to Levine about exploring mature themes, the violent videogame controversy, and how Dungeons & Dragons saved his sanity. BioShock Infinite is set for a March 26 release on Windows, PlayStation 3, and XBox 360.
READ FULL STORY »
“Booker, are you afraid of God?
“No, I’m afraid of you.”
So begins BioShock Infinite.
The third installment in the revolutionary BioShock series is set – at last – for a March 26 release — until then, gamers will have to satiate themselves with footage of the first five minutes of gameplay.
If you watched Friday night’s Spike TV Video Game Awards, you know that only a small slice of the program was really about honoring the best games of 2012. In fact, most viewers likely tuned in to get a first look at the hottest games of 2013, and Spike didn’t disappoint, shoe-horning in multiple world-premiere trailers for next year’s most anticipated titles. Care to see what’s in store? Click below. READ FULL STORY »
The Game: One of the most highly anticipated games of 2013, BioShock Infinite hopes to do for airships and American Exceptionalism what 2007′s BioShock did for underwater cities and Ayn Rand-ian Objectivism. Which is: Make them really, really cool. The game (for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and now due for release on March 26, 2013) is set in 1912, roughly 50 years before the events of BioShock — though I should add that it’s unclear whether these games are even set in the same basic universe. We follow ex-Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, as he infiltrates the massive, dazzling floating city of Columbia in order to find and rescue a mysterious woman named Elizabeth, who seems to be at the heart of both the city’s overriding mythology, and its ongoing civil war. The city was founded by a self-styled prophet named Father Comstock, whose loyal followers, keen on keeping Columbia a pure place of worship, are at odds with the violent insurgents known as the Vox Populi. Booker quickly discovers his simple rescue mission is anything but.
What We Played: At a special press preview event on Thursday, I got a good 90 minutes with the game, from the very opening sequence up to right before Booker first finds Elizabeth. READ FULL STORY »
