Columbia
N: I thought the sky-rail system would be more developed than it was. I imagine they would’ve needed to build a lot more game to have more complex lines, but I always thought the game would be a bit more open-world-ish in that regard. Funny enough, that’s the same thought I had when Jet Set Radio Future came out, that it’d be more open for exploration. Wandering around Columbia, at least in those first few sequences, is maybe one of the best parts of the game. You’re no longer wandering through the husk of a dark, dead city, you’re amongst the living crowds of a bright and sunny Columbia that’s performing business as usual. I didn’t even fire a gun until almost an hour in. I really wanted to see more of the civilians living their lives, maybe interact with them meaningfully.
Cody: It definitely left an impression. Columbia is breathtakingly rendered and although my machine isn’t perfect, it still managed a decent framerate on my PC, at Ultra-High DX11 settings. I imagine the quality pretty good on the console version as well.
N: The Xbox 360 version looked great, but it did get frame-y at times. I thought the art direction was really clever. I loved the levels, which seems like such an antiquated term to describe the scenes that Irrational created here.
Cody: Infinite capitalized on its excellent art direction and level design. I really enjoyed the point later in the game where the city is draped in Vox Populi banners. As far as the stylized art direction goes, it didn’t feel any different than that of the BioShock games. It’s nice that games don’t need to rely on realism and the grit that comes with it to create a beautiful game. It is what it is, and though the character designs look cartoon-y at times, they don’t take away from the game or the experience.
N: I think despite all the cool things that BioShock did being underwater, running around Shantytown or the dockyards was great. There wasn’t a moment that it felt rote, except for a time when I felt the game had reduced itself a bit too much later on and became really dark. BioShock was very much a horror game, but Infinite isn’t. In that game, you dreaded exploration because a splicer was gonna fly out of somewhere and rip you up. Here, you can take your time and really absorb the game.
Cody: I know which part you mean, and yeah, it really went into this creepy, unnerving point that felt like a call back to BioShock, but the tone set there seemed appropriate for the plot point being revealed.
N: I think they could’ve gone about it another way. It’s not that I’m opposed to scary games, I felt BioShock was a little weak because I enjoyed System Shock 2, but the way that story beat pulled the whole pace down, I’m not quite sure why they’d ditch out like that. Infinite was a lot of things the BioShock games weren’t: fun. I wanted to play it more early on and less later.
What you thought about tears as both a gameplay mechanic and as a way to change the story? You knew exactly when there was going to be a shootout because there’d be tears placed everywhere and it broke the illusion, but as far as the game’s narrative, they almost made me uncomfortable how they were exploited. Not in a bad way, but in a way that was really adventurous.
Cody: They definitely added something of a Doctor Who element in a steampunk, skybound city, especially when Elizabeth seemed to ‘time-shift’ things around and the effects it had on people who had been killed. It’s a quirky mystery that I think would have pushed the game past the fifteen-hour mark if they had explored it more.
N: What more do you think Irrational should’ve done in this game? I mentioned more open world elements. Do you think they should’ve fleshed out the game more in regards to alternate realities? When they went through, they drastically changed the universe and that’s why I really liked it/felt uncomfortable about it. They weren’t able to go back.
Cody: True enough. I suppose after the first time, you’d be very reluctant to use them further. I suppose if they explored it more, it might become contrived, but as it stands, it’s a nicely wrapped mystery that made you afraid to poke it any further, in regards to reality altering effects
N: How did you feel about the civilian aspects of the game, like when you’re not shooting a gun?
Cody: A nice breath of fresh air honestly, though it was odd when you had your gun pulled out and people didn’t seem to mind having it shoved in their faces.
N: I noticed that no one seemed to take offense to that.
Cody: I guess people do that all the time in Columbia. Heh.
N: There are guns everywhere, so…
Cody: I guess they don’t have the same gun control arguments we do. Ha ha!
Conclusion
N: All right, now to draw some numbers: what would you rate it?
Cody: I’d give it a 9, honestly. The game was just fun, and though I felt like certain story arcs were brushed under the rug for the sake of the big stuff, the game was well-rounded and kept me playing for hours on end. It was a short experience, but a good one, no less.
N: It was a lot of what I wanted in a BioShock game. The narrative is Levine’s most impressive to date, the game takes you to a lot of places you’ve never been before, and Elizabeth is a character that I’ll never forget. I’d also give it a 9 because of the tonal shifts that slow the game down, but there are few people that could make a game as rich and thorough as Infinite is.
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