E3 2011: BioShock Preview
By: Jeff Rivera
BioShock was a huge hit thanks to its fantastic storytelling, fun gameplay, incredible art design, and a setting like gaming has never seen before. BioShock 2 returned to the setting from the first game, and while it still proved to be a good game, it lacked the impact once felt by the first game. With BioShock Infinite, Irrational Games is not only seeking to bring that impact back, but to surpass it entirely.
Here at E3 2011 2k Games was doing private demos for BioShock Infinite by appointment only. On Day 2 I was fortunate enough to get my turn to see the game and I was completely blown away by what I was presented with.
For the unfamiliar, BioShock Infinite is about Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton agent, and Elizabeth, a young woman with some powerful yet not yet understood powers. Booker has been sent into Columbia to rescue Elizabeth, who has been kept captive on Columbia for the past 15 years. Booker is easily able to find Elizabeth, but she's hoping to get a grasp on how to use her powers and claims that Comstock, a political leader in Columbia, knows how to help her harness and understand her powers.
Traveling to meet Comstock is met with all kinds of obstacles as the Vox Populi, a revolutionary political group, is rioting and making a mess of Columbia. At times you'll be given the option to engage the mobs or to leave them as they are. Also making matters more difficult is that Songbird a huge mechanical bird that seems to possess some level of intellecut is out to recapture Elizabeth and return her to her former prison.
Throughout the demo we saw Booker engaging enemies in a variety of ways while Elizabeth used her powers to open rifts in time and space to either create obstacles to use as cover, bring in weapons for Booker, or change the environment. At one point Booker and Elizabeth came across a dying horse, and Elizabeth attempts to open a rift in time to save it, only to place her and Booker on a street in the 1980s where they're nearly hit by traffic before she's able to close the rift. The horse dies, and Elizabeth is left in a feeling of despair as she realizes she has very weak control over her powers.
Toward the end of the demo Booker and Elizabeth are attacked by a blimp that's launching rockets down on them from up on high. Booker and Elizabeth can see a turret that lies on the other side of a rift, but she's too weak to open the rift and allow Booker to use it. Booker assaults the blimp head on after using a hook and the city's rail system to get close enough to the blimp to board it.
After destroying the blimp, Booker is attacked by Songbird and Elizabeth is taken once again after she pleads with Songbird not to kill Booker. From beginning to end the demo was an intense and amazing ride.
Aside from the action, Booker and Elizabeth have conversations that show that the two have begun to form an emotional bond and there's some great back and forth dialog between them. Elizabeth isn't just an escort mission objective, she's Booker's partner in the adventure and Irrational Games is working hard to build a strong relationship between the two that carries emotional weight with the player.
Columbia also looks fantastic. It's alive, it's detailed, and it's believable in its own way. Much like they did with Rapture, Columbia is poised to become one of the most memorable locales in video games.
While E3 isn't over yet, it's going to be very hard to find anything that will top the experience I've had during the BioShock Infinite demo. BioShock Infinite is set to release in 2012, and more details about the game will be coming over the next few months.
