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BioShock Infinite

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BioShock Infinite
File:Bioshock-infinite-logo.jpg
Title card
Developer(s)Irrational Games
Publisher(s)2K Games
Designer(s)Ken Levine
SeriesBioShock
EngineModified Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 3
Xbox 360
Genre(s)First-person shooter, action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

BioShock Infinite is an upcoming first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games for a worldwide release on February 26, 2013 release on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel or prequel to previous BioShock games, taking place in an earlier period and different setting, though it features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

Building on the ideas of American Exceptionalism in the early 20th century, the game's protagonist, former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, is sent in 1912 to the floating air-city of Columbia to seek out a young woman, Elizabeth, who has been held captive there for the last twelve years. Though Booker rescues Elizabeth easily, the two are pursued by warring factions on the collapsing city: the Founders that strive to keep the city for pure American citizens, and the Vox Populi, a hodgepodge group of several smaller factions trying to seize control from the Founders. Booker finds Elizabeth to be central to this conflict, and that she also holds strange powers to manipulate rifts in the time-space continuum that ravage Columbia. Ken Levine, the lead designer for the game, took inspiration for the story and setting from both historical pieces at the turn of the 19th century, as well as more recent events including the "Occupy" protests. Levine took an unorthodox approach with the voice actors for Booker and Elizabeth, Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper, respectively, by developing the script and details of the story alongside them during their voice work, allowing them to help define the characters and deliver more convincing performances within the game.

The player controls Booker throughout the game, eventually teaming with the computer-controlled Elizabeth. Like previous BioShock games, the player uses a combination of weapons, psychokinetic powers granted through "vigors" and "nostrums", and Elizabeth's own powers to fight off hostile foes and make their way through Columbia. In contrast to the limited spaces of the underwater city of Rapture, the open-air city of Columbia provides for more combat challenges, including combat that takes place aboard the city's Skyline rollercoaster-like rail system. The game will also feature a "1999 Mode", harkening back to games like System Shock 2 where decisions made by the player will have a more permanent impact on the game, possibly leading the player to an unwinnable situation and requiring a restart from an earlier saved game.

BioShock Infinite has received early pre-release attention, winning several awards including the "Best of Show" at the 2011 E3 show.

Synopsis

Setting

BioShock Infinite takes place on the steampunk air-city of Columbia.

The primary setting of BioShock Infinite is a city suspended in the air by giant blimps and balloons, called "Columbia", named in homage to the female personification of the United States. Unlike the secret development of the underwater city of Rapture used as the settings for BioShock and BioShock 2, Columbia was built and launched in 1900 by the American government to much fanfare and publicity. The city was meant to symbolize the ideas of exceptionalism;[2][3] the reveal trailer for the game alludes to the 1893 Worlds Fair which is historically considered to be the emergence of American exceptionalism.[4] On the surface, Columbia appeared to be designed as a floating Worlds Fair that could travel across the globe; however, some time after its launch but before the game's events, the city was revealed to be a well-armed battleship, and became involved in an "international incident" by firing upon a group of Chinese civilians during the Boxer Rebellion.[5][6]

The city was disavowed by the United States government, and the location of the city was soon lost to everyone else.[5][7] The city became, as described by Nick Cowen of The Guardian, "a kind of roaming boogieman moving from place to place and imposing its will on people below".[8]

As a result of the city's isolation, a civil war eventually broke out on Columbia between different factions of citizens, each trying to seize control of the city from the powers-that-be.[9] At the time of the game's events, only two main factions remain. One group are the Founders, the remnants of those retaining power over the city led by Zachary Hale Comstock. This is the city's ruling class, which seeks to keep Columbia purely for American citizens while denying foreigners the same privileges. The other is a group named Vox Populi (Latin for "voice of the people"), a rag-tag resistance group, led by Daisy Fitzroy, opposed to the ultranationalists. Vox Populi is formed from several factions with similar ideologies that fought to seize control and restore the rights of Columbia citizenship to all. However, years of war and struggle have driven Vox Populi to fight the powers-that-be solely out of blind hatred, resulting in more violent and brutal methods and leading to subfactions in the group.[9]

Like Rapture, Columbia is considered a dystopia, but with signs present suggesting a theocratic government taking control at some point, and similar racial-purification concepts such as Nazism, jingoism, and xenophobia.[10][11][3][12] One of the items in the press packages for the game included a tag that would purportedly be worn by immigrants aboard Columbia, requiring those of non-European descent, which includes Papists, Gypsies, Irish and Greeks,[12] to list out numerous details, including religious affiliation and data relating to eugenics; another item was a Columbia propaganda poster that warned "We must all be vigilant to ensure the purity of our people."[12] Columbia has been compared to a cross between steampunk and the Star Wars Bespin cloud city,[11] as well as the airships of Final Fantasy settings[10] though Irrational's Ken Levine has compared the weaponized city to the Death Star.[13]

Plot

The events of the game take place in 1912. The player assumes the identity of Booker DeWitt, a disgraced former agent of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who was dismissed for behavior beyond the acceptable bounds of the Agency. He is hired by mysterious individuals, aware of Columbia's location, and tasked to infiltrate the air-city and rescue a young woman named Elizabeth, who has been held aboard the air-city for the last twelve years.[5][11] Though Booker finds Elizabeth easily enough, he quickly discovers that Elizabeth is central to the civil war raging in the city, her rescue being the start of the chain of events that ultimately lead to Columbia's down-fall.[14] Each faction seeks to use Elizabeth to turn the tide of the conflict in their favor; the Founders believe Elizabeth's powers can help end the conflict and place them back in control, while the Vox Populi would rather kill Elizabeth than allow the Founders to get their hands on her, believing a prophecy that if Elizabeth falls, so does Columbia. Booker and Elizabeth are forced to trust each other in order to escape.[7][9][15] Elizabeth also seeks to understand the powers that she has been given, believing Comstock to be responsible, and refuses to leave Columbia until she learns the truth.[8] To complicate matters, the pair is chased by Songbird, a large, robotic bird-like creature who had been Elizabeth's friend and warden over the last twelve years of her imprisonment.[16][17] Songbird was designed by its creator to feel betrayal should Elizabeth escape, comparable to an abusive spouse, according to Hilary Goldstein of IGN, and Elizabeth notes she "would rather be killed than be recaptured by Songbird."[17]

File:BioShock-Infinite-Revenge-Of-the-Jedi.jpg
Elizabeth stares at an unfamiliar sight after she and Booker are pulled through a tear: a theater marquee announcing the showing of Revenge of the Jedi. The area of this setting came from art assets that Irrational had developed for another scrapped project.

In addition to the internal strife, Columbia is ravaged by tears in the fabric of space-time.[17][18] A strange shimmering effect as seen by Booker causes momentary changes to pictures, banners, and people, representing the nearby presence of a tear.[16] The tears have brought seemingly anachronistic elements into the Columbia of 1912; for example, an early gameplay demo footage features a record player in a bar plays a woman singing the lyrics to Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".[19] 1UP.com's preview of the 2011 E3 game demonstration denotes that at one point, Booker and Elizabeth find themselves in 1983, evident by a movie marquee showing Revenge of the Jedi (the original working name for Return of the Jedi), a result of a misfire of Elizabeth's powers involving tears in the fabric of space-time when she tries to help revive a horse.[18][8]

Though the game takes place before the events of the previous two BioShock games (occurring in 1960 and 1968, respectively), Irrational Games has not confirmed if BioShock Infinite shares the same universe with these titles; Ken Levine left the question of the possibility unanswered in an interview stemming from the game's announcement.[20]

Gameplay

Like Bioshock, BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter with role-playing game and Survival Horror elements similar to the previous two games. As Booker, the player moves about the various structures of Columbia using a grappling hook, a series of railways connecting the buildings called the Skyline, and other transport means to search for Elizabeth. The player will gain weapons which can be used in numerous ways within the environment, including on the Skyline, to defeat enemies.[21] Booker gains powers and abilities by using vigors and nostrums that are found through Columbia, the equivalent of BioShock's plasmids and tonics. Vigors grant activated powers such as telekinesis, electricity manipulation, or animal control (as seen by the manipulation of a flock of crows within the gameplay demo), while nostrums are passive abilities that can improve the player's strength or damage resistance. Unlike BioShock in which the player was able to use special Gene Banks to alter the loadout of plasmids and tonics they had, the choice to imbibe a certain vigor or nostrum is permanent and cannot be changed later in the game, placing emphasis on the consequences of the player's choices throughout the game.[3][16] Infinite does not use EVE, the equivalent of magic points, for powering abilities gained by vigors or nostrums. Each container of vigor has a limited number of charges in it, and while more can be found around the game's environment, the player can only carry a limited number of vigors into battle, with more powerful vigors containing fewer charges.[22] Nostrums are permanent changes to the character and cannot be removed once used. These come in two types, stable and unstable varieties, the latter referred to as "potlucks". Stable nostrums are more expensive, but the player knows exactly what effect applying the nostrum will gain them. Unstable nostrums are cheaper or can be found lying around the environment, but upon use, require the player to select one of four random effects to alter their character, an idea inspired by Heroes of Might and Magic according to Levine.[22]

Once reunited with Elizabeth, who also has a set of such powers, the player must work together with her to escape Columbia. For example, Elizabeth can create a localized rainstorm on foes, which the player, as Booker, can then fire upon with an electricity-based attack, electrocuting the foes.[5] The player will not be directly in control of Elizabeth, but instead she will react to the player and the current situation in a manner similar to the AI Director in Left 4 Dead, according to Levine.[21] However, using Elizabeth's powers also harms her, an action compared to the choice of killing or saving the Little Sisters from the previous games.[11] Elizabeth also has the ability to interact with the tears in the fabric of space-time, pulling objects from the other side to use within Columbia, escaping from battle through these, or repairing them.[17] The player will need to protect Elizabeth, but will not need "to babysit and hand-hold" her through the game.[23] Levine has stated that working with Elizabeth in the game is "in no way, shape, or form is this an escort mission", identifying that players reacted negatively to a late-game stage in the original BioShock in which they were tasked to protect a Little Sister.[24]

Several different human forces are at work opposed to the player's progress within the city.[2] Furthermore, the player and Elizabeth are chased by Songbird (sometimes simply referred to as "Him"), who is attempting to snatch Elizabeth from the player after being her guardian and companion for the last twelve years.[16] A set of larger, mechanical enemies created by the Founders, dubbed "Heavy Hitters", act as mini-bosses through the game, demanding new tactics from the player.[25] One type of these are the Handymen, so named for their large porcelain doll-like hands; they are robotic-like monsters housing a human heart and head, with the ability to jump large distances and easily throw the player- and non-player characters alike.[16][26][27][17][28] A second class are the Motorized Patriots, once used as tour guides for the city, decorated in patriotic colors and wear a wax mask of George Washington, assaulting its foes with a "peppermill" automatic machine gun.[25] The player will have several options of approaching the Heavy Hitters, such as by using stealth to bypass the encounter, or to hack into the machine and take control of it.[25] The Boys of Silence are men in foppish outfits locked into a metal helmet with giant ears; the humans inside are blind but due to the helmet have super-human hearing, and act as Columbia's security system, requiring the player to chose to carefully between stealth and a direct assault, whereupon the Boys can scream to call in back up.[29] Finally, the Siren is a mysterious, completely enshrouded female figure, based on the Spiritualism movement near the end of the 19th century, that can revive defeated foes during combat, requiring the player to decide whether to concentrate attacks on the Siren or the newly-revived enemies.[30]

The Skyline is a rail-based system (originally designed for moving cargo around Columbia but later used for personnel transport) similar to the concept found in the Ratchet & Clank games and described by Levine as "a roller coaster, over another roller coaster, over another roller coaster";[23] players activate a wrist-mounted tool that Booker and enemies wear to jump and hang onto the self-powered tracks. Players can jump onto, off of, and between Skyline tracks at any time, and may face enemies that use the system to attack; the player can use weapons in Booker's free hand to defend the character. The freedom of movement along the Skyline allows for several varieties of combat, including flanking, cover, and area-of-effect attacks through creative uses of the system.[23][31]

Irrational Games has stated that the game's set pieces are not heavily scripted; this statement was made in response to reaction to a gameplay preview video released during the week of September 21, 2010, which, within ten minutes, demonstrated numerous elements of the game. The development team called the game's pacing "like BioShock 1", and that while there will be some scripted set pieces, the developers want the player to be able to explore Columbia at their own pace.[32] Unlike Jack or Delta, the silent protagonists of BioShock and BioShock 2 respectively, and who are guided by radio commands from a third party, Booker will be a vocal character, with dialogue designed to aid the player in leading Booker to complete his mission.[16]

In addition to the normal game mode, BioShock Infinite will include a "1999 Mode", so named for the release year of System Shock 2, a game worked on by Levine and several other Irrational Games developers. 1999 Mode is a more challenging version of the game, requiring the player to make mutually exclusive specialization choices, such as choosing which weapon type that Booker is proficient at, which may make later parts of the game difficult to complete, and may require the player to reload from earlier saved games to manage their resources better.[33][34]

At the present time, Irrational Games has not committed to including a multiplayer element within the game. While the team will experiment with concepts for a multiplayer component, Levine has stated that they would only proceed forward if it had elements not otherwise found in multiplayer games like Halo or Call of Duty.[35][36]

During Sony's E3 press conference on June 6, 2011 creative director Ken Levine announced on-stage that BioShock Infinite will support the PlayStation Move.[37] Though some reports believed that a new Move controller would be produced for the game based on information from Sony, 2K Games debunked these stories, stating that no new hardware is being developed for the game.[38]

Development

Though BioShock Infinite shares the same name with the other two games, Levine has stated that this is a new direction, and was coy to answer if they shared the same universe.[20] Levine referred to the term BioShock not as a specific location or setting, but a concept conjoined by two ideas: the exploration of a fantastical setting, and the use of a large number of tools and abilities in creative manners to survive.[13] Along with the System Shock games, which Levine and other Irrational developers had worked on, the titles share the same idea of a "component of learning about a new place" and shocking the player into discovering more of the setting, according to Levine.[39] Levine affirmed that with the similarities between the games, "It would be dishonest to say this is not BioShock".[21] Similarly, Timothy Gerritsen, director of product development, stated they wanted to keep the feel of the BioShock experience but still consider Infinite to be a new intellectual property; as a means to sever the implied connection to the previous games, the teaser purposely shows a Big Daddy figurine being crushed at the onset.[40] This was furthered by the selection of the word Infinite as part of the title, to reflect the "many possibilities" they wanted to explore with the BioShock concept.[40]

Story and setting

If you think about the founding principles of the United States, if you think about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, what's interesting to me is how two different people can look at the same set of documents by a single group of writers and come away with entirely different opinions about what those writings mean-so different that they're willing to kill each other over them.

Ken Levine, Irrational Games[41]

Irrational had been working in secrecy on Infinite for two-and-a-half years since completing the original BioShock prior to its announcement;[42] once completed, more than four years of development had been put into the game.[43] 2K Games gave them the freedom to develop their sequel at will.[40] For the first six months of development, the team prototyped several possible ideas to brainstorm on what concepts would be effective for the next game.[44] The idea of the air-city came early in the development. The open-air environment gave them an opportunity to use color schemes that sharply contrasted with the darker palettes that were a staple of their earlier games.[20] Even then, their initial designs of the flying city were darker and closer to Art Nouveau, making the game world too claustrophobic and appearing similar to the city of Rapture. The period of American exceptionalism allowed them to create a brighter, expansive system.[45]

According to Irrational's Ken Levine, the name "Columbia", in reference to the female figure that personifies the United States, and the idea of American exceptionalism did not come about until six to eight months before the game's reveal.[2] An early concept was to depict a group of technology geeks against a band of luddites, but Levine found that such conflict exists "only in shades of reality" and wasn't compelling enough.[46] Instead, the Irrational team recentered on the idea of American Exceptionalism, a tangible concept that continues to be repeated throughout history.[46] The idea came to Levine after watching a PBS documentary, America 1900, about the late 19th century, which quickly caught on with the rest of the team.[20][47] In particular, Levine pointed to one quote of U.S. President William McKinley on the eve of the Philippine–American War, which spoke to the need of America to "uplift and civilize and Christianize" the natives of the Philippines.[12] Though the accuracy of the quote is disputed, Irrational's lead artist Shawn Robinson noted that BioShock Infinite's goal is "not to teach any history", but felt such historical aspects helped to ground the work's fiction.[12] Levine stated that in the same manner that BioShock was not built specifically around objectivism, Infinite is not built around jingoism, but only uses the concepts to help set the stage to tell the story of individuals caught up in the conflicts.[48] Another work that Levine took inspiration from was Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City about Dr. H. H. Holmes, the first recorded serial killer at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago; Levine considered how the work gave "a great optimism and excitement for the future and one of this ominous feeling at the same time".[47]

Levine considered how the founding documents of the United States can be interpreted in several ways, leading to conflict between those that hold various interpretations of those ideals, leading to Infinite's different factions.[41] Figureheads of the powers-that-be like Saltonstall are based on both historical and present-day nationalistic personalities, seeking to put the needs of America before others.[9] One example given by Levine is President Theodore Roosevelt, whose ideals were highly influential during America's transformation in the early 20th century; Levine considered how Roosevelt willingly gave up office to fight during the Spanish–American War.[49] On the other hand, the Vox Populi were based on historical factions that often splintered into small, independent groups that undertook violent actions, such as the Red Army Faction from the 1970s and the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front of present day.[9] During the course of the game's development period, the series of "Occupy" protests occurred across several cities; Levine, comparing these protests to other historical ones already incorporated into Columbia's history, used the real-time events to refine the game's story. Specifically, due to the nature of the various decentralized groups involved with the "Occupy" protests, Levine was able to define how the Vox Populi group would grow from its haphazard beginnings.[50] Levine reflected that despite the game's earlier setting, many of the modern day political turmoil calls back to similar tactics and behavior used in the early days of America's democracy, and thus provided a means to flesh out these aspects within the game.[51]

Propaganda such as the British poster for World War I recruitment (left), inspired much of Columbia's propaganda (right) developed by Irrational.[42]

The Irrational team reviewed much of the American culture and propaganda at the turn of the 20th century, using the artwork to create some of the in-game posters.[48][52] Levine commented that at the time, such imagery was "really subtle", and considered that their re-envisioning of these posters within Columbia was "a great way to communicate ideas visually".[42] Other sources of inspiration for the game's art included photographs from before and after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and from Sears-Roebuck catalogs from the turn of the century.[53] Another source of inspiration for the art style was developed by considering Infinite to represent "The Fourth of July, 1912", just as BioShock resonated with the theme of "New Years Eve 1959". By selecting this hypothetical date, the team quickly identified films to draw imagery from, like The Music Man, Meet Me in St. Louis, and Hello, Dolly which exhibited ideal views of Americana at the turn of the 20th century.[16] The bright, open-air environments of Columbia presented a challenge to the team to keep aspects of the horror genre within the game; Levine stated they took some inspiration from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and David Lynch's Blue Velvet, transforming an "antiseptic environment" into the "scariest ******* place [one's] ever seen".[31][41]

The game's music was also heavily influenced by historical trends. Levine commented that with the original BioShock game, set in the 1950's and 1960's, it was easy to acquire musical pieces representative of the era. With Infinite's early 20th century setting, much of the recorded music of that time would not be considered music of today, according to Levine. Instead, they had to explore the changes in music during this period, observing that much of the early forms of music in America derived from gospel, ragtime, blues and jazz, works influenced by African Americans and their heritage. Levine stated that the Founders would consider the co-opting of such works from minorities "quite antithetical", and have placed elements within the game's story to explain how the such music would be appreciated aboard Columbia.[49]

One of the game demonstrations showed Elizabeth accidentally opening a tear into a 1980's setting after trying to revive a fallen horse. This setting was in contrast to their initial idea, a woodland glade, which Levine felt wasn't "striking or different enough" than the rest of Columbia. Instead, they borrowed assets from a previous project that, according to lead artist Shawn Robertson, Irrational was "literally about to throw away", finding the contrast and abrupt differences from the Columbia setting helped to emphases the use of tears in the game.[46]

Veteran voice actor Troy Baker plays Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite.

Booker will be voiced by veteran voice actor Troy Baker, while Elizabeth will be voiced by actress Courtnee Draper.[54] Baker and Draper's participation in the development process was atypical for most video games; instead of just coming in to record their lines, Levine considered them as collaborators on the story development process.[55] The three spent a significant amount of time in the recording studio, improvising scenes and working on repeated recordings to try to find the right tone to present scripted dialog; such changes were then reflected appropriately in the game's story and dialog. Levine favorably contrasted Baker and Draper as "the genius and the novice" respectively; Baker had several previous roles in video game voice-overs, while Draper had none; the different levels of experience between the two helped to tighten the performances, the combination a "potent mix" according to Levine.[55] Levine explained one case where Draper was struggling to give a convincing tearful performance when Elizabeth is having difficulty using her powers. Both Draper and Levine believed it would be helpful to have Baker provide Booker's loud, berating dialog alongside Draper to help Draper find the right emotional response to deliver for the scene.[55][56] Levine considered the input of both actors of critical importance to be able to deliver a lot of information, both in words and emotion, in only a few lines of dialog.[55] Levine also worked with the actors directly to script out specific scenes once they had gotten to know their characters before recording their voices.[56] Despite working closely with Baker and Draper on characterization and creating dialog on the fly, Levine did not provide the actors with full knowledge of their characters' backstory or the overarching plot of the game prior to recording; according to Levine, this helped the actors to create the in-game connection between Booker and Elizabeth in a much more natural manner than reading with full knowledge of the script.[56] Similarly, Levine has not told the developers on his team the whole story of BioShock Infinite, using the reveals to gauge their reactions and adjust the story as needed; this had created some strife in the team, as they would prefer working with full knowledge of the script, but Levine noted "that's not the way we present stuff to the gamer".[57]

The inclusion of the Elizabeth character was inspired by the character of Alyx Vance from Half-Life 2, a central element and an "emotional driver" to the game's story.[39] Irrational wanted to expand on that concept, demonstrating how such a character would interact with talkative player-character, compared to the silent Gordon Freeman, and creating further emotional ties between the two characters. The plot revolves around changes that Elizabeth, Booker, and their relationship undergo as the player explores deeper into Columbia. Technically, the developers had spent much time developing routines to give Elizabeth her own tendencies to look and move around as a real actor instead of a robotic non-player character, as to re-enforce her central role to the player.[39] To this, Levine explained that they looked to the banter between the main characters in the Uncharted series by Naughty Dog. Levine praised the work that Naughty Dog had done, and felt he would be able to create the same with a more somber period piece.[56] Some of Elizabeth's responses will be driven by a player's action (such as the aforementioned horse recovery scene), but other times, Elizabeth's actions will be on her own in response to the environment; however, as for the player not miss these elements, such actions would only be performed based on a number of factors, including whether the player was near and looking at Elizabeth, and the current tension of the game.[58] Elizabeth's character, particularly her relationship to her captor, the Songbird, is based on his experience with a former female companion that Levine had; she had told Levine that her previous relationship was abusive, but she would otherwise "make excuses for him [her former friend], all the time" and ultimately returned back to him.[15] Levine had altered this in Infinite, that while creating the abusive relation between Elizabeth and Songbird, Elizabeth desired to escape that, even if death was the only option; at one point in the game's preview material, Elizabeth is shown wrapping Booker's hands around her neck and convincing him to kill her while Songbird attempts to break into the building that have secured themselves into.[15] In response to discussions on Internet forums regarding the size and exposed nature of Elizabeth's breasts, Levine noted that part of their design for Elizabeth and her costume was to be able to recognize her from a distance given the open-space nature of the game and limited resolution. Levine stated that her costume is inspired by that of superheroes, using a simple color scheme that would help her to stand out in the colorful and complex landscapes.[59]

Technical and gameplay development

According to Levine, the team had to revolutionize their previous work on the BioShock game in order to realize Columbia, including both indoor and outdoor settings that take place thousands of feet above the ground.[60] The original BioShock engine, a modified Unreal Engine 2.x, was inadequate for their vision, and so they chose to work with Unreal Engine 3, modifying it with their own lighting engine and means to simulate the movement and buoyancy of the buildings.[40] The development team found that the implementation of open spaces created new gameplay options for the player, such as deciding between long-ranged attacks or finding a means to move in for short-range or melee combat.[23] While Irrational had followed 2K Marin's work on BioShock 2, Infinite does not include any further improvements that 2K Marin had made on the original engine.[40] According to Levine, all assets of Infinite are created from scratch.[7] The original BioShock received some criticism from PlayStation 3 owners, who found the port from the native Windows and Xbox 360 developed by a separate studio, Digital Extremes, to be lackluster. To address this, Irrational Games has stated that the PlayStation 3 version of Infinite will not be a port, as that version is being developed in-house simultaneously with the Windows and Xbox 360 versions.[61] In addition, the PlayStation 3 version of the game will support stereoscopic 3D.[62]

One challenge facing Irrational was identified from BioShock, in which players, once equipped with specific plasmids and weapons, could complete the game without having to alter their weapons; Levine quotes the saying "When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" to describe how they found players were able to complete most of BioShock using an Electrocution plasmid and a shotgun.[23] Irrational wanted instead to create situations through Infinite's weapons and powers that allowed the player to progress to some point with certain combinations but then would be forced to learn new possibilities that Irrational had designed within the game.[40] The team developed a variety of enemies that would have certain strengths and weakness that would force the player to experiment and work with all their available tools given to them.[23] This was further enhanced by the inclusion of Elizabeth, who has powers that can be used in conjunction with Booker's to achieve more impressive results but that strain her powers and giving choice to the player as and when to use her.[40] The inclusion of Elizabeth also served to better extend Irrational's vision of storytelling first-person shooters and to avoid other tropes used in similar games that have become "long in the tooth" such as receiving information over a radio or from someone on the opposite side of a window; according to Levine, having Elizabeth as a person working aside the player-characters helps to make the game "feel more grounded in humanity".[42] In contrast to the silent Jack from BioShock, the player character Booker is also given a voice, a decision to avoid complacency with the "silent protagonist" motif as well to have face-to-face interactions with other non-player characters instead of being told what to do over a radio or separated by a barrier.[41]

Players in Infinite will revisit areas from earlier in the game, in the same manner they did in BioShock. However, to create a better narrative, the Irrational team borrowed ideas from Batman: Arkham Asylum, a similar open-world game where players, on return to previous areas, would find new elements advancing the plot and gameplay.[63]

The team wanted to capture the aspect of BioShock where not every non-player character would immediately be aggressive towards you; Levine discusses a situation in Infinite where the player character walks into a crowded bar and cannot immediately tell the disposition of the non-player characters towards the player.[7] Levine compared this to the introduction of the Big Daddy in BioShock, giving the player several opportunities to view but not engage the characters so they would understand that there are several possible outcomes depending on what approach they used when they did have the ability to engage one.[64] As Infinite contains numerous groups in internal conflict with each other, the player will be given the opportunity to learn how to utilize different non-player character agents to progress in the game.[64] Irrational wanted to make sure consequences of the player's actions were reflected in the game; part of this is through the strain on Elizabeth when using her powers, but through altering the suspended city, they are able to change the environment in response to the player's choice and force the player to consider different tactics.[7]

The game's "1999 Mode" was a result of a conversation that Levine had with a college student after speaking at a college during the latter stages of Infinite's development; the student explained his disappointment with BioShock in that none of choices the player makes in that game has long-lasting impact. Levine agreed with this statement and realized that creating a permanence to the player's choices would make the game more interesting. Design director Bill Gardener also acknowledged that their approach within BioShock was part of the general trend in gaming over the last decade due to streamlining of games.[65] Irrational Games validated the inclusion using an informal survey from fans of the studio, with 57% responding positively towards the idea.[34][66] Levine compared the 1999 Mode similar to the idea of selecting a character class, and specializations would be a mutually exclusive choice; opting to be proficient in pistols would leave the character struggling to use any other weapon type.[34] Elements of resource management was also critical to Levine; while the player can revive Booker upon death within the game, this will cost resources, and potentially lead to a case where the player can no longer afford the revitalization, forcing the player to load a save game.[66] Levine wanted to also capture the flavor of games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, where turning a corner carelessly could result in the character's death by a single bullet, creating a certain tension while traversing the level.[66] The addition of the mode was late in the development cycle, requiring the Irrational Team to re-balance parts of the game for it, having to recall the design of "hard-core" games like System Shock 2 where the failure of the player would often lead to the game being over prematurely.[66] The studio recognized that the average gamer would likely quit playing the game in such circumstances, and plan to hide access to the 1999 Mode in the game's menus, such as by using the Konami Code, as to prevent such gamers from accidentally stumbling upon it.[66][65]

Promotion

Prior to its announcement on August 12, 2010, Irrational Games has used the moniker "Project Icarus" to describe their next game, creating a teaser site in late July 2010.[67] Over the weeks leading to the announcement, the animation on the teaser site slowly built up to an animated infinity symbol on the day prior to the announcement.[68]

One of the three Saturday Evening Post-inspired covers of the October 2010 issue of Game Informer to highlight BioShock Infinite, in this one showing Elizabeth tending to Songbird, a giant bird-like robotic creature

Three different covers for Game Informer's first preview of the game for its October 2010 issue were a collaboration between Irrational and the magazine, envisioning what a video game magazine would be like in the early 20th century. Each cover, drawn by Irrational's Rob Waters, are inspired by the cover artwork from The Saturday Evening Post and include fictional advertisements based on early 20th century variants, including one redrawn from a public domain ad.[69][70] Kevin Gifford of Gamasutra praised these covers, commented that such a diversion for a game magazine cover represents a paradigm change, in that "developers are beginning to appreciate what magazines can do for their media strategy that online can't", and that because Game Informer does need to vie for space at newsstands, is able to take more creative approaches with such covers as opposed to cover layers designed to gain maximum exposure.[71] Similarly, in its reveal of the first images of the player protagonist Booker, Electronic Games Monthly used a cover in homage to the Uncanny X-Men comic, Days of Future Past, another story dealing with alternate realities.[72]

A second trailer for the game premiered at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards; in it, new scenes from the game are played during the song "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?". This version of the song was sung by Elizabeth's voice actress, Courtnee Draper, while the backing guitar is played by Booker's actor, Troy Baker. While Levine had intended to use Draper for the vocals, Baker's role was happenstance; as Levine was working with Draper in the recording of the song, Baker offered up his abilities on the guitar, and the group spent several hours to exact the appropriate tone of the song.[39] Given the opportunity for a broadcast trailer, Levine wanted to create a mood piece, and centered the trailer around desolation of the workers in the factories of Columbia in the Finkton district, providing the basis for the creation of the Vox Populi.[39] The trailer had received some criticism from religious groups, believing that its producers had purposely removed the word "Lord" from the song, but Levine pointed out that the original hymn, written in 1908, did not include the word; it was added in the Carter Family recording of "Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)" in 1935.[73]

Irrational ran a "Name in the Game" contest where the winning player would have their name included in the game in some manner, such as by a non-playable character, or the name of a shop or building.[74] The winner eventually went to one "Payton Lane Easter" whom the business "Payton Lane Easter & Son" Business was named after. [75]

Initially, the game was announced for an October 2012 worldwide release in March 2012.[76] In May 2012, the game's release was pushed back to February 26, 2013 to give the developers more time to polish the title, and appearances of the game for the 2012 E3 and Gamescon conventions were put on hold.[77] The PlayStation 3 version of the game will include a copy of BioShock, and affirmed support for the PlayStation Move controller.[78]

Reception

Pre-release

BioShock Infinite was on display for the general video game audience at the 2011 E3, and won the "Best of Show" award from the Game Critics Awards, as well as "Best Original Game", "Best Action/Adventure Game", and "Best PC Game".[79]

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External links

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