1.5/5 ★ – Lord_Hazenberg's review of BioShock Infinite.

One of the most overrated games of all time. This game is Bioshock in name only. It shares almost nothing with its 2 classic predecessors, and I’m here to explain why. First & foremost, the complete removal of player choice. The first two games prided themselves on a morality system which would change your ending depending on your choices. That’s gone. No choices matter in Infinite. People will claim that the point of the game is to show that no matter what you do the outcome won’t change. The problem is when you do that, you rip away the essence of Bioshock. You’re no longer affecting a world, but rather a bystander in protagonist form. Next is gameplay. They removed the series’ weapon wheel in favor of a 2 weapon system instead. This immediately presents another big problem. The weapon upgrade system remained, but they limited the weapons you can carry. What happens if you upgrade 2 weapons only for them to run out of ammo? You have to pick up unupgraded enemy weapons, which essentially means you wasted precious upgrades on guns you won’t see for another few hours. Instead of a slowly building arsenal over the course of the game, you’re ill equipped at all times. Now onto the most touchy subject, the story. The world is supposed to be the polar opposite to Rapture. It’s a religious & patriotic city in the clouds vs an objectivist utopia beneath the waves. Your first encounter in the city happens upon a sign warning against “the mark of the Antichrist”, which is a brand on your characters hand. He decides not to cover it up, because the plot needs to happen as he’s immediately confronted by the authorities. The game thinks it’s so much more clever than it actually is by teasing that you’re in a time loop throughout the whole game. And by the end, they pretend drowning Booker solves the time loop except it doesn’t. Comstock will still rise to power & found Colombia, because the Booker that is killed was the wrong one. You needed to go back further and kill one of the scientist twins’ parents so only one was born instead of two in their respective timelines. That way they wouldn’t be able to build the machine that allows one to cross timelines. Now onto miscellaneous complaints. The Handymen (Big Daddy replacements) suck. They’re not fun to fight, and have no reason to exist other than the first two games had giants in metal suits. The basic story is clearly stolen from Bioshock 2. A father with a questionable past trying to save/reconnect with his daughter after she’s kidnapped by the main villain. They took away the hacking mechanic in favor of Elizabeth opening everything for you which further limits how little the player can actually do. The final showdown of the game is a wave defense followed by a quick trip to Rapture to remind the player that they’re playing a Bioshock. The two part DLC is slightly better as you return to Rapture and see some familiar faces. But once again it just further hammers home the point that you could be playing the 2 better Bioshock games. In conclusion, this game is all style and no substance. What happens when you create the opposite of Bioshock? It’s no longer Bioshock. Zero player choice, over reliance on cutscenes, neutered gameplay, & a stupid story. What’s even worse is the pre-release footage looked like a proper Bioshock game (watch the Crowbcat YouTube video on this game if you don’t believe me). They even had Stephen Russell as Booker instead of the generic & bland Troy Baker. What an utter disappointment.