4.5/5 ★ – methylbenzene's review of BioShock Infinite.

I'm still bamboozled by that mind twister of an ending. Incredible shock value courtesy of some masterful writing that so beautifully steers itself to the ending. Here's the thing: BioShock Infinite is a pretty significant departure from the first two games. When I started the game, I couldn't quite get comfortable with the stark changes. But the gameplay and art style changes do grow on you a few hours in. Story-wise though, I noticed the greatest departure. For me, BioShock 1 and 2 were characterized by the philosophical tones of their narratives. BioShock Infinite, while still exploring some philosophical themes of zealotry and the collective conditioning of a society's subjects. I've noticed people having a gripe with that in how it "wrongly portrays" oppression of minority groups in actual history. And while yes, BioShock Infinite's "centrist" political narrative can be repulsive if you try to draw an allegory with real history, it really can stand on its own as a fictional political narrative. Despite the presence of philosophical themes, these elements are nowhere near as fleshed out as both prior entries. But honestly, that's fine. The first 2 games did a brilliant job at contrasting the effects of altruism and hyper-individualism within the context of a singular setting. BioShock Infinite dispenses with some of the philosophical depth to pack more punch in its emotional and narrative depth. In my eyes, that's a perfectly fine direction to take for the series' ending. While most of the gameplay changes weren't really necessary, they also don't make the experience worse. They're just different; you take some time to get used to them and then enjoy them all the same. One element I did not like though was how it limits how many weapons you can carry at once to just two. It makes it harder to try different weapons in different situations because they're not instantly available to you. Limits gameplay variety and why would you do that as a developer? My favourite thing about the game though, is by far the story. And what a story this game delivers. There is an incredible amount of emotional and narrative depth to this sheer masterpiece. Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper craft one of the most underappreciated duos in gaming. My screen and headphones were overflowing with the chemistry they had on display. What a joy it was to spend 14 hours with them. For nearly 11 hours I thought okay I love where this is going but then the next 2-3 hours fully jolted me. And yet, I loved it even more. Yes, there are some strings left untied and some loopholes left unstraightened. But I'm willing to forgive that simply because of how full of quality the aspects of the narrative that DO work are. And then that ending, wow that ending. Just brilliant. This is probably the best game I have played so far in 2025.