Bioshock Infinite is a major improvement over the previous games and is a compelling and scintillating sequel.
Story & Characters:
In Infinite you play as Booker DeWitt, a man sent to carry out a "rescue" mission for Elizabeth, the daughter of Zachery Hale Comstock the prophet and leader of the city of Columbia in order to pay a certain debt to some myterious people. The story is absolutely amazing, exploring and asking bold questions about basic human nature and our society. The pacing of the story is spot on and the player is always intrigued to know what is about to happen. The Characters all have their own unique personality and ideology and these different ideologies clash to create very interesting and intriguing scenes and event.The use of "Voxophones" or pre-recorded messages to convey the prespetives of different characters is also a very smart move. These messages add to the mythos of Columbia and further shine light on the personality of various characters But for all the interesting characters, the character development for Booker, the protagonist is very weak. Everything is focused on Elizabeth and the rest of Columbia but not much on the past life of booker other than a few scenes and messages. Overall the story of BioSchock Infinite might be one of the best of the modern era of gaming.
Presentation:
As expected from a AAA Title in 2013, BioShock Infinite looks absolutely stunning. The environments are richly detailed and the character models are solid, issues such as texture pop-in are non-existent in the game. The look of the levels is also nicely varied, constantly shiftting from colourful to dark environments(similar to the previous BioShocks) and thus the player never gets bored because the level presentation is so varied.
Gameplay:
Infinite adds alot of new ideas in the gameplay sector. "Vigors" are the equivalent of "Plasmids" from Bioshock 1&2. There are various types of Vigors which the player can utilise in combat, from simple ones such as "Shock Jockey" which shoots out electro bolts to "Murder of Crows" which allows to player to use a group of muderous crows to stun the enemy. Some of the Vigors are very innovative and the varied enemy types means that the player must use all the Vigors in his arsenal to survive. Two Vigors can also be combined to increase the damage. For example, the player can combine "Devil's Kiss"(fire balls) and "Muder of Crows" to create a group of flaming murderous crows. This adds alot of variety to the combat as the players will always try to find and try out new combinations. There is a huge arsenal of weapons in Infinite and each weapon is different from the last. This variety in weapons prevents the game from getting repetetive and as the player progresses, the firefights become more intense urging the player to use all the weapons the game has to offer. There are also "gears". These are nothing but clothes with special abilities. They are categorised in 4 groups. Hats, shoes, shirts and pants. These "gears" give booker various abilties. For example, one glove might increase melee damage and one shirt decrease detection from turrets. Gears add variety to the game play but they don't feel very fleshed out. There is no way to upgrade these gears so their affect and powers can't be customised and this feels like a missed oppurtunity.
But the biggest gameplay improvment in Infinite is the surprising amount of freedom it gives to the player during combat. You see, Elizabeth isn't a useless character. She actively helps the player out by finding ammo and supplies during combat. Her biggest ability is to open "tears". These tears are like portals and Elizabeth can use these portals to bring in turrets,medi-kits,different types of weapons, ammo for your weapons and vigors and she can also bring in environments, such as a wall for cover or a high wall with a hook which Booker can use to access high areas, into the battlefield so the player can use them to his advantage.There is also the Rail-line system. These are a bunch of rods which the player can use, to transport himself across Columbia. These "tears",variety of weapons, the rail-line system and broad levels allows the player to play the firefights in his/her own way. Are you the sniper type? No problem. Swing onto a rail, dismount atop a high platform, open a tear to bring in Sniper rifles and snipe away. So these aspects let the player use his own way in a fire fight instead of forcing him down a liner fight.
The enemy types are also varied and the player has to use his entire arsenal to fight them off.
All in all, Bioshock Infinite is the best game in the BioShock series and is arguably one of the best games this generation. There are a few bumps along the way but with a mind blowing story, interesting characters and varied gameplay. The benefits far outweigh the costs. BioShock Infinite is a gem and a definite GOTY Nominee