Aaron Ashby 11-2-14
BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite is a revolutionary title that depicts a city and its culture that is based on the United States’ culture and beliefs as it began to emerge onto the “world theater.” This game is an example of how to develop a great game. From the music to the graphics, from the enemies the player faces to the story itself, this game has a captivating and deep atmosphere that will keep you immersed and addicted. Much like the previous BioShock games, this game will give you the truth about what is really happening in a puzzle that will have you intellectually stimulated. This game throws some deep philosophical questions at the player, such as can you truly change a choice you made in the past. This game begins with Booker Dewitt who is tasked with rescuing a girl named Elizabeth, who is held by a man named Comstock, and bringing her to some people to wipe away a debt he owes. Booker is a shady and mysterious character that is filled with guilt for selling his daughter twenty years before the game takes place. He finally finds this girl in the floating city of Columbia and learns that she has the power to open doors to alternate universes. After a large amount of mind-bending travel between alternate universes, Booker is caught in an infinite loop of trying to save his daughter that he struggles to break. He tries to undo the choice to give away his daughter, but he runs into a conundrum. Can you change a choice that is fated to happen? He tries to undo the choice but cannot change it. Booker decides he will kill Comstock before any of this can take place. In the end he realizes that he is Comstock when Elizabeth takes him to the place where the universe, where Booker is Comstock, is created as an alternate universe to the “main universe” where Booker Dewitt continued to be himself. There multiple versions of Elizabeth converge and drown Booker before the choice to become Comstock is made, therefor breaking the infinite cycle. Comstock no longer exists in any universe so he is not alive to take Elizabeth from Booker and the game implies that they live happily ever after. This game strongly depicts the floating city of Columbia as an embellished version of the United States and her social issues at the turn of the twentieth century. Columbia is a beautiful, prosperous city that is filled with not only technological wonders, but with racism and corporate oppression of the poorer as well, much like the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. This expansive city has a steampunk theme and is filled with robotic enemies. Partway through the game you begin to hear about a group of rebels known as the Vox Populi. These people are black and poor people who are tired of Comstock’s racist city and the corporate oppression placed on their people by many people including a secondary antagonist, Jeramiah Fink. The Vox Populi are led by a young black woman named Daisy Fitzroy. Fitzroy is the polar opposite of Comstock. While she seems good intentioned at the start, she turns out to be more than see appeared. While Comstock was at one end of the extreme, she was on the other end. Just like Comstock, she was not afraid to use violence to obtain what she needed or to get rid of someone she thought was a threat to her campaign for power. In the city that was supposed to be a utopia for the rich white people, there is an underlying tone of discontent and rebellion in the factories and the hearts of the oppressed. This if felt throughout the game and all its alternate realities. This game was very well designed to have a very immersive atmosphere from the very start. From the time-appropriate music to every intricate detail in the surrounding environment. Throughout the game you can listen to random citizens of Columbia having normal conversations with one another. On top of these things, the way the story fits into