“Booker, are you afraid of God?” “No. I’m
afraid of you.”
Irrational
Games’ BioShock was the first game I
ever bought for the current generation of consoles—purchased, in fact, a good
three months before I even had an
Xbox. Luckily, my floor in residence had no less than three 360s available for
my use. The game still sits on my shelf, and let it be known that I’ve played
through the entire thing no less than four
times in the last five years. Just to make it clear how much I enjoyed BioShock, the only game I’ve replayed
more than it is the GameCube remake of Resident
Evil, which has been one of my all-time favourites going on a decade.
So understand me
when I say the newest installment in Irrational’s franchise, BioShock Infinite, showed me just how
broken, or at least seriously flawed, the first BioShock was in both design and storytelling. Infinite is not only a far better game, but an excellent one in and
of itself, making up for any quibbles I might have with its gameplay with
well-drawn characters and the sheer audacity of its story.