Let me first start by saying that the ending to this game left me so mind blown that I didn’t move out of my chair or speak to anyone for a solid half-hour after the credits had ended. I can also state that this franchise has been one of my favorites for the past decade. However, it wasn’t until four in the morning the night of completion that I had that Bioshock epiphany that really made the game so much more amazing to me. Let me start by first reviewing this game without any spoilers. This game is aesthetically astounding. Every detail was so perfectly processed and placed that anyone who has ever played a game before can appreciate the picturesque beauty of all that is involved. The gameplay was smooth. I played on my Xbox 360. To say that it was glitch-free would be lying to you, however, they were minor and didn’t phase the gameplay. There are so many great additions including skylines running through Columbia creating a fast pace and death-defying way to travel about the city. There were also new powers (vigors) to be obtained all creating different scenarios in which to paralyze, disembody, and baffle your foes. An astounding amount of new enemies were introduced that were skillful crafted to make you want to pull your hair out. Patriots, for instance, motorized robots of dead presidents that require a perfect combination of vigors and firepower to down. Firemen who sling flaming balls of literal hell hurling towards your head. There are Handymen who electrocute the skylines preventing you from an easy escape. Primarily I am not a fan of first-person shooters, however, in the first game, I fell in love with the mix of storyline and enhanced power so much that I overlooked it. Since then, I’ve never looked back. Speaking of the first game, I was begging for parallels and references to the previous games throughout the entire story mode. I wanted to see a news clipping of Rapture. I wanted to hear about Ryan on a Voxaphone. I would have even settled for a little sister doll sitting in a trash can. Alas, nothing. I played this entire game naive to what was really going on, until the very last sequence.
This is where the spoilers officially begin.
As you watch Elizabeth open a tear causing Songbird to drown, thus procuring a screen pan that reveals you are sitting in Rapture, I had a nerdgasm. I shrieked and cried out for this was exactly what I was waiting for. Elizabeth stated that this was a different dimension of Columbia. My head cocked slightly like an intrigued terrier. I proceeded to go about that game, getting murdered by my estranged daughter, which let’s be real, I totally deserved, got my mind splattered against the wall and sat and pondered for hours. Then sitting in my bed at 4 in the morning, I rolled over, texted a friend, and made the statement that I have had a Bioshock epiphany. When Elizabeth had said that Rapture was another possible universe, she was saying that every move that you made in Bioshock Infinite was a dereliction of what happened in the original game. Now, I had previously had my theories prior to playing that Elizabeth was the original little sister and that Booker was some flavor of relative to of Jack, thus a relative of Andrew Ryan. However, I had no evident proof. I realize, that in some ways, I was right.
Let’s start with the easy parallels, shall we? Rapture is Columbia, only one is in the sky, one is below the ocean. Easy enough. Plasmids are Vigors, EVE equates to Salts, obviously. Now onto the more prominent yet, extremely hidden character parallels. It is revealed that in some noting through the game that you, Booker, are Comstock in some dimensions. In the original, you find that you, Jack, are the illegitimate son of Andrew Ryan. You can see this parallel while playing as Booker in Infinite when you return to Rapture with Elizabeth and you can operate the Bathyspheres. Subtle guys, really subtle and sneaky, I love it. Then you have Daisy Fitzroy, the people’s hero who originally starts out as the savior of the downtrodden, yet eventually turns crazy and destructive trying to ruin everything that put her down. Sound familiar? Oh Hello Atlas and Fonatine, how I’ve missed your insanity. You have four characters living out a father figure to Elizabeth who in herself and outfit is almost the perfect image of a little sister. Her costume is a more distinguished version of the ripped to shreds dresses that the little girls sport in the first game. Dr. Letuce, in accordance, plays the same role as Dr. Tenenbaum caring for Elizabeth with magic manipulation. Songbird, the mechanical keeper, holding Elizabeth under his power with his steampunk persona can almost directly be related to a Big Daddy. Then of course the Comstock/Booker father figures.
The beauty of all that is this game is that I didn’t fully realize this all until later after I had beat the game. It is absolutely brilliant. The correlations and ties and masterful and truly attest to the reason that so many people have added this and the other games of its name to their libraries.