We take a look at three of the biggest games heading your way this year.
BioShock Infinite
There are plenty of reasons to be excited for BioShock Infinite. It’s the first game from Ken Levine and his team at Irrational since 2007’s BioShock. It strives to improve on every aspect of that influential title, promising higher stakes combat and a more intimate story. It also happens to be a gorgeous-looking game.
But the number one reason to be excited for Infinite in my mind is the duo of Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth. By now you probably know that Booker is the main character for this title, and Elizabeth is the wide-eyed young woman who becomes the linchpin for the story of BioShock Infinite. What you may not know is that Booker is a fully voiced character with a shady past and his own motivations, and that Elizabeth is far more than a damsel in distress that needs to be protected. The relationship between the two is key to the plot, and will evolve over the course of the game.
I’m most interested in Elizabeth, and the way she’s portrayed in BioShock. She’s lived her life basically in captivity, so her flight with Booker leads to her discovery of the floating city of Columbia through wide, energetic eyes. She’s the lens through which you experience the sights and sounds of Infinite, and she appears to be a truly dynamic character that is sure to be one of the most talked about NPCs next year.
The new combat footage from the 2012 Spike VGAs shows a much more aggressive game. Booker needs to stay quick on his feet (or off of them, by using the ubiquitous skylines), utilizing all manner of weapons and powers in the form of “vigors”. This time, you can only carry two weapons at a time, forcing you to adapt to different situations with the tools at hand. While I’m not sure I’m completely on board with this design decision it’s hard to argue with the results so far. BioShock Infinite looks like it’s on track to capture lightning in a bottle once again. Look for it in March.
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