![]() ![]() So, too, does the soundscape metamorphose. When the narrative has you questioning the nature of reality, the surreality of the environments reflects your confusion. Sunny blue skies and perfect manmade beaches give way to burning streets and ghostly memorials. You are a witness to (and a participant in) an imploding social order, and as the story darkens, so too do the places you investigate. Columbia isn't as hushed and mysterious as Rapture, but exploring it is no less tense. So is her relationship with Booker, for that matter, though he is key to Elizabeth's escape from her solitary life, and to the city of her dreams: Paris.Īnd so the two go on the run, alternately exploring Columbia's private nooks and allying with a resistance force called the Vox Populi, not out of politics, but out of necessity. Your first confrontation with Songbird is one of many eye-opening scenes, and Elizabeth's relationship with her protector is a complicated one. You eventually find "the girl." She is the supernaturally talented Elizabeth, locked in a floating tower and protected by a monstrous clockwork creature called Songbird. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. In BioShock Infinite, religious and political fervor intertwine, much as they do in real life, and these similarities could fill you with dread and unease. His worshipers are just as fearsome in their blind willingness to follow their leader, even when the costs are high. What Andrew Ryan was to Rapture, Comstock is to Columbia he is a frightfully well-meaning man who believes so strongly in his own damaged philosophies that you can only fear him. ![]() The leader of this city is Father Comstock, a self-proclaimed prophet and religious zealot whose likeness and influence pervade the game. ![]() Nationalist propaganda is mixed with airships and mechanical combatants, and the moving picture machines you occasionally use elaborate on the history of Columbia, which seceded from an America that just wasn't American enough. Identified as a prophesied fiend, Booker has no choice but to run.Ĭolumbia is a tremendous place to be, the all-American dream-turned-nightmare crossed with steampunk sensibilities. You also confront one of BioShock Infinite's many core mysteries: What is the nature of the brand on Booker's hand? In Columbia, the brand is a mark of the false shepherd, this culture's version of the Christian Antichrist and the 666 that marks him. ![]() At a key early moment, you confront the festering illness corrupting this porcelain-white culture, where anyone whose skin is not the ideal color is ostracized and enslaved. The buildings of that 1893 exposition were part of an area known as The White City, and here, too, Columbia lives up to the name of its inspiration-not just in the whiteness of its buildings, but in the whiteness of its racial structure. The red, white, and blue Columbian flag flies from spires across the city, and statuaries and bas-relief panels immediately evoke the sense of old America. And what a fitting name for this hyper-American domain of 1912, which incorporates the classical architecture of the 1893 Columbian Exposition. At the top of that lighthouse is a chair, and once strapped into it, Booker is fired into the stratosphere, toward the city in the sky called Columbia. As former private investigator Booker DeWitt, you enter this lighthouse knowing that you have been hired to retrieve "the girl"-but who this girl is, and who hired Booker, remain a mystery, if not to Booker, than at least to you. You'll be haunted by this thematically devastating adventure, and indeed, its phenomenal final minutes, which are bound to be discussed and dissected for some time to come. It's immensely fun to stir up trouble, and even more engaging to see how boldly BioShock Infinite portrays a society torn asunder. As an agent provocateur in the fantastical floating city of Columbia, your actions bring turmoil and strife to an ostensibly idyllic landscape. What drives a man of God to wash away the sins of his past, only to blacken his heart with a multitude more? How far can a freedom fighter be pushed before virtue and righteousness are replaced by a lust for vengeance? What does a privileged society do when the foundation of its prosperity is shaken? BioShock Infinite dares to explore these heady themes and many more, giving you glimpses at just how the seemingly smallest of decisions can forever alter our realities, and our hearts. ![]()
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