Bioshock Infinite

The flying city of Columbia is certainly a step in the other direction from the usual deep-sea Rapture, and not just in terms of location.

While the first two games both take place in the once beautiful underwater paradise of Rapture, but after years of civil war and rampant splicing among the citizens that managed to survive, the Rapture Jack and Delta find is a broken down collection of rusted metal and super-powered psychos in formal attire. In Columbia; the citizens are still cheerful and greet everyone with a smile, the city itself is as clean and pristine as the day it ascended up into the clouds, and the Great Prophet Comstock watches over his flock pure white with an all-seeing eye.

The city isn't all that's new; gone is the old tried and tested weapon and health systems, instead, Infinite tries to hang with other big-boy FPS titles by striping away the stockpile of Medkits and Salts (EVE) and weapon wheel, and replacing them with a shield and ONLY 2 WEAPONS AT ANY GIVEN TIME. Although ammo and upgrades do carry over even if said weapon isn't equipped at the time, the need for having more than 2 weapons makes itself blatantly apparent when coming fresh out of an encounter with a small army of Vox, only to get ambushed by a Handyman (Big Daddy/Big Sister) and his Fireman (Brute Splicer that's on fire) buddy. Suddenly, that Machine Gun/Carbine combo is just as effective as using a BB gun against an angry rhino. The Sky Hook, the wrench/drill's replacement, plays a double roll, in being both a melee weapon and the means in which to rapidly explore Columbia via Sky-Line...not to mention give the game its "M" rating by allowing the execution of weakened enemies (neck-snapping, ripping up their chests, grinding it into their necks before casting them aside, and full-on squeezing their heads till they pop).

The way Vigors (Plasmids) are acquired is a mixed blessing; while Vigors can be upgraded in different ways, one can only FIND them (not that that's a bad thing) as there are no Gather's Gardens. The upsides to this are that ADAM (no equivalent) is never an issue as everything is bought with Silver Eagles (Columbia's currency) and each Vigor can be charged up to create its own unique trap. The game does compensate by giving larger payouts while looting through bodies and various containers. Pieces of gear are found in the same way as Gene Tonics in the first two games, only now they can be dropped by killing a Handyman as there is a lack of a Research Camera and Gene Banks. The only way to change gear is when acquiring a piece that goes in that same slot (of which there are 4: hats, waist coats, pants, and shoes) and seeing which one is more is going to be more useful in the long run as another piece of the same slot may not present itself for some time (EDIT: Turns out "O" is the default inventory button and allows you to change your gear at any given time, not that there's any indication).

The enemies are powerful than they have been before (which is another reason why suddenly losing the ability to stockpile Medkits and Salts makes fighting crowds of them even harder), and have to rely on the wide open skies fro combat instead of the tight spaces of Rapture. In Rapture, Spider Splicers utilized the fact that there was always a ceiling overhead and would try to drop down on Jack or Delta while Leadheads kept their attention with covering fire. In Columbia, that tactic won't fly...but that doesn't mean they don't. While riding around on the Sky-Lines might be fun, both the Columbia Police and the Vox Populi have figured this trick out long before Booker ever arrived, and will flee or regroup by zipping around on the lines while lying down a steady rate of fire.

Along with some slightly more armored variations of certain enemies tanking most of the damage thrown their way, certain "Heavy Hitter" enemies will appear in place of one big type of mini-boss class like the Big Daddies and Big Sisters of old. Handymen, large androids with Resident Evil-type visible weaknesses, are probably the closest of the bunch when compared to Big Daddies. Able to bounce around the field they just happen to be fighting in with surprising agility, they can shrug off a multitude of attacks and have a unique ability to electrify Sky-Lines for a short time, forcing Booker to remain grounded while the Handyman closes the gap and obliterates his shield.

The next in the group is the Motorized Patriot. Rising Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson to God-like status, Zachary Comstock had mechanical Washingtons created and armed with Pepper-grinder Crank Guns. Much like with the Handymen, their weakness is easy to spot: large gears jutting out of the back of the founding father can be targeted for massive damage, assuming that ol' George can be subdued long enough to get a shot at them. Bringing down one of these metal monstrosities will allow the use of his Crank Gun, which can make short work of just about anything not in the "Heavy Hitter" category.

The final member of this tanky club is the Fireman. The Fireman is encountered early in the game and gives the Devil's Kiss Vigor (bomb version of Incinerate!) upon his death. Able to take large amounts of punishment despite being the smallest of the group, the Firemen are able to hurl explosive fireballs at great distances and ignore any and all fire-based attacks. After being "defeated", they will roar a battle cry and suicide rush Booker with amazing speed unless brought down by more gun fire or kept at bay until his fuse is up.

There are also enemies called "Crows" that teleport around like Houdini Splicers with large coffins chained to their backs and are immune to Murder of Crows, and Boys of Silence that are basically glorified security cameras that enrage slightly tougher-than-average melee enemies before warping away to safety. While these two classifications are more difficult to deal with, they aren't exactly "Heavy Hitters".

All in all; Bioshock Infinite is an amazing game that, while making some unnecessary and ultimately stupid design choices, still lives up to what a Bioshock game aspires to be...and the ending made my head explode rainbows of "WHAAAAAAAAAT?", but in a good way.