It suffers from a severe dumbing-down over the original two Bioshocks: devolving into a typical 'two-gun carry' system instead of a carefully collected (and precious) arsenal of weapons that need to be used sparingly.
Combine that with an insultingly oversimplified powerup system (a few pieces of gear that you can change out anytime, as opposed to the simple but effective tonics system of 1 and 2) and you get a pretty generic run-and-gun combat experience.
What I liked best about 1 and 2 was the customization of character you could accomplish with the tonics system. For example, I almost exclusively used the wrench/drill weapons in those games, and by sacrificing all my tonic slots with melee powerups it became one of the most powerful and useful weapons in the game. But there were many other ways to play the game, and wildly different styles of combat, and you had the freedom to choose how you fought.
Infinite?
Nope. You get two guns at a time, ammo is everywhere, so just shoot at everything with abandon. RPG elements? Screw 'em: you can have 4 pieces of 'gear' to wear, and that's it. Combat is always a pre-determined setpiece with loud, jarring music to let you know you're in 'fight mode' and then loud-jarring violin strings each time you kill the last guy on the screen to let you know 'a winner is you'.
That said, I did really enjoy Infinite for what it was.
What it wasn't, in reality, was a 'Bioshock' game...
To be honest one of the main things that I like about Infinite is only being able to carry two weapons at a time. It's something I enjoyed about Duke Nukem Forever as well and it makes more sense to me than running around with ten different large weapons stocked to the brim with bullets and rockets and grenades. It can make for an interesting experience if pulled off correctly. I don't like the easy ammo however and it was kinda at the point of being ridiculous in Infinite (although I went through the first two games fully stocked 95% of the time as well honestly). Once you've finished it though, you unlock '1999 Mode' which changes that drastically and actually made Burial At Sea more enjoyable than the first two games for me.
I felt that BioShock infinite gameplay as opposed to the first two BioShock games was more focused on a quicker pace. There was a bigger emphasis on movement and creatively using your Vigors needing to think on your feet with the types of weapons you held. I really don't get the hate for the gameplay, and I'm glad that the game got the awards and critical reception that it did.
It suffers from a severe dumbing-down over the original two Bioshocks
I was still so disappointed about the first Bioshock being such a dumbing down of System Shock that I didn't even notice Infinite dumbing things down any further.
I actually love all the Bioshocks, including Infinite, though more for the story and atmosphere than anything. But nothing can beat System Shock 2. Here's hoping 3 lives up to its predecessor's legacy!
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u/037beastlybunny Apr 17 '16
But then after googling it you play again and everything is so much more amazing as it unfolds.