'BioShock Infinite:' 10 New Things That Change The Game

BioShock Infinite is one of the most anticipated games of next year, and for good reason. We sat down in LA recently to play the first few hours of Irrational's next opus, and it's incredible.

In many ways, it's a throwback to the original BioShock. Somehow that doesn't make it feel stale, even after BioShock 2 came out as essentially a retread of the by then familiar underwater city of Rapture.

But for every way that BioShock Infinite references the original, there are three in which it deviates. So we thought it might be helpful to compile ten changes in BioShock Infinite that are literally going to change the game.

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BioShock Infinite begins much the same way that the original BioShock did—with you, the protagonist, stranded on an island in the sea, with a mysterious structure looming ahead. But right off the bat you'll notice one of the most major changes for a BioShock game: the protagonist is no longer silent.

Booker DeWitt, the seemingly goodnatured 30-something everyman down on his luck and sent on this mission to the floating city of Columbia, will exclaim, murmur, grunt, respond, plead, query, and talk to himself throughout the game. The inclusion of a vocal protagonist in BioShock Infinite may be a sign that the era of the silent hero is over—and that's okay by us.

The journey up to Columbia at the beginning of BioShock Infinite echoes the trip down to Rapture in BioShock, except that this time you're going up instead of down. But breaking through the cloud cover and catching your first glimpse of the city is just as breathtaking as seeing Rapture in the first game was.

Arriving in the city and simply walking around will take your breath away, and despite any initial similarities, Infinite's world is infinitely different from the last two games. It's just so sunny and bright everywhere you go. The sun has got to set at some point, but every minute we played was bathed in golden light, and it was gorgeous.

Sure, the first BioShock's theme of infanticide is pretty mature. But BioShock Infinite takes things to a new level by tackling some real-world issues—not that harvesting genetically modified little girls for their DNA currency isn't realistic. But it isn't.

You'll still be shooting plenty of people in the face (and burning them alive, and laying traps, and siccing murders of ravenous birds on them, and so on). But on a deeper level than that, BioShock Infinite deals with religious fanaticism and American exceptionalism—the idea that America can do no wrong—not to mention good old-fashioned racism.

Past BioShock games resisted modern influences and supplied players with more weapons than any one person could ever carry. Infinite places more limitations on you; like in other shooters these days, you can carry two weapons at a time, and to pick up a new gun you've got to discard one you're already carrying.

So you won't be switching from the shotgun to the revolver to the grenade launcher to the crossbow all in the span of a minute anymore. Choosing your weapons is now a matter of tactics (and preference, of course—I'm going to run around with two different shotguns if I damn well please).

Another "modern" concession in BioShock Infinite is the rechargeable shield. Popularized in Halo: Combat Evolved, the recharging shield bar has made it into countless games in this generation. Now the BioShock series has fallen victim to the trend as well—but is that a bad thing?

It certainly changes the rhythm of combat—in BioShock Infinite you'll be doing the familiar pop-and-stop thing a lot more often. Having to duck behind cover to recharge your shields has changed the way levels are designed, as well, though that's not necessarily a bad thing either.

With the addition of a rechargeable shield, it follows that there's less of an emphasis on health recovery. As a result, there are no more health packs or first aid kits to collect in BioShock Infinite. You've got one health bar, and when it runs out you die (which, to be fair, still means respawning at a nearby point without losing much progress).

Instead, you'll be scavenging for food and other items to recover your health bit by bit, or purchasing health recovery items at vending machines scattered around Columbia. Likewise for "salts," the new magical currency that lets you cast vigor powers (the new plasmids).

For the first time in a BioShock game, plasmids (now called vigors) and guns aren't the only things you'll be equipping. There's a ton of gear in BioShock Infinite, and you'll be finding new pieces and switching them out all the time.

You can have multiple pieces (gloves, hats, etc.) equipped at any given time, and although they don't affect Booker's appearance (it's a first person game. Duh), they can vastly alter his abilities. One piece of equipment causes his melee attacks to light enemies on fire, for example, while another causes certain elemental attacks to chain together through multiple enemies.

One of the things that Irrational emphasized during our time with BioShock Infinite, and that they seemed particularly proud of this time around, was the fact that the story will no longer be told through found recordings. Those still exist (in the form of "voxophones" lying around Columbia), but for the most part you'll experience events as they happen rather than hearing about them after the fact like in the original BioShock.

That's because unlike Rapture, Columbia is alive. This city is not ruined (yet—shit goes down over the course of the game, of course). Luckily, we'll get to be present for this particular story, rather than playing a minor part after the fact.

The developers at Irrational also stressed that due to Columbia's wide-open spaces, BioShock Infinite is not a "corridor shooter" like the previous BioShock games. The environment opens up more and more as you progress through the game, and after a few hours the levels become rather enormous, with enemies scattered around on multiple rooftops and platforms.

Thankfully, there's a very important tool that helps you get around these spaces: the Skylines. If you've seen any footage from Infinite, then you must have seen the Skylines. They span the gaps between Columbia's floating neighborhoods, and though they're meant for sky trams, you'll traverse them using an arm-mounted tool with three spinning hooks on it. And yes, you can hit people with it. But more importantly, traversing the Skylines—despite how impressive it looks—is simple, and the controls become intuitive after a few minutes.

Story-wise, there are plenty of differences in BioShock Infinite. But the most important one—and easily the best addition in Infinite—is Elizabeth.

She's a companion and a partner, but unlike most tag-along characters in games, Elizabeth is never a burden. She stays out of your way during fights, for one thing. And because Irrational wanted her to feel like a true partner, she'll even toss you ammo, health and other loot during battle.

Beyond that, she's a truly likable character. She's funny, witty and perceptive, but extremely vulnerable at the same time (she did spend most of her life locked in a tower, after all). You'll actually want to spend time with her—and that's the best compliment we can give.