BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode One Reviews
The first half of Burial Sea is that rare bit of DLC that manages to add to an experience without feeling like it was stripped out of the original game.
It's been a long wait for the Burial at Sea DLC, but will our patience payoff and will it be worthy of another venture into the submerged city of Rapture?
The production values are cracking, with outstanding voice work and some great dialogue, not to mention an ending that flips the script nicely and sets up an intriguing sequel. But sadly the first part of Burial at Sea flounders in its attempts at nostalgia, mashing different parts of the Bioshock legacy together in an easy hybrid that lacks the atmosphere of the original game and completely fails to capitalise upon the expansive vision of Infinite. Half-hearted fan-service at best.
A satisfying return to the city that started it all. It's a strong piece of DLC with some niggling issues that will hopefully be ironed out when the second part rolls around.
Overall the story expansion was a welcome addition to Infinite's story line, but the changes made to it are just not enough to characterise it into the wholly different game that some of us were expecting it to be. Seeing a refreshed image of Rapture was undoubtedly awesome, but there just aren't enough opportunities to explore it fully. The stage for the game in the first 30 minutes or so is set like a show that is played in front of you and although you will be mesmerised by it, it is out of your immediate control. The changes made to combat are good but, again, there are just too many things that are the same. The plot of the DLC is to be concluded in Episode Two having been left on a cliffhanger that will have you wishing for more. The expansion will surely be an enjoyable experience for the series' fans, but it also has the potential to become stale for those who have started to tire of the Bioshock formula.
The first narrative addition to the BioShock Infinite delivers everything it promised – it's an affectionately crafted homage to the first game, retroactively building on the grim story and Ayn Rand-ian themes, galvanising them with a fresh perspective whilst simultaneously tying Rapture more wholly into the Columbian narrative. It's intelligent, indulgent and nostalgic in equal measure, left dangling on a transfixing narrative hook. It's everything we love about BioShock, condensed.
Just as you are feeling this amazingly bizarre city, you're tugged away into some typical BioShock Infinite gunplay before being splashed with loads of reveals at the end. People are here for the story, that's fine, but the price seems high for the admission, especially after the bargain that was Minerva's Den, and the short length makes the story feel handicapped compared to fuller experiences we've had in the BioShock universe.
Burial at Sea might be a challenger for the best-ever narrative-based DLC yet presented to the gaming community at large.
Overall, BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 1 is solidly OK. In the end, it's much more of what we have come to expect from BioShock Infinite, awesome pieces of story broken up by uninteresting sections of combat. It's not a reimagining of the series. It's not a grand departure that examines BioShock's past. It's really not much more than some more BioShock Infinite with a Rapture coat of paint slapped over it. If that's what you are looking for, then the 15-dollar price of entry isn't bad. For everyone else, there is always BioShock 4.
It's definitely a worthwhile purchase and I'm already itching to play Episode 2 which promises to turn the formula (and series) on its head, but it's entirely up to you what price you pay for it. Xmas Sale starts a month from now, just to let you know.
Will this smaller story set in Rapture incite discussions over things like ludonarrative dissonance or how out of place the overly violent protagonist has gotten as video game storytelling evolves? I doubt it. It will, however, return you to Rapture and reference the events of Infinite, reminding you for a couple hours how damn awesome both of those things are. And for me, that's worth the price of admission.
If you can look past the relatively high price tag and short running time, then BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 1 is a satisfying, if underwhelming, addition to the canon.
In the end, Burial at Sea - Episode One is only a passable experience due to its length and the amount of content found within. With that said, it still has me wanting to play the next few episodes of DLC immediately. And, at the very least, it reunited me with some old friends, like Booker and Liz, as well as some even older enemies.
Burial at Sea has a real pacing problem, stemming from the very literal segregation of its narrative and combat sections. It makes you finish your meat before your can start on your vegetables, where the metaphorical meat is the talking and the vegetables are the shooting. As a digested mush in your tummy, Burial at Sea is a beautiful brown ride through gaming's most iconic city and a compelling return of two remixed and much loved characters. On the plate however, its two very different games struggling to find a common ground, and both doing themselves a disservice as they try.
Burial at Sea Part I: great fan service, but not quite a 'must'.
Burial At Sea tells an interesting tale with plenty of twists, but it doesn't have enough substance on the gameplay side of things to back it up.
As much as I wanted to go back to Rapture, Burial at Sea is short on story and simplistic in the missions available. It is still good to see some familiar sights being powered by the Unreal Engine 3. Hopefully, the second part of Burial at Sea can help tie up a few things and improve upon the first.
A criminally short opening chapter that nonetheless offers a glimpse of Rapture at its opulent heights. The noir intentions are dispensed too soon, so the Booker/Elizabeth relationship and familiar combat have to see Burial at Sea through to its disturbing, perplexing climax.
As a continuation of BioShock Infinite, both mechanically and narratively, Burial at Sea: Episode 1 is a worth playing, even if it doesn't capitalize on its potential as much as fans might hope. The combat is still as enjoyable as ever, if a bit same-y, and the game's stunning detail will leave fans searching every nook and cranny. However, the story beats packaged around that gameplay are surprisingly straightforward, which is a bit odd for an Irrational-developed game. But, by the time the credits roll BioShock fans will likely look at the overall experience as an entertaining one. And most importantly they will be desperate for Episode 2.
There's a sadness to that as much as there is to our limited time with a fully-operational Rapture, but at the same time Burial At Sea is extremely effective at posing big, gnawing and dramatic new questions to a riddle we thought answered. I am so very hungry for part two, but I do hope it gives us more Rapture-in-light as well as answers, self-reference and metatextuality. Burial