![]() The upper class knows these things exist. ![]() A charming beachfront scene is marred upon discovering the poorly treated worker sweating over the water pumps, far out of sight. Turn away from the cheerful lights and trimmed hedges, and you’ll find squalid bathrooms, set aside for “Colored and Irish.” Enter one of these, and the man inside begs you to leave, afraid that you’ll get him in trouble. The front end of Columbia is America as we want to remember it, but it is an America that never was. You exist in this state for forty-five minutes or so until the rug is mercilessly pulled out. I was reminded of Disneyland’s Main Street USA - a polished, too-clean place that hands you an ice cream and soothes you with tales of how wholesome things were in the good ol’ days. Airships! Mechanical horses! Barbershop quartets! Even the tutorial lures you in, teaching you combat mechanics through carnival games at the town fair. This is classic Americana at its most sugarcoated, and the downright stunning design serves up one delight after another. There is a nagging feeling that all is not right here, but even so, it’s impossible to not be seduced by the bright sunlight, the lush gardens, the red-white-and-blue banners draped around tidy shopfronts. So here goes.Īs you first arrive in the flying city of Columbia, set in a revisionary version of 1912, you’re eased into a false sense of nostalgic wonder. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from BioShock Infinite, it’s that trying to avoid mistakes never ends well. ![]() But to leave that aspect out of any discussion of this game would be missing the point entirely. The third, however, is not a matter I have ever written on, and I doubt that I am the right person for the job. The first two things, yes, I can muddle about those just fine. I don’t know how to write about BioShock Infinite. And I see a risky, disturbing exploration of American racism, which led me to acknowledge how ill-equipped I am to say anything on that front at all. I see a woman who needs rescuing, and who challenges my expectations of what that means. I see a masterpiece of video game storytelling. When I look at BioShock Infinite, I see three things. What you see will depend on who you are and what you believe. The BioShock games, says creative director Ken Levine, are a Rorschach test.
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