Was it really good during the launch though? It was, actually.
Bioshock Infinite, released in 2013, is a first-person shooter game that is part of Irrational Games’ hit Bioshock franchise. The third in the series, the title received massive acclaim from critics and fans during its launch. Review website Metacritic (and its users) gave it a score of around 93-100, which essentially means “universal acclaim.”
A decade after launch, however, fans are singing a different tune entirely. While the game was able to change direction and lead players out of the dystopian, retro-style depths of the underwater city Rapture and into the vast airborne city of Columbia, they are now rating the game in low numbers. "Not sure any game in history has had such a negative shift in opinion since it originally launched to unanimous praise and every GOTY award imaginable," game developer Dave Oshry remarked.
Gamers, when asked what rating they’d give to Bioshock Infinite now, seem to state around five or six, or even lower. As to why they’d rate it so low, players remarked that its story seems to try a bit too hard to the point that it failed to really drive home what it wants players to realize. "It tries to make racism a 'both sides are bad' styled argument which is... gross, even if unintentional," a player commented.
Aside from the game’s plot, which did tend to drag on in a lot of segments, players also point out that the gameplay didn’t really age well. "It has identity issues gameplay-wise, and the plot is a messy mix of dysfunction, both sides are bad, diet racism, and aggressive self-aggrandizement. The DLC does not improve things. Barely feels like Bioshock. 5/10. Unremarkable and inconsistent," another player shared.
Do we think that Bioshock Infinite is the best in the trilogy? Certainly not. Personally, our favorite out of the three remains to be Bioshock 2. The game managed to beat the difficult challenge of making players excited about going through Rapture again. Additionally, a lot of quality-of-life improvements can be seen in the second installment that is honestly better executed compared to Infinite.
We will say however, that Infinite still looks beatiful and is a dream to play, even if you’re playing on the go via the Nintendo Switch.
Image credit: Irrational Games/2K