Preview: BioShock Infinite

“Would you kindly?” – Three words that will send shivers done the spine of any gamer that has played the first BioShock title. The first-person shooter, released in 2007, was subject of much critical praise and even made headlines for being “controversial”.

Three years later, BioShock 2 was released. While it didn’t have the same impact that its predecessor achieved, it was still highly-rated and left fans of the series asking for more. And more is what they got.

First announced back in August 2010, BioShock Infinite was originally slated for release in October 2012, though was pushed back to February 26, 2013 in order to give the developers more time to polish the title.

Set in 1912, the plot consists of the game’s protagonist, agent Booker DeWitt, being sent to the floating air-city of Columbia to find a young woman who has been held captive for the last twelve years. However, upon rescuing her, the two are pursued by the city’s warring factions, as they attempt to escape.

While the game isn’t part of the storyline evident in previous BioShock titles, Infinite will contain similar gameplay features and concepts. For example, the player uses a combination of weapons, gear and psychokinetic powers.

Whereas BioShock has been well known for its limited spaces in the underwater city of Rapture, Columbia will provide more freedom and open combat, similar to that to The Elder Scrolls series. It’s also been confirmed that the game will feature a “1999 Mode”.

Named after the year in which System Shock 2 released, a game on which Ken Levin and several other Irrational Games developers worked on, 1999 Mode is a more challenging version of the game, requiring players to make mutually exclusive specialisation choices, making later parts of the game more difficult to complete.

BioShock Infinite is released on March 26th, 2013.