I devoured BioShock Infinite in what, for all intents and purposes, could be called one sitting. I did get up about halfway through and drive down the street for some fast food takeout that I ate while watching Archer — you know, just for a massive palate-cleansing dose of cognitive dissonance — but otherwise it was an early-morning-through-late-evening furious run of 13 hours.
There are no shortages of BioShock Infinite reviews, so I will spare the world yet another one that tells you what you already know. Infinite is phenomenal, and you should buy it and play it. What I do want to talk about, and only briefly at this point, is what the game made me think about on a higher, conceptual level as I played and finished it.
This is a land of what I call the “gray spoiler,” the sort of spoiler that isn’t an explicit recounting of key story beats, but an area where if you think hard enough on the subject you might glean the shape of the story and as a result the directions it might go during its many twists and turns. For example, knowing that Darth Vader is Luke’s father is an explicit spoiler, however knowing that the story of Star Wars is, at least in part, about a son’s fight to redeem his father, might lead you to guess in the right directions. This discussion will lean to the latter part of that example, and thus should be avoided entirely by those who have not played or do not wish to risk spoiling the terrific overall story of Bioshock Infinite.
Do we understand one another? Good.
To me, what is genuinely impressive about the nature of Infinite’s story is how wide the net is cast, and how full the bounty it ultimately catches. There is no way to encapsulate a definitive statement on what Infinite is about, certainly not in the same way that you could haphazardly reduce down many of the themes of the first BioShock to being about Objectivism, though I actually think that is overly reduced, because Objectivism itself holds so many ideas within its confines.
In fact, I’d say where BioShock is a look at the tenets of a philosophy described and encapsulated within a story (specifically Objectivism within the stories of Ayn Rand), Infinite is Irrational’s stab at creating its own philosophy within its own story. In other words, instead of trying to deconstruct what Rand did, it is trying to replicate it with its own philosophical ideas, though it's probably not as concerned as Rand was with whether you agree with those philosophies.
I say this because Infinite contains a multitude of ideas or inferences about everything from race, to religion, to the metaphysical, to free will in the multiverse.
Where a lot of people, I think, have gotten hung up on the setting and the idea that Infinite is a criticism on American exceptionalism, I actually just see that as a context to create an isolated playground to explore broader ideas. After all, the America of Atlas Shrugged is there to serve the ideas contained within the Objectivist agenda.
I feel it necessary at this point to offer a brief word on authorial intent; specifically that I don’t care much about it. It could entirely be that anyone associated with actually making the game may look at the above and the content to come, and to think, “We didn’t mean to do any of that stuff.” That’s the beauty of art to me, that authorial intent is completely isolated and separate from the way media is received. So, to me, the question of what Ken Levine and his team meant to say with their story is far less interesting than what I and other players in the narrative interpret it to say. After all, a word is irrelevant in a speaker’s mouth. It only gains value in what the listener hears.
Anyway, I’m not ready to start the Cult of Irrational and proclaim Infinitism some new philosophy to which I should subscribe. But I do think there’s a very interesting way that Infinite ends up talking about not only our place in the world, but the agency we have over that place. I’m going to tread close to the spoiler line here, so beware for a few sentences — but in the very first scene, Infinite lays out an interesting question that you only realize much later. Booker DeWitt does not row. Why? Because he doesn’t.
The language of that segment is both very simple and very complex. There is an underlying question that I think isn’t clearly answered, which is whether he does not row because he chooses, or because the universe chooses him not to.
I think this is the part where religion comes in, and there’s a very good reason that the City of Columbia is so devout. If you look at religion in Infinite, it is not specifically any one religion — though it squares with the general trends of 1912 America, which is to say Protestant leaning. Infinite almost has its own independent religion, where the Prophet is a sort of deific figurehead protecting the Lamb and his followers from evil as manifest in the form of the False Prophet, or specifically, the player.
But ultimately Infinite resolves itself in a way that removes the mystery and divinity of that religion, which is interesting, because I think that by taking that approach, Infinite’s critique of religion as an ideology is defanged. After all, you can only understand that which seems divine in the game with extraordinary knowledge that, while not explicitly unknowable, for all purposes is unattainable by almost anyone. It does not paint the followers of the Columbia mystical vision as stupid, though it does cast them as unwittingly manipulated, which still could be seen to indict the institution of religion in a way, because in the end the foundation that the religion is built on has nothing to do with any kind of god. It has to do with very, very complex science, and people who manipulated that science to make it seem mystical.
That is not to say that the game is anti-religious. In fact, I don’t know in the end whether Infinite really says anything about capital-G-God, or whether he exists or doesn’t. It speaks only to the finite construction of religion within the terms of the one created in the game, and which is a knowable, finite thing. Infinite doesn’t really say, if you believe in God then you are misled, but that these people who believe in this god have been fooled.
In the end, Irrational's creation walks the fascinatingly fine line of critiquing corrupted institutions while not blaming the often innocent or at least misled followers of those institutions. After all, the thing about The Prophet in Infinite is that, by any reasonable measure to a citizen of Columbia, he is one in what seems every legitimate way.
So in the final quick and dirty analysis, I think if I were to distill Infinite down to a few words, the most obvious would be redemption. The game oozes redemption at every corner, though I think the corollary to that is equally true, which is that Infinite is also very much about corruption. It is manifest in the very deterioration of the city around you, as well as some of the institutions that slide from one role to another. Even within the way Elizabeth discovers her own abilities, it is evident that imparting a singular will upon the world, even with seemingly pure intent, ultimately corrupts and undermines the very things she wants to preserve.
It doesn't simply leave it at that, a surface statement that sounds suspiciously like "power corrupts, and absolute power ..." yada, yada, yada. Without diving too much into the ending, I think what it really is saying is that ignorant or cynical power naturally corrupts. There is this undercurrent, in the story of redemption, in the story of corruption, in the story of the religion, that knowledge unbinds us. It does so often with unflinching and uncompromising results, but power throughout this game lies in those who "know," and the way to undermine or co-opt their power is to also know, or even know more.
Or, perhaps, that is simply me projecting my desire onto the story I've been told. There's a lot of meat to gnaw at, but in truth not a very clear message to take away without unpacking Infinite's substantial baggage. That's good, though, I think. If nothing else it warms my heart to have a game worth thinking about, even if Ken and his team ultimately do hold the trump cards, because they are the ones who know.
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Note to early readers: I added a couple of paragraphs after posting to flesh out an idea.
The thing about smart people is they seem like crazy people to dumb people -- Thing I saw on the Internet
Note to Elysium: I had a GREAT sandwich today.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
Bah, now I wish I'd written about that sandwich instead.
The thing about smart people is they seem like crazy people to dumb people -- Thing I saw on the Internet
Gentlemen, get to your respective sides of the pillow.
Also, nice write-up, Elysium.
Wear the Filthy Skimmer badge with honor. For we have all, at one time or another, been filthy skimmers. And it is our brotherly duty to remind each other, that although the path of the skimmer is quick, it is also treacherous.
Can't wait to read your quick and dirty analysis of Shawn's spelt bread.
"$10 - Exclusive Sean-cam where he just shakes his head, over and over." From Pyro's Kickstarter, "Endless Pit of Human Misery Livestream"
Did you find it in a trash can by chance?
I didn't pick up on this statement until the second playthrough, and then the importance of this dialogue to nearly everything about the experience hit me over the head.
Dust. Wind. Dude.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
Not sure if incidental, or intentional as another layer of analysis of the game.
Wibbly wobbly timey wimey, indeed.
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan | "Now I know where to go if I have a hankering for testicles." –Higgledy
I could not disagree with this analysis more. This game isn't about redemption, or corruption. It's about the lack of redemption--and the absurd notion that purity is even something that exists or can be achieved.
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
This, I take it, is part of the reason people are comparing Infinite to Dishonored.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
Kat, I'm not sure I totally agree on all points, but I thought that was a fascinating analysis. Someday we must speak more on this -- if you're in the mood to do so -- over drinks and food. I'd love to square away the places where I take a different meaning. Either way, didn't lose you any friends on this count. There's a lot there for me to think further on, and that's good.
That's why I called mine a "dirty" analysis. Lots of areas I'd need to think deeper on to fully flesh out.
The thing about smart people is they seem like crazy people to dumb people -- Thing I saw on the Internet
Edit: never mind..
Wonderful post.
Professionally offended. Does not understand jokes. Needs a man to explain them to me.
I'm not sure there were any choices, presented to the player in the game that mattered. Of course they don't matter in comparison to the ending...but this wasn't like ME3 where we were deciding how to resolve the genophage. This was more like a (pardon the pun) rollercoaster. We were just along for the ride, essentially trapped inside Booker's head. The only real decision we made along the way is how to kill the hundreds of people we murder. We don't even get to decide whether we kill them or not.
A Cigar, much like Scotch and Monogamy, is an acquired taste.
The best parenting advice I've seen:
SMBC wrote:Your quest is to convince me that you deserve to sleep indoors.
That was first-rate, KaterinLHC. I particularly agreed with this bit:
My spoilered response:
Excellent post, Katerin.
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan | "Now I know where to go if I have a hankering for testicles." –Higgledy
In reply to Kat's post:
Tell me more about this sandwich @Certis, my brain hurts.
Of course you said that you merely HAD the sandwich. Did you eat it? Did you even have the choice to eat it, or was it a forgone conclusion that you would try to eat it but never have this path come to fruition?
Seriously, a very thought provoking topic with some very insightful thoughts. I probably will never play Infinite but I have seriously enjoyed all of the conversations surrounding it!
Don't Panic!
Millions upon millions versions of me eat millions upon millions of sandwichs. Some have mayo. Some do not. That is the pivotal choice upon which the whole universe turns.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
Thanks for getting it out here Lara. I may disagree, but you always make me think.
Last.fm | Twitter
"If I knew you could claim podcast hosts that way, I would had peed on you back at Tamo." - AgentWred
I would think the first rule of PR is to ignore forum people, because they vacillate between crazy and liar. - Elysium
Right, kuddles, I get that
is the point. I'm saying I find it to be a stupid point.
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
To me the saddest bit is that, in the end,
A Cigar, much like Scotch and Monogamy, is an acquired taste.
The best parenting advice I've seen:
SMBC wrote:Your quest is to convince me that you deserve to sleep indoors.
The amusing thing about this, to me, is that this is true of every story you've ever read, or ever will read.
I like to think that Trichy's brain is a Rorschach test, in that it is not trapped here with us, so much as we, are trapped here with it.
StrangeBlades wrote:MTRI Trichy and I lovea are lovenesting in our lovefibres.
Despite or perhaps in light of the debate regarding the ending and ultimate value/purpose of the game as a whole, Sean's point that it represents Irrational attempting to argue out its own philosophy is well taken.
"Jaggermeister, for those special occasions when you desire to snuggle with a baby walrus." -tuffalobuffalo
I just want to hear more about these sandwiches and whether or not
The best games need to offer one of two things:
or
XBL:heavyfeul Steam:heavyfeul PSN:heavyfeul
In which case I'd have to suggest that BI is very likely
Steam:Witchspace XB1:Witchspace Battlenet:Witchspace#1760
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