Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea is something of a homecoming for the story driven first person shooter series, although albeit, not a very happy one. Leaving behind the castle in the clouds of Columbia to return to the original's underwater dystopia of Rapture, Burial at Sea, a downloadable add-on for Bioshock Infinite, brings the story full circle, as it were, with a tale that blends the two worlds together.
Of course, things are a little different to the last time you were here. If you've played the original Bioshock, you'll know what happens to Rapture - when you first arrived in the decadent underwater city, you found a utopia gone to wrack and ruin. With residents that had mostly gone insane, all that's left are a few signs of a city that once was - a city that would have been the envy of the world, where the elite went to mingle with the elite in the most sumptuous settings possible, where they could be beyond the constraints of the "petty morality" above. That is, before they pushed science too far, invented "splicing" to give themselves super-human powers, and drove themselves insane when they became hooked.
Burial at Sea takes place before the fall of Rapture, with the city at the peak of its powers. Into the libertarian world, where almost anything goes, is flung a man named Booker, who, in a handy parallel to Infinite, is running a private detective agency. It's not really explained how you got there, or initially even if this is the same Booker from Infinite, but the parallels are there. Then, in strolls Elizabeth, the leading woman from Infinite's story - who it turns out wants to hire Booker for a job. Well, we say hire - what follows is a confusing conversation in which she reveals she's looking for a little girl. Booker tells her the girl's dead, Elizabeth says she's just missing, and then offers to pay Booker whatever it'll take to get him to at least try and find her, before demanding with her next breath that he perform the search for free. And for reasons known only to himself, Booker goes along with it.
Rapture is nothing if not impressive.
What follows is an hour plus of exploring Rapture at its finest, as you search for clues as to the whereabouts of the girl - and generally take in the spectacular Art Deco surroundings. Following Elizabeth's lead - as she somehow knows exactly where she's going and who to speak to, despite not having been there before - the first half of the game actually features no guns. Instead, it's entirely atmospheric and story driven, as you piece together the parts of the puzzle.
That said, although Buried at Sea is an expansion for Bioshock Infinite, it presumes more than a working knowledge of the first game. For starters, there's no explanation of what Rapture is, here - it assumes if you've bought the download, you've already played and finished the original Bioshock, which isn't necessarily true - while a refresher of some of the more important concepts would be nice for those who simply haven't played in a while, too. There are terms that aren't really explained, too, despite being a key to your adventure - or at least your understanding of the plot. From plasmids, which can be collected in the later stages of the game, and offer you the chance to use magical powers, to Eve, the mysterious substance that actually lets you use the plasmids, there's a lot that's glossed over here. Even the concept of Little Sisters isn't really "reintroduced" - all it's mentioned is that the creepy little girls, who are the only young ones you see in Rapture, are factories for something called "Adam" - but there's no explanation what that actually is.
Houseware, electrics, ladies wear and toys, going up!
Throughout your journey, you'll see parts of Rapture you never knew existed. Giant glass windows offer a seascape vista in many of the grand lobbies, with whales, shoals of fish, giant crabs, and even the odd Big Daddy passing by, going about their business repairing the outside of the building with their giant built in drill. Everything that makes Rapture Rapture is here, yet something's obviously not quite right. As you look around, you'll see several posters about young girls who've gone missing, talk to people who're saying things that don't quite seem all that normal - and gradually, you'll start to piece together the girl's whereabouts.
After about an hour of exploring, you'll be somewhat unceremoniously plonked into a bathysphere to head to Fontaine's Department Store, and it's here the game turns into more of a traditional BioShock game - only with the difficulty ramped up. While Rapture itself may have seemed fairly normal, Fontaine's department store is full of the ones who've started to go just a little bit doolally, with most being completely round the bend. From the moment you land, you'll be attacked by splicers - those who've gone insane through their reliance on plasmids - and they'll fight hard. Forcing you into cover, the enemies are tougher than we remember - and ammo is notable by its scarcity.
Luckily though, you'll always have the plasmids at your disposal, which are effectively the game's magic powers. Squeezing the left trigger (L2 on PS3) lets you use your equipped plasmid, with a variety of powers on offer. Whether it's firing lightning from your fingers to electrify a patch of water (and everyone in it), or sending a spirit to possess an enemy, or even an enemy turret, in order to get them to attack their friends, using the plasmids wisely will make your job a lot easier.
However, it's not the enemies that are creepiest things you'll come across during your voyage through the department store. As you wander through the various departments, you'll come across the odd enemy who seems to be losing their marbles - just in a different way to the others. Sounding like they're trying to cling to any semblance of normality, from the woman lambasting her (dead) customers in her cafe for chewing with their mouth open, to the blushing bride to be who's created a full wedding scene, surrounded by mannekins with photos slapped on their faces, Burial at Sea can be genuinely disturbing at times, as you see people losing their mind.
The first Little Sisters are being trained. Creepy, right?
And if nothing else, it reminds you how much better a setting Rapture is than Columbia. In Rapture, it makes sense that people are going insane - they've been injecting themselves with things they're not supposed to be, and it's taking over their sanity. There's none of the just-for-the-sake-of-it racism, the plot points are all handled more subtly, and the world just seems to make more sense. Returning to Rapture for even this brief period, you end up longing for a true sequel set before the fall - or perhaps just for the series to remember its roots.
But then you get to the ending. And if you thought the ending to BioShock Infinite was a load of wishy washy "constants and variables" that didn't really make much sense, you won't think much of the ending here either. At least explaining how Booker and Elizabeth came to be together once again, the ending once again raises more questions that it answers, with a few things that we think are actually pretty much impossible, even within Bioshock Infinite's plot - but it's hard to go into detail here without giving you any spoilers.
As a download that takes roughly three hours to play through, Burial at Sea is a great reminder of the Rapture that once was, and an enjoyable insight into a world that holds a lot more appeal than Columbia. While the ending may leave a lot to be desired, for the most part, the plot serves its purpose, with the only real question mark being one of price. At £10, this is an expensive download if you buy it individually - but it is available as part of a Season Pass for £15.99. Offering this, the next chapter of Burial at Sea, and the combat-focused "Clash in the Clouds" for one price, if you're longing for a return to Rapture, the season pass could be the way to go.
Format Reviewed: Xbox 360
