[Editor’s Note - as Burial at Sea was released in two parts, we are reviewing them both separately, with our review of Episode 2 due to be published tomorrow.]
It’s well-documented how much we here at Continue Play love the Bioshock franchise, and the 2013 hit, Bioshock Infinite was no exception. We loved the game from start to finish. When Irrational announced plans to release new content, we eagerly awaited the chance to expand our experience of the story of Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth Comstock. The first DLC pack, Clash in the Clouds, was pretty dull, offering nothing more than an arena mode and asking you to dispatch wave after wave of enemies. Thankfully, Burial at Sea is different, returning to the more story-led gameplay that the series is known for.
Burial at Sea is a two-part expansion which together amounts to around 8 hours of additional gameplay to the Infinite storyline. This first episode starts with Booker waking up in his office, yelling drunkenly that he’s closed for the day. Elizabeth enters, unrecognized by Booker - yep, we’re in an alternate reality again. Elizabeth tells him that she has an interest in finding a girl he lost, which prompts Booker to pick up a doll’s head from his desk, and stare at it. You agree to go find Sally, and leave your office - only to emerge on to the streets of Rapture.
This may not come as a massive surprise - having read the title of the DLC, it’s fairly obvious that our city under the sea, Rapture, is intrinsically linked to the story - and it was well-publicized before release that we’d be making a return to the setting of the first two games in the franchise. Starting out in Rapture is a pleasant surprise all the same, particularly given that this isn’t the same version of Rapture that we’re used to; instead, Burial At Sea takes place prior to the bloody uprising that led to the city’s downtrodden state with which we are more familiar. Being able to eavesdrop on Rapturites’ conversations, and even see a Little Sister outing really adds some flesh to the already meaty lore. Little Sisters may be harmless, but seeing them all with white face paint and uniform is pretty creepy all the same.
Burial at Sea provides some valuable insight into how the two worlds of Rapture and Columbia are linked, and if you’re a fan, you’ll want to take the game at a leisurely pace, drinking in the sights and sounds, listening to the conversations around you. It’s easy to find yourself staring out of the windows at the wildlife in, dare we say it, a state of rapture.
Elizabeth, now more womanly and sassy, has lost the blue and white dress she wore during Infinite, opting for something which she describes as “more Rapture” - a black and white number with chipped red nail varnish, red lipstick and even a cigarette, which she smokes as you dawdle around the city. She tells you that she has a new lead in the disappearance of Sally the girl you’re attempting to find, and that you have to go through our old friend Sander Cohen (from the first Bioshock) in order to get to her. Solving problems as Booker without using violence for the first part of this pack, relying on Elizabeth’s new-found womanly charms instead, is a nice touch and a refreshing change of pace.
“So who is this fellow, Cohen? Some Sort of underworld figure?” asks Elizabeth.
Booker replies in a dreadful tone: “Worse. He’s an artist.”
Cohen sends you on your way about halfway through the episode. You’re given a gun and told to go to town on splicers, the Bioshock way. The Plasmids you use, while referred to as such, are in fact the Vigors of Columbia. While this is explained away by the audio-diaries and the occasional dialogue between the two protagonists, it would have been nice to have had the ability to splice bees into your arms once more.
The “drinkable plasmids”, as Vigors are called in Rapture, are severely limited in number when compared to the Infinite‘s original campaign. While this is disappointing, it’s not a massive let down, and you shouldn’t let that fact put you off from experiencing it. An amusing new weapon called the Radar Range makes up for this lack of powers; basically a microwave gun, you can simply point it at enemy splicers and watch them cook from the inside before bursting, showering nearby enemies with boiling hot organs, causing literal splash damage. It eats through ammo like you wouldn’t believe though; after picking it up with 300 units of ammunition and performing the first, easy kill, only about 80 rounds remained.
While Under the Sea is a lot of fun, and strongly recommended to anyone who is a fan of the franchise, it’s not without flaws. Still alive to tell his tales in this setting, Dr Yi Suchong plays a much bigger role here than in the original Bioshock. His accent is much heavier than we recall it being in the original, and his grasp on the English language is more tenuous. This man is a doctor, and incredibly intelligent - reducing his grammar to that of a lolcat seems a little unnecessary.
Other issues which irritate are in the picking up of items and being forced to move around invisible walls. You can no longer hold down a button to pick up all of the coins on a table, instead being forced to mash the button until every last coin is in your pocket; not game-breaking, simply annoying. While the issue with the items could be seen simply as nitpicking, invisible walls are harder to accept in a game as recent and advanced as Infinite.
Despite this, these are minor criticisms - light scratches on the surface of an otherwise brilliant expansion. Burial at Sea isn’t an essential piece of content, but if you are an avid fan, it is highly recommended.
Nic Bunce
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