Bioshock Infinite

Hallelujah.

Background:
Bioshock Infinite is the third game in the Bioshock series, created by Irrational Games and published by 2K. It was released in March of 2013, and is highly praised.

The plot:
I'm going to avoid spoilers here, mostly because if I tried to describe the whole plot it would literally take hours, and I still wouldn't have explained it all.

So here's the spoiler-free version:: Set in 1912, you are Booker DeWitt, Pinkerton agent. You've amassed a large gambling debt, and you are given a way to rid yourself of it - "Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt". The girl? One Elizabeth Comstock, daughter of Zachary Hale Comstock, leader of Columbia. Sounds simple? Yeah... Columbia is a floating city. Literally flies about the clouds. Oh, and there's a catch too - Elizabeth has powers, weird ones. Ones that let her rip space and time. Sooooo.... good luck!

In all seriousness, I can't really say much more than that without spoiling the story, and this is a story you really, really need to experience without knowing what's going to happen next.

The gameplay:
Bioshock Infinite is heavily praised for its story, which is great and all, but I'm going to say it here and now: this game does NOT deserve a perfect 10/10 like it's been getting. Yes, the story is amazing, the graphics are amazing, the music is amazing, but the gameplay... the gameplay is bland and repetitive. The developers purposely dumbed Bioshock Infinite down to "dude bro shooter" levels - enemies are bullet sponges, you can only carry two weapons, your weapons don't have special ammo types (like they did in the first two games, I don't understand why this needed to be removed), there are considerably fewer plasmids (or vigors as they're called in Infinite), there's no gene tonics. Weapon upgrades are boring and uninspired, and don't actually show on your guns (like they do in the first two games). Unlike in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, there are no medkits or Eve hypos - you have a regenerating shield, you find health and Eve (or Salts as they're called in Infinite) on almost every enemy. There are choices, like in the first two games, but they have exactly 0 impact on the story. Remember the multiple endings of the first two games? No such thing in Infinite... it's just really sad to see such a good game held back by dumb mechanics.

Now that my rant about the mechanics is over, let's discuss the audio/visual department - the game looks absolutely amazing. Jaw dropping. I literally started crying when Columbia enters the picture. Not even joking. It's so beautiful and awe inspiring that I can't stop singing its praises. The audio is very well done too; the music selection is great, and hearing an acapella version of "God Only Knows" was... amazing. Just amazing.

Replayability is pretty decent; the highest difficulty setting, 1999 Mode, is locked until you beat the game once (or if you're lame and use the Konami Code (no I'm not kidding)). Also, there ARE things that you're going to miss your first time around, so a second playthrough is a pretty good idea.

The verdict:
3.5/5 from me (quick edit here, I forgot I use a 5 scale). The game is amazing, but I really, really wish that they hadn't dumbed down the mechanics. Bioshock 1 and 2 had pretty great mechanics (except for the hacking in 1, that was retarded), and it bothers me that they thought they needed to dumb the entire game down just so it'd sell better. Because you know what that does? Pisses people off. Buy the game anyway, it's pretty good.