Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea PC Review

By – John Williamson

The original Bioshock game, set in an idealistic and utopian world, rekindled my appetite for the first-person shooter genre.  Rapture’s atmospheric setting stimulated every orifice of my brain and left a lasting impression. The second entry was a rather disappointing affair which failed to recreate those magical moments Bioshock had become synonymous for.  Its sequel, Bioshock Infinite, contained a superlative plot which refined the art of modern storytelling.  Even though Columbia was a beautifully constructed and engaging location, I found myself desperate to explore Rapture in Irrational’s modified Unreal Engine 3. Thankfully, a nostalgia inducing story-focussed DLC entitled, Burial at Sea manages to magnifically recreate the eerie and seductive feel of Rapture.

Burial at Sea’s narrative begins on the eve of 1959 in Booker Dewitt’s office who is suddenly cornered by a mysterious woman called Elizabeth.  This figure enlists your help to investigate the disappearance of a girl you instantly recognise. At the time, you have no inkling about Elizabeth’s motivation and question her attachment to the girl.  Elizabeth is an aloof figure that remains distant from you and begrudgingly assists your progress.  Whenever your health, ammunition or EVE is low and needs replenishing, she passes you essential supplies in a more condescending way.   An eminent artist who happens to be a dangerous psychopath holds the key information of Sally’s wearabouts.  This character, Sander Cohen, fits perfectly into the Bioshock mythos and behaves in an outrageous manner.  He spearheads an exclusive social circle which is off-limits to ordinary citizens.  Your initial task revolves around deceiving this group to directly question Cohen during a private art exhibition.  The plot is a sublime ride with various references to iconic figures such as Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine.  In a similar vein to Bioshock Infinite, the ending mystifies you and brilliantly foreshadows episode two.

The combat has been tweaked to allow for a stealthier approach.  There are less adversaries to deal with but they do pose a greater challenge.  The Splicers are inherently bloodthirsty and behave in an intelligent way.  For example, if your health is perilously low and you strategically hide behind an object, they will attack you from multiple directions.  Often, the most advisable tactic is to sneak behind enemies and covertly dispose of them.  This was not a plausible option in the open world of Columbia.

There are a host of new weapons on offer which improve the combat and add certain survival aspects.  One new addition is the Old Man Winter Plasmid created by Yi Suchong which temporarily freezes your assailants.  During this window of opportunity, you can attack a frozen being into pieces.  This wonderful piece of fan-service originally emerged from a piece of community artwork and adapted for the DLC release.  Another fantastic and intriguing weapon is the Radar Range. Initially, this was designed to heat food through microwavable energy but it was massively overpowered.  Targeting any Splicer with this item will disintegrate each enemy due to the enormous and dangerous heat output.  Any other Splicers in the vicinity suffer splash damage which makes them fairly prone to annihilation.

Your ammunition, health and EVE depletes extraordinarily quickly which exposes you to large scale attacks.  In contrast to Columbia, Rapture is a more confined and claustrophobic environment which contains a smaller proportion of essential items.  This is mainly due to the lack of easily accessible street vendors and inhospitable reality.  Each weapon contains a miniscule quantity of ammunition which has to be managed effectively.  You end up scavenging for mislayed money and ammunition across the depths of Rapture.  Infusion Upgrades are sporadically littered throughout Rapture and focus on improving your Health, Shield and EVE attributes.  One such instance is the Quick-Handed perk which decreases weapon load times by 30%.  Rapture is a world begging to be explored and rewards those who sit and admire its beauty.  There are a number of Audio Logs with musings from prominent figures including Frank Fontaine and less well known individuals such as, Moses Lydocker.  This survival element coincides superbly with the environmental setting and encourages mass exploration.  Seeing the Circus of Values vending machines return in Burial At Sea was a personal highlight which caused me to reminisce.

The plot can be completed within 2 hours which may leave some players feeling a little dejected and underwhelmed.  Finding hidden collectables including Audio Logs, Infusions and Kinetoscope shorts prolonged my playthrough to 6 hours.  I spent a lot of time ogling and admiring every facet of Rapture instead of rushing into combat sections.  In my opinion, it is better to have an experience that isn’t unnecessarily padded out.  Far too many games artificially prolong the length through unwanted cutscenes and sterile gameplay mechanics.  This concept is detrimental to the single player experience and detracts from a title’s initial vision.  Bioshock is a work of art which should be approached from an inquisitive viewpoint.  You need to engulf yourself in the world and experience every inconsequential aspect Rapture has to offer.  There are artistic references and interesting NPC interactions which extend your knowledge of the subject matter.  If you ignore these additional elements and breeze through the story, your enjoyment will be reduced.

Technically, Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea is an excellent PC port barring the odd hindrance.  I attempted to run the game on maximum settings which performed admirably at 60fps until I became swamped with enemies.  Chaotic moments such as this significantly impede desired performance levels and cause sudden frame dips to 35-45.  As a result, I had to turn down the settings one notch which stabilized my frame rate.  Approaching doors can be problematic as the engine loads future sections as you play.  This usually causes some jarring microstutter and dramatic framerate drops. The FOV by default can only be increased or decreased by 15% from 70º (59,5º – 80,5º).  Certain players who use a larger 2560×1440 monitor will probably find this overly restricting.  You can find detailed conversion ratios by visiting the PCGamingWiki Report page.

Conclusion – Is It Worth Your Money?

Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea is a majestic expansion which affectionately recreates the marvel and magic of Rapture.  It is extremely fascinating to explore Rapture before the population mutated and ran amok.  The new emphasis on stealth allows for a number of different approaches.  However, the combat system hasn’t been dramatically altered which may irritate certain players who prioritize gameplay mechanics over an engrossing narrative.  The experience can be short depending on your play style, but also immersive which tantalizingly preys on your nostalgia.  I can wholeheartedly recommend this excellent piece of DLC especially if you adore the Bioshock canon.