I’m about to say something considered sacrilege to Bioshock fans. The only game I’ve ever played in the series is Bioshock Infinite. For some reason, hardcore Bioshock fans don’t seem to appreciate leaving the sea for the sky. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Bioshock Infinite. I understand it as a departure, but I enjoyed it, and I enjoyed the guns as well.
The game takes place in an alternative America in 1912. You play as a private detective named Booker, a former soldier, and a former Pinkerton. You’ve been hired to infiltrate an American city known as Columbia and rescue a girl named Elizabeth. The founder of Columbia, Zachry Comstock, took Columbia and seceded from the United States.
Along the way, you get to use several different firearms. The game is mostly fantasy. You even get superpowers in the form of ‘Vigors’ that allow you to disperse shockwaves, take over machines, and more. Even though it’s a fantastical world, the guns are pretty grounded.
Bioshock Infinite — The Guns
The game occurs during a civil war on Columbia between the Vox Populi guerillas and the Founders, and the guns are all fictional but grounded. Their design is clearly inspired by the real world, which adds some credence to the turn of the century. What is interesting is that weapon’s development seemed to jump drastically in this timeline. It’s 1912, but we have submachine guns and repeating carbines.
Each side has configurations of guns that have a variety of differences. These differences can be functional differences like full auto or burst, the addition of optics, different magazine sizes, and different external features.
We still get classic designs that utilize the classic turn of the century weapon design. The weapon you start with is inspired by the Mauser C96 but features more modern touches. It has a removable magazine, a fairly short barrel, a weird AR-like charging handle, and all the other stuff you see on a steampunk version of a gun.
We have the submachine gun of Bioshock Infinite that mixes early submachine gun designs. It’s a side-feeding, wood-stocked weapon that blends the MP 18, the Beretta M1918, and the Czech ZK-383. The Vox Populi variant uses a snail drum mag, and the Founders have a box mag.
We also see pseudo-Maxim guns, Gatling guns carried by George Washington-inspired mechs, and a bolt action sniper rifle that blends everything from the M1903 to the KAR 98K and the Mosin Nagant.
My Favorite Guns
My two favorite guns are the M1 Carbine rip-off, specifically the Vox Populi version with the weird, improvised optic attached to it. Predictably as a shotgun nerd, I like their take on the sawn-off, lever-action Winchester 1887. It’s very Terminator 2. The Vox Populi version known as the Heater fires a single round blunderbuss style, but I prefer the standard model. Both guns have comically oversized barrels, but the regular shotgun keeps things more 1887-like.
The game hits us with two purely fictional explosive launchers. We get a fairly standard rocket launcher, although the design is not recoilless, so recoil would be an issue. The grenade launcher is a revolver with a forward grip and lack of stock.
The catalog of firearms in the game isn’t huge, but it’s focused, featuring upgradeable guns. Depending on the gun, you can extend the magazine, decrease recoil, increase damage, and with the shotgun, you can even increase the cone of spread. Unfortunately, the Bioshock Infinite upgrade system is plagued by the use of the word “clip” in place of “magazine.”
GunPlay
The gameplay is not realistic, but it’s not over-the-top TimeSplitters-style jump and gun. You mix in supernatural powers with the gunplay to keep things fresh. Using cover is smart because sometimes things get overwhelming, and you’ll need to fight smart. When you start blasting away, you’ll run low on ammo.
Don’t worry, though. Your A.I.-controlled partner, Elizabeth, is always willing to lend a hand. On occasion, she’ll find ammo and alert you. She’ll toss you the whole gun instead of just the ammo or mags, so heads up! It’s a nice touch to the game that keeps it about the fighting and doesn’t make the escort mission a slog.
All the guns are fairly standard in the sights department. The Vox Popular M1 Carbine features a glass lens with an X just drawn on it. In real life, it wouldn’t work, but I appreciate the improvised idea. It’s cute.
I hate games where I can’t look down the sights, and thankfully I can look down the sights of the guns in Bioshock Infinite. The sights are also somewhat period or at least firearm correct. The M1 Carbine iron sights are well represented, and the game’s revolver features a notch and front post that’s fairly standard.
A Life With Vigor Is a Life That’s Bigger
I’ve mentioned the special powers a time or two. Mixing the use of guns with vigor results in a new and different type of gunplay. In Bioshock Infinite, you don’t need to try and min/max a character in one direction. The guns and vigor work well together. Throwing a Bucking Bronco trap levitates enemies in the air, making them vulnerable. Throw the trap, trip up the enemies, then light them up with your shotgun.
Toss a Murder of Crows vigor at the bad guys, and then start taking your time with a sniper rifle while they are distracted. Bioshock Infinite is easier when you learn to balance your guns with your vigor and make them work together. You can mix your play style with the right vigor and the right guns, and you can change it up.
Bioshock Infinite isn’t your average first-person shooter, and that’s a good thing. The various obstacles, weapons, vigor, and of course, the enemies make it something a little more. Bioshock has always been a little more than your average first-person shooter, and Infinite takes that to the next level.
