Bioshock Infinite Thoughts

I wanted to do a ***Spoiler Warning*** but decided to hold off on that until the game's been out for a while longer.  I played through the PC version of the game, and used the Xbox 360 controller for most of it.  

I've gone through a playthrough of Bioshock Infinite and found that I could hardly put the controller down while I was playing.  I did this despite the game containing some major flaws that people don't seem to want to address.

First, the city of Columbia is amazing.  When you first enter, you get this feel of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck playing SimCity on FDR's grave.  The city looks like Disney World's Main Street USA.  Every building is meticulous, no trash on the streets, everyone in seeming harmony.  A Norman Rockwell painting in the works.  Just walking around the city and seeing what's there is a great way to set the atmosphere of the game.  Sure, you already know that everything is not what it seems when set foot in Columbia, but at first blush, it seems like a great place to live - until you're given your first choice.  After that, everything turns to shit and your adventure begins in earnest.

During this initial time in Columbia, something bothered me.  I was looking at these people, watching them do funny things, or listening to their conversations.  I was becoming immersed in Columbia and in Bioshock Inifinite until something happened which yanked me completely out of the game world - I couldnt interact with anyone.  I felt like a spectator, or at least like a ghost, moving around the city, swiping picnic baskets and purses with impunity while their owners just looked at me, not saying a word outside of their initial scripted conversation with their companion(s).   The whole looting system just felt arbitrary.  Like I said, at times, I could just run around and open purses, cash registers, toolboxes, and nobody would care.  Then, later in the game, there is a stealing penalty.  Later still, there isn't a penalty for "stealing".  This could be based on faction alliances - are the Vox pissed at you at the moment, or not, but it's not clear.

I also find the game missing any real input on my behalf to shape the story.  I wanted to play the game kind of in line with my personal politics (a Libertarian bent of sorts), and could not.  That's fair enough from a storytelling perspective - the storyline would have a seemingly endless supply of plot holes if you were given too much freedom.  One thing I missed was based on an early preview of the game from OXM.  There was a shot of a Vox beating up a Columbia citizen.  The preview indicated that you would have choices to make where you could intervene and stop beatings like this, or join in.  Kind of like to harvest or not harvest little sisters.  This didn't make it into the game.  Maybe it will be a component of future DLC?  

There's an easter egg with "Will the circle be unbroken" that made me want to send the game to Disney for copyright infringement (or at least disney princess infringement).   

To sum it up, I think Bioshock Infinite is a lot like the city of Columbia.  Something truly interesting to behold, but as you spend time there, you begin to see the warts.  I know I'm bitching quite a bit, but I do think the game is fantastic, there are just some issues which keep it from being a truly landmark game.  I think it's somewhere in the B+ range.  I am anxious to see what the future DLC will be.  There are a couple loose ends that I am interested in, perhaps a one-footed indian boy will make an appearance...?