{"id":914,"date":"2014-04-01T13:44:25","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T17:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/?p=914"},"modified":"2014-04-01T15:15:34","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T19:15:34","slug":"game-review-bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/game-review-bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Game Review: BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It took me a week to finally wrap my head around <i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two<\/i>, the final batch of DLC for <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i> and the final piece of <i>BioShock<\/i> content developed by Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games. Set up as something of a \u201cgrand finale\u201d for Levine\u2019s contributions to the <i>BioShock<\/i> franchise, playing this DLC you can expect to revisit many of your favorite characters in the locations from both games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-913 aligncenter\" alt=\"BaS3\" src=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS3.jpg\" width=\"675\" height=\"373\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS3.jpg 675w, http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS3-300x165.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The story picks up immediately following the events of <i>Episode One<\/i>. The player, now in the role of Elizabeth, is forced to help the city of Rapture\u2019s own revolutionary Atlas escape from Fontaine\u2019s Department Store, which Andrew Ryan converted into a prison detached from the rest of the city. Elizabeth\u2019s mission will have her scavenging for the materials needed to raise the building back up to the city, so Atlas and his goons can begin the civil war that occurred in Rapture immediately prior to the events of the original <i>BioShock<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest difference between <i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two <\/i>and the rest of <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i> is the gameplay. There is a heavy emphasis on stealth playing as Elizabeth, in comparison to the run-and-gun style of play as Booker DeWitt. You will find yourself crouching to avoid detection by Splicers and Big Daddies, then sneaking behind enemies to knock them out with a melee attack or knocking them out from a distance using the DLC\u2019s new weapon, a crossbow, with three types of ammo: tranquilizers (which knock out a single enemy), gas (knock out all enemies within the gas cloud), and noisemakers (which distract enemies). Rounding out Elizabeth\u2019s arsenal are two new Plasmids designed to aid in the stealth-based combat: \u201cPeeping Tom,\u201d which allows you to see enemy locations through walls, and \u201cIronsides,\u201d which gives Elizabeth the power to catch fired bullets and load them into her weapons. Two Plasmids from the previous episode, \u201cPossession\u201d and \u201cOld Man Winter,\u201d also return to your loadout in <i>Episode Two<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-911 aligncenter\" alt=\"BaS1\" src=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS1.jpg\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS1.jpg 675w, http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/BaS1-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>At times, the stealth-based gameplay of <i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two<\/i> feels very similar to that of the <i>Batman: Arkham<\/i> games, particularly in one section where Elizabeth can get to several high vantage points by latching onto freight hooks running along the walls and columns of a tall room. A disadvantage, however, is the player remains in first-person throughout the game. The stealth system in the <i>Batman: Arkham <\/i>franchise works much better because you control Batman in the third-person, which allows for easier detection of enemies from behind. In <i>Burial at Sea<\/i>, the player has to frequently spin around to keep tabs on every bit of their surroundings.<\/p>\n<p><i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two<\/i>\u2019s combat system is also much more slowly paced. In addition to the sluggish movements of the stealth gameplay, strategy changes in this DLC in a way that requires more time to examine surroundings and determine the best way to progress. This especially requires careful management of your very limited supplies of ammo and EVE. Players who are more used to the fast-paced action of <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i>\u2019s previous installments may need some time (and patience) to get used to the new stealth elements.<\/p>\n<p>Die-hard <i>BioShock<\/i> fans will especially enjoy appearances by many of the major characters from both <i>BioShock <\/i>and <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i>. Characters from <i>Infinite<\/i> (besides Elizabeth) include Booker DeWitt, the Lutece twins, and Daisy Fitzroy; prominent characters from the original <i>BioShock<\/i> such as Yi Suchong and Andrew Ryan himself also play key roles in this DLC. I was honestly disappointed that Ryan did not appear in the DLC more; he communicates with Elizabeth only a couple of times through a television monitor, and you never see him face-to-face. Ryan\u2019s appearance was more or less a cameo, but it is better than excluding Rapture\u2019s founder from the game completely.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/BaSEdited.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-921 aligncenter\" alt=\"BaSEdited\" src=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/BaSEdited.jpg\" width=\"675\" height=\"380\" srcset=\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/BaSEdited.jpg 675w, http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/BaSEdited-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 675px) 100vw, 675px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I\u2019ve noticed on several discussion threads that there is quite a split among <i>BioShock<\/i> fans over the ending of <i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two<\/i>. I am torn as well, not so much over the DLC\u2019s bittersweet conclusion but rather over the way in which it is tied together. Without spoiling the details, the ending of <i>Burial at Sea <\/i>attempts to connect the stories of <i>BioShock <\/i>and <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i> together \u2013 <i>Burial at Sea<\/i> ends where the story of the original <i>BioShock<\/i> begins. Long-time fans of the <i>BioShock<\/i> series may either have issue with how the ending affects the canon, or they will see it as Ken Levine cleverly connecting the cities of Rapture and Columbia through more ways than tears in the fabric of space-time. I\u2019ve heard arguments from both sides lurking Reddit in these past few days, and no matter where you stand in this debate you can\u2019t say that Levine didn\u2019t foster amazing discussion among fans of the <i>BioShock<\/i> series.<\/p>\n<p><b>FINAL VERDICT:\u00a0<\/b>While <i>BioShock <\/i>purists may have mixed feelings about the ending, <i>Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two <\/i>is overall a refreshing wrap-up of Ken Levine\u2019s own <i>BioShock<\/i> games. As Irrational Games dissolves, its developers moving to other companies and 2K Games taking over the development of games in the <i>BioShock<\/i> franchise, this simple four-hour campaign is a testament and fitting tribute to all that Levine and his team accomplished since the original <i>BioShock<\/i>\u2019s launch in 2007. Playing this DLC not only ties the worlds of <i>BioShock <\/i>and <i>BioShock Infinite<\/i> together, it also brings fans of Irrational\u2019s work together for one last hurrah \u2013 somewhere beyond the sea.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<address>The Minus World is written by Steven Brasley. You can keep up with his thoughts on gaming via\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/StevenBrasley\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It took me a week to finally wrap my head around Burial at Sea \u2013 Episode Two, the final batch of DLC for BioShock Infinite and the final piece of BioShock content developed by Ken Levine and his team at Irrational Games. Set up as something of a \u201cgrand finale\u201d for Levine\u2019s contributions to the <a href='http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/game-review-bioshock-infinite-burial-at-sea-episode-two\/' class='excerpt-more'>[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=914"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":922,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions\/922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}