BioShock Infinite Burial At Sea Episode 2 Review

-Gregg Dietz
Reviews Editor

Constants and variables. Irrational games used the idea of infinite universes with grace and expertise. That's why it's so sad that this DLC will be the last canonical story from the BioShock franchise. I have been anticipating this DLC since I finished my review of episode 1, which you can read right here. The story picks up right after the end of episode 1 and makes for an exciting conclusion. The important part being that you need to have played BioShock, BioShock Infinite and BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 1. The story allows you control of Elizabeth for the first time and it's immediate that it's not going to be like Jack or Booker.

She is intentionally weaker in terms of health so they've added a stealth mechanic to allow for a new style of combat. You can’t just rush into battle head first like with Booker because you will die very quickly. A new indicator is present above the heads of enemies that will allow you to know how visible you are. The strange thing about this was that you could only knock out enemies if they didn't spot you. If you were to sneak up but still get caught at the last minute, the melee attack becomes only a stun attack and now you must be in a firefight. As much as I didn't like this, It didn't ruin the game for me because as great as the story was, the gun play was just bland and this DLC is just par for the course in terms of the whole franchise.

The space in which you run around in is unique in that its a large accessible area that you’ll keep backtracking though to advance the story. It’s as visually stunning as you’d expect but is unlike BioShock Infinite due to you constantly moving forward to new areas. What makes this so unique to me was how they placed enemies depending on when you came back to the main area or other places you needed to travel back to. The only down side to this is sometimes the enemies weren’t placed in new ways, there was just more of them making sneaking around much more difficult. I was much more impressed by placement, making you think about new ways to get through sections you had already been.

The acting in this is just as great as you’d expect from the BioShock franchise. I can’t talk too much about this due to avoiding spoilers because every story element in this DLC is a spoiler. So what I will say is every time someone speaks, I was enthralled, never having a cringe worthy moment.

Overall, I love this DLC. The story was the main reason for my love, much like it has been through the entire franchise. The gameplay was very vanilla to me and I would just sneak past enemies to move on instead of knocking them out of shooting them because it wasn’t beneficial. This DLC is absolutely worth your money because it answers some questions and ends the entire franchise. I will always cherish these games and have nothing but admiration and well wishes for Ken Levine and company. I give BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea: Episode 2 an 8.5 outta 10.

What did you think of this DLC? What are some of your favorite moments from the entire franchise? Let us know in the comments below, on our Facebook Fan Page, or tweet us @MissionStartP

Thanks for reading

- Gregg Dietz (@ChubRockGeek)