WHAT I SAW:
BioShock Infinite - Irrational Games' sky-lining sci-fi stunner
 

WHAT I EXPECTED:
I had the privilege of seeing Infinite during a pre-E3 event a few weeks ago, but the impact of the initial demo viewing still hadn't left me. I had to see it again and did so today. Newsflash: It's still every bit as astounding the second time around.

As a huge fan of the series, I had only seen the trailers and gameplay footage that Irrational released months ago when it was first unveiled. As impressed as I was back then, it hadn't prepared me for where Irrational boss Ken Levine and his team were planning on taking the game. A shooter...in the sky? No more Big Daddies or Little Sisters? Rest assured - this studio knows exactly what they're doing...

 
WHAT THEY SHOWED:
The demo spotlighted a handful of new features, including main character Booker Dewitt and the woman who he "rescues," Elizabeth, as they get to know one another...under some very dire circumstances. You see - Elizabeth has spent her life in a tower, out of the grasp of two warring factions in the sky-bound city of Columbia: the Vox Populi and the Founders. The Founders are ultra-nationalists focused on maintaining the city as it always has been to an almost xenophobic degree, while the Vox Populi stand against all of that to a zealous, violent degree. Elizabeth is caught between the two groups for reasons that neither she nor Dewitt know. But they do have suspicions. After all, Elizabeth has the power to manipulate fluctuations in the current timeline called "tears." Everyone in Columbia can see these apparition-like anomalies - everything from a standing turret, to a train-car, to doorways leading to who knows where - but only she can "call them into being," so to speak.

It's a dazzling power that works both as a story device and a combat feature, giving you an almost absurd amount of choice. But in brief, but packed demo of Infinite, we saw Elizabeth attempt to revive a dying horse by "opening" a tear, only to have the power slip out of her control - tossing both her and Dewitt into what looked like an alternate timeline where they stood on a contemporary city street outside of a movie theater. The catch? On the theater's marquee: Revenge of the Jedi. Not "Return," Revenge. Big difference.

In another instance, we see Dewitt face off against a seemingly endless flood of Vox Populi, swinging along sky-lines and attacking from ground level as well. During the heated fight, he can direct Elizabeth to use her developing powers of tears to make a train car attached to a nearby sky-line materialize at the right time to decimate a string of Vox Populi enemies gliding on the same line. It's an incredibly inventive twist that appears to be done with a lot of thought.

But through it all, it's Dewitt and Elizabeth's relationship that holds all the frenetic, white-knuckle action together. While you're dodging enemies, navigating the choppy waters of whether you should intervene in some of the injustices you see happening all around you (the big showdown in the demo starts when you save a simple postman from being executed by one of the Vox Populi, but you could've simply kept moving along and ignored it), or trying to desperately get Elizabeth to the Comstock House - where you think you'll find answers to some of the game's mysteries - it's how the two interact with one another that really hooked me.

Pursued by the scary, giant mechanical guardian Songbird who's served as Elizabeth's jailor in the tower, as well her only "friend" since she was taken captive at five years old - you, as Dewitt, make her a promise early in the demo. The promise? To never let her be taken back to the tower. But by the demo's end - that oath is put to the test and it makes the short journey through Columbia an incredibly impactful one.
 

WHAT I THOUGHT:
I'm a sucker for a well-told tale, and even though the demo for Infinite lasted a brief 20-25 minutes, it had serious punch. Not only did it introduce "tears" as a hugely interesting game feature, it went beyond that by actually getting us invested in both Dewitt and Elizabeth's combined plight. Some games don't even manage that over their entirety! This small taste of what Infinite has in store for us sets the bar - and our expectations - ridiculously high. Can't wait to see what other rabbit Irrational pulls out of its hat for the next demo.