#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 INFINITE SERIES#

Their only service to the plot is to jab holes in it. Yes, I know, they were brought in from an alternate reality, but thatвЂ™s just an explanation for their presence, not a reason for them to be there. The vigors in Columbia are not there for any reason. Andrew Ryan set up a city based around objectivism and self-interest, people found a way to improve their selves with gene splicing, they started fighting over the materials required to do so, then mutations, madness, and collapse. In BioShock, the plasmids were tied into the whole situation with a neat red ribbon. If he had populated it with that thing I just mentioned, but not thrown in all that interdimensional reality warping business-вЂќ etc, etc, etc.ДЇor starters, the вЂњvigorsвЂќ, which are functionally plasmids. If he had set it in a beautiful cloud city but not populated it with a religious cult resembling a cartoonified secessionist South, it would have been enough. It seems appropriate at this point to paraphrase the baptismal preacher from the start of the game: вЂњIf Ken Levine had just made a sequel to BioShock, but had not set it in a beautiful cloud city, it would have been enough. In fact, вЂњunnecessaryвЂќ is the best word to sum up the issues I do have with Infinite. I do think the parts of InfiniteвЂs ending that dabble in metanarratively gazing up the seriesвЂ™ butthole was a bit needlessly self-indulgent on Ken LevineвЂ™s part. Is there anything in System Shock 2вЂs intro that could be considered a lighthouse analogue? Maybe your shining military career before arriving on the VON BRAUN, but letвЂ™s not read too much into these things.

An oblivious man with a significant history arrives in a large residential environment in an unconventional location and must piece together a backstory involving a discovery that corrupted the people. IвЂ™ve started to wonder if you could consider Infinite, BioShock 1 and System Shock 2 as a sort of unconventional trilogy, all hitting basically the same points to explore different themes and environments. At least it provokes discussion, which is more than most of triple-A gamingвЂ™s bland storytelling can do. Love or hate InfiniteвЂs ending, itвЂ™s certainly unconventional, and interesting enough to stick in my mind and give me something to think about.

If it had ended about an hour or two earlier in a way that didnвЂ™t suck big fat seaslugs it wouldвЂ™ve been near perfect, and Infinite wouldвЂ™ve been something of a come-down.ДЄs it stands, the two run about equal. I still stand by my totally non-hyperbolic opinion that BioShock 1 has the best intro ever, and the story keeps up a high standard for most of the way through.

#SYSTEM SHOCK 2 INFINITE SERIES#

You donвЂ™t even have to look beyond the same bloody series to find a worse ending. IвЂ™ve heard some people call it the worst ending ever, but thatвЂ™s just being a big hyperbolic tosspot pretending to have edgy opinions. BioShock InfiniteвЂs ending has proved to be kinda polarizing.

System shock 2 infinite