izigame.me

"Burial at Sea - Episode One" is the definition of unnecessary DLC, and its story is creatively bankrupt.
It's not even "more of the same", which is something I can respect when it comes to additional story DLCs. Rather it is "overpromise, then underdeliver". It tries to be something "new" (relatively to Infinite), but lacks the playtime and development resources and talent to truly be that. It's just a weak curiosity, which... I've already said in my review of BioShock Infinite that Infinite itself was already only a curiosity... So, BaS is effectively a derivative byproduct of something that was already a derivative byproduct... Naturally, the end result is weak and endowed with the rich taste of tap water.
BaS heavily relies on nostalgia and reference in order to sell itself and justify its own existence. And actually, those are probably its only strenghts (ie. BaS only strenght is that BioShock 2007 existed). But, as is often the case, those things by themselves aren't enough. And the classic game of old, which shadow towers over this here production, obviously by itself cannot carry this entirely derivative and auto-referential byproduct.
I will close this review by bringing up details, like the fact that the characters are unlikeable, and that the player is bossed around, all throughout, by a passive-aggressive Elizabeth who oozes spitefulness and hate. As for Booker, the player's avatar, he comes out as weak and very sorry for himself and submissive. Hmm. Does that sound like jolly good fun to you? Spoiler, it's not. If you think its marketing and video trailer genuinely represents the content and ambiance of this DLC, then come over here... because I have a bridge to sell you.
The ending is insultingly bad:
- How can the Big Daddy want to defend the Little Sister, if there isn't any existing bond between them yet? (because, according to Burial at Sea, Elizabeth who is here the incarnation of the trope "The girl who's the key to everything!" is the one who causes that bond to happen in BaS Episode 2). How can she call him "Mr. Bubbles"? Answer is, this shouldn't happen, therefore the whole sequence and your story makes no sense. And that's only one thing, but that thing is representative of the level of care, intelligence and attention to details that went into the story of this DLC. Burial at Sea is so bad that it cannot even stick to its own idiotic internal logic and retcons.
- I, as Booker, killed this Big Daddy. Only for you to ressuscitate him in a cinematic so he can kill me, eh? Your storytelling standards are in the gutter.
- Ultimately, Elizabeth willingly tortures a little girl, just so she can fullfill her retarded and self-imposed mission to psychologically torture and kill an old man, one who's already been torturing and slowly killing himself for the past decade because of his past actions mind you, and one who is currently in the process of accomplishing a selfless act by helping this same little girl (that Elizabeth willingly tortures just so she can fullfill her retarded and self-imposed mission to... etc.). Not only is this "pants on head" stupid but this, by definition, is evil. Those are, in the end, the actions of a villain. Elizabeth is, now, not only a petty, cruel, mentally ill, evil b*tch, but in addition to that she has a way bellow average IQ, because everything she does is so stupid. BaS, through and through, is also the character assassination of Elizabeth.
- Just bad, insulting, stupid, dumpster grade writing, that doesn't abide by any kind of logical continuity whatsoever. The likes of which you can find in many movies and TV shows these days.
I'll see you again in my Episode 2 review, once I'll be able to muster the mental fortitude to talk about that pretentious, parasitic tripe.