MovieChat Forums > BioShock Infinite (2013) Discussion > 'Would you kindly ...' (spoilers)

'Would you kindly ...' (spoilers)


The first game forced us to take a step back and look at the "why" of video games -- why do we mindlessly run around and kill people because some director tells us to. It made a meta-statement on video games.

I thought this game was going to make a similar meta-statement, and could've -- and heck, maybe did. Either way, this is my idea/inspiration, and it's what I thought they were getting at when Booker first got to the Sea of Doors.

I thought they were going to point out how there are tons of worlds out there where people are running around, killing, saving someone, following a map, collecting "things" (coins, weapons, etc.), but that they were all variations of the same people, the same constants -- the protagonist in every FPS is some version of Booker, chasing some version of Elizabeth, saving her from some version of Comstock.

And I thought it was going to be a statement on the similarity and lack of variation in the video game world. But they didn't go for that. Or maybe they kind of did.

Thoughts?


http://www.tumblr.com/truce2headrush

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I think Bioshock Infinite achieved to get at an ending and a twist that makes you feel connected to the game, rather than the gaming world at large. But you see, the real beauty of Bioshock is in interpretation. I didnt even think about your idea of applying the fact when we play video games, we just blindly follow orders like the twist in Bioshock 1. I think each game has its own experience put out on the player, and the player interprets it in different ways.

What shocked me the most about Bioshock Infinite was knowing Comstock was actually Booker. I know there were clear and obvious signs that lead to that early on in the game, but knowing that in the end really did shock me. Then when I replayed it from the beginning, I saw all the signs and everything made sense. Player experience is key in Bioshock games.

If you want a meta answer, picture it this way: I was on a youtube video of this guy explaining the ending cause I wanted to what he thought of it. He said, that everyone who has played Bioshock seemingly were playing all of those worlds beyond those doors in the Sea of doors. You played with the same characters, but with different actions, different weapons and each experience was different but with constants and variables, the same result in the end. If anything, that should be a meta answer.

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Would you mind posting some of the signs or clues you noticed on your second playthrough?

http://www.tumblr.com/truce2headrush

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Well some of them were obscure but make sense when you play it the second time around. Like how Comstock knows a lot about Booker when he first talks to him via the tv screen early in the game, then the whole section in soldier's field, going through the battle of wounded knee displays and hearing what slate said when Booker was there, but Comstock wasnt there. And then before you go in to confront Comstock near the end of the game, there are wall mounts predicting the events of the game, as well as how Comstock dies as he gets drowned in water.

There are more as the player goes through the game, but it makes sense playing it through a second time than it did the first time around. I guess I was more into the gameplay and the initial layer of the story in the first playthgrough rather than the subtleness that those clues and the the climax produced.

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If there are pictures of Booker drowning, should that imply that him allowing Elizabeth to kill him did not work?

I like wearing camoflage; it helps me hide... coffee stains.

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I would think it very well could. As long as the Lutece twins are running around hopping from one Universe to another, let alone the very existence of the means of tear traveling, nothing is safe.

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Thing about WYK though, is if we DIDN'T do as asked, we couldn't possibly progress through the game. When you get right down to it, each of us made a concious, willing choice to do all this, because that's how these games work.

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Yup, and that's how ALL games work - by having their rules followed more or less closely. Otherwise you're doing your own thing, not playing the game.

So poor Fontaine could have controlled us-as-Jack with just about any phrase

As to the OP, the world of gaming is vast and infinite, there are many other structures and styles than the save-princess-kill-dragon schema. Although indeed they all involve some kind of rule following.

there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above her shoulder

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