You’ll want to explore Rapture, because you’ll be rewarded.Īaah, the Rapture boardwalk. Usually there’s a large area to check out along with plenty of secrets, and the sheer quality of level design makes Burial At Sea a worthwhile purchase. There’s something to be discovered in every corner, with most of the fun coming from activating the navigational arrow and then walking in the exact opposite direction. Rapture is still a wondrous and terrifying place to explore, with this second half taking place in a ruined shopping mall.

It’s this half that resembles the original Bioshock most closely, set within a sealed area of Rapture that’s falling apart at the seams with Splicers everywhere. You finish the tour by visiting the still-brilliant-still-insane Sander Cohen, and from there take a trip to the second more combat-orientated part of the DLC. The creepy Little Sisters-in-Training definitely win the prize for the highlight. You can visit the bar or various stores, gamble (which Elizabeth will comment on), or try to find every hidden item or nod to the world of Bioshock. Every person you encounter will either acknowledge you or continue a conversation which never repeats. The first part of Burial At Sea is a free-roaming slice of one of the posher areas of the city, packed with law-abiding citizens and with no combat at all. Attention to detail is one of Irrational’s strong suits and they don’t disappoint, as they bring all they’ve learned making Columbia back to Rapture. While I loved Columbia I loved Rapture just a little bit more, and getting to return to it pre-downfall is something I was always going to long for. I wouldn’t be surprised though if many gamers didn’t give a jot about the story and just came to explore the world. There is a nice nod to the very first Bioshock trailer too. Let’s just say that Elizabeth has a particular reason for visiting Booker in Rapture, and you might not get the answer you expect at the end of the first episode. While you do have to be well-versed in the lore of both Bioshock and Infinite, at least having played both to completion with a fresh memory of each, to truly appreciate the story it is well told and adds extra layers to both games’ stories. I won’t say anything more about the story except that you play once again as Booker, who in Rapture is a private investigator, and he’s hired by the mysterious Elizabeth (who he doesn’t know in this timeline) to find a missing girl who’s important to both of them somehow. Also Booker and Elizabeth are there, and while Booker is apparently part of this world Elizabeth is the stronger less naïve girl she was at the close of Infinite. It also takes place in Bioshock’s Rapture, which of course happens after the downfall of Columbia, but before the civil war that tore Andrew Ryan’s capitalist utopia apart. Burial At Sea takes place after the love-it-or-hate-it-but-either-way-you’re-confused ending of Bioshock Infinite. Consider yourselves amply warned, now the rest of us can get to the review. For those people do not read any further until you’ve finished the game. I’ll dance around spoilers for both games but some will inevitably slip through, and many people may well have not finished Infinite yet (I’ve barely started Tomb Raider and that came out around the same time). I’m going to say this right now in the opening paragraph: if you haven’t yet played both Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite to completion do not play Burial At Sea or read any further in this review. Irrational delighted and (bio)shocked the world when they announced that the story-based DLC for Bioshock Infinite was going to be set in the undersea city of Rapture.

Burial at sea review