Power Button Podcast
Tip JarBioShock Infinite DLC Revealed
July 30, 2013
It almost feels like an eternity since BioShock Infinite debuted earlier this year and fans have been patiently waiting for news on the announced (but still unexplained) downloadable content. Now the focus of the game's three DLC packs have finally been revealed, and one of those packs is closer to release than you'd expect. Polygon has the story about today's release of "Clash in the Clouds" and the still-upcoming "Burial at Sea" expansions.
[T]he bigger surprise is news that the next bit of content, a two-pack, narratively driven gaming novella of sorts, will return players to the original BioShock's sunken city of Rapture at the height of its glory. The first download of the two will have players exploring the living city as Booker DeWitt, the second, as Elizabeth.Combat-oriented "Clash in the Clouds" hits Steam around noon for $5 today and the Xbox 360 over the day as it propagates out to servers. It will go on sale on the PS3 on Wednesday. There is no date set yet for the two-part "Burial at Sea," which the team just started work on.
[Ken] Levine calls "Clash in the Clouds" a "small, little focused experience." It is combat oriented, incredibly difficult and something developers believe gamers were clamoring for.
"Clash" offers a static combat arena with specific intense challenges and leaderboards offering an aim at speed running, engagement strategy, and general action with a narrative getting in the way. I was more a fan of the story than the combat in Infinite, and when I played through the main game I often ran away from armies of enemies rather than fight if I had the option to flee to the next area. With that in mind, it doesn't look like "Clash" is for me. I want the story more than the shooting. That's why I'm interested in "Burial at Sea" which brings Booker and Elizabeth into Rapture at its peak. Here's Polygon again:
The "Burial at Sea" trailer shows booth Booker and Elizabeth returning to Rapture, the sunken city of the original BioShock, only this time the city is still a monument to its ideals and designs.
In the video we catch a glimpse of the architecture, the characters, the politics, the Little Sisters, that gamers have only viewed in ruin and corrupted.
The second and third DLC, Levine said, will be "a little more narrative oriented, obviously. A love letter to the fans."
The two-part experience will have players taking on the role of Booker once more for the first half and then playing as Elizabeth for the second.
"We really listened to the fans and we know how they feel about Elizabeth," he said. "We decided we wanted to shift things around a little bit for the third one, so the player character in the third DLC, you get to play Elizabeth and the gameplay is quite different as her. She's not the tank that Booker is. And you'll see how all the stories come together."
Now that's the kind of DLC I want to play! The trailer for this expansion promises new mysteries and fresh takes on Rapture's attempted utopia. The world of BioShock is such a rich place with so much creative potential that I can't wait to see what the developers have put together in "Burial". It's built around an exciting idea that BioShock fans will surely enjoy exploring. I know I will.