BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2 Review

After the events of Burial at Sea, I couldn’t quite see how they would have been able to pull of a second one, yet they did and it has now arrived for our playing enjoyment. After seeing the trailer, I could barely contain my excitement for it. So when it was released, I hopped into BioShock Infinite as soon as I could. But was my hype worth all the trouble?

Before you leap into Episode 2, you’re given the option to revisit the original BioShock’s storyline. This is definitely needed if you haven’t played BioShock or it has been a long time since you have, meaning this is definitely needed in order to enjoy Burial at Sea - Episode 2 to its fullest, as many events and characters featured in BioShock return in Burial at Sea - Episode 2.

Still trying to save Sally, you play as Elizabeth almost directly after the events of Burial at Sea - Episode 2. You are greeted by the appearance of Atlas and after some short dialogue, you agree to help each other. You make a deal in which you lift the prison back up to Rapture, and in return, Atlas hands Sally over. This acts as the game’s plot line and main goal, and is a good one at that.

The first thing you need to know about BaS - Episode 2 is that you should forget everything you’ve done before when approaching situations in the BioShock series. Before, you’ve always had a sense of security; big group of enemies standing close to each other? Lob a grenade in the middle of them. Guy with a pipe running at you? Run back at him and blow his head off with a fully automatic machine gun. Loads of people shooting you? just lob balls of fire at them and use one of the 70 medkits you have in your back pocket in order to heal yourself back up again.

Here, however, you are the person who is the weak one. Unlike BioShock Infinite, enemies actually shoot Elizabeth (Admit it, we all tried to make her catch bullets for us at least once in the game), and she can’t take a lot of hits. She can be killed by about three shots or two melee hits (on average), meaning here, you can’t just run head-first into enemies. Your main form of attacking is to melee them, as a melee attack on an unsuspecting target is an insta-kill. However, trying to hit an enemy that is aware of your presence only knocks them back, and should only be used to allow you to get a shot in on someone or to make an escape. This change works in the game’s favour and gives a good change of pace from your regular BioShock experience.

Like in Burial at Sea, ammo is scarce and that makes getting the silent melee hit on an enemy even more vital, so you have your ammo saved for when you necessarily need it. The machine gun and the huntsman carbine are absent this time round. However, the revolver, shotgun and radar range still remain, as well as the arrival of a new weapon; the crossbow. This old bolt-chucker will be your main weapon in BaS - Episode 2, being both silent and very deadly. The crossbow has three different ammo types that each are useful in their own way. The main ammo for it is a tranquilizer that knocks out whoever is at the wrong end of the arrow.  The next is a noisemaker, which attracts all enemies to wherever it lands. It deals no physical damage to an enemy, but it can be used very well with the next type, which is the gas bolt. This knocks out any enemies in range of its blast.

Not only are there new weapons, but a new Plasmid has made an appearance too, Peeping Tom. As the name suggests, this allows you to see enemies and items through walls and go invisible. This is probably the most vital plasmid you will sue whilst playing Burial at Sea - Episode 2, as it will allow you to position yourself correctly and dash out to knock a passing enemy with the Air Grabber, as well as finding items such as ammo, money and lockpicks, as many of these are in hard-to-spot places.

Like in BioShock Infinite, Elizabeth is able to undo locks on doors. However, this is done in a sequence that is a bit of a mix between the lockpicking in Mafia II and the hacking in BioShock. Raise a pin and the door opens, however, if it’s a red one, an alarm sounds, but if it’s a blue one, it drops a free Noisemaker bolt. Later in the game it can be difficult to unlock doors meaning sometimes it’s best to not try to get a Noisemaker. The lockpicking adds a nice touch to the game and helps us become Elizabeth.

The story of BaS - Episode 2 is as complicated as ever, though that gives it the BioShock charm. It’s been very well thought-through and even the characters are, including Elizabeth herself. For instance Elizabeth can only drink a single alcoholic beverage before she is ‘drunk’, unlike Booker and Jack, who were about to consume large amounts of alcohol before becoming drunk. Enemies also react to events realistically. For instance, if you shoot a revolver from a balcony, enemies will not immediately know your exact location down to the coordinates. Instead, they will be made aware of your presence and will begin searching in the rough area from where you shot from.

Overall, everything in Burial at Sea - Episode 2 is done well and consideration has been put into the gameplay and story of the game. Whilst only taking about 3-4 hours to complete, It’s a brilliant end to the Burial at Sea storyline and a brilliant way to finish off BioShock Infinite.