In spite of the slightly mixed reviews of our site's commenters, G4's reaction to the Bioshock Infinite reveal trailer can only be described as a "Nerd-gasm." We're very into this game, and very impressed with the trailer. Below please find some pointy-headed analysis and speculation about this upcoming game. First, watch the trailer again:
Main Themes: The floating city of Columbia seems the polar opposite of Bioshock's Rapture. Obviously, it's floating as opposed to sunken under the sea, but it's also a city that is obviously in good repair (at least in the trailer) and functioning. Rapture is more like a tomb, waiting to be washed away. Where Rapture was started by a single individual, there is a definite theme of collectivism/Nationalism in Columbia, as evidenced by the American flags everywhere and the red, white and blue bunting. Overall, it seems like a cautionary tale of American Exceptionalism run amock.
Except it's obvious that something has gone horrible wrong. We see in the trailer's propaganda poster an exact opposite of the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty implores the world to send their huddled masses to our shores, where Lady Columbia implores the scum to stay away.
Another theme we may see coming up is light vs. darkness. Rapture was so far under the sea, no natural light could penetrate, so environments were murky and dark. Columbia, I think, will have the opposite problem. No shade anywhere. Light blindness from the constantly beating sun illuminating everything. Could be very, very cool and very, very different.Check out the transitions between "scenes" in the trailer to see what I mean.
Influences: One main influence of the game seems to be The Chicago World's Fair of 1893. The World's Fair was also known as "The World's Colombian Exposition" (Columbia? Get it?) and is referenced in the snow-globe in the beginning of the trailer. This was America's symbolic "coming out" as a world power, with our nation's greatest architects and artists combining power to build the legendary "White City" erected to hold the fair. The same "We can do anything!" spirit that might lead to, say, a city floating in the sky. Anyway, you should read The Devil in the White City. It's a really good book about the fair, and one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, H.H. Holmes. Holmes is right out of a steampunk nightmare, and I can only imagine Ken Levine is very familiar with him and the socio-political milieu of the World's Fair. If the spirit of Holme' is evoked by the game's enemies, I predict terror.
Also: The Wizard of Oz. The guy with the twirly mustache looks both like Uncle Sam and reminds me of the Wizard leaving Oz on his hot air balloon. See?
The mechanical monster chasing the player has a fully visible human heart -- shades of the Tin Man, am I right?
Returing Characters: I think Andrew Ryan is in this game. First off, this guy:
looks a like Ryan. And secondly, the scale-model of The World's Fair and the Big Daddy that opens the trailer indicates that someone in Columbia has already envisioned a massive city under the sea patrolled by metal monsters. That's got to be Ryan. The time-frame works out too -- this is set in 1912, and Rapture was built sometime before 1929. Here's a wild pitch -- let's say Ryan was a resident of Columbia who became disillusioned by the city's jingoism, and decided to deflate the city's balloons while it was over the ocean and sink it into the sea... could it be that Columbia becomes Rapture at some point in the future? And you make it happen? Could it be that Infinite is essentially Andrew Ryan's origin story?
Notice anything that we missed in the trailer? Feel free to share it in our comment section below.
Comments are Closed
Comments
Displaying 1–20 of 44
1232
bige10101
And btw the old man in the game is named salton
bige10101
i also read a interview with levine that he said it would be like the wickerman but not the newest one.
bige10101
this might be crazy but i believe that the bigdaddy type rosie and elizebeth had roses so that might have some connection. And when you go to siren alley there is daniel wales which i quote "Im not a freaking Handyman!" So it might be in the same universe or it could be like a story that someone is telling someone like the oddessey. BTW they are making a bioshock movie in 2013 hopefully
rosycross
A videogame based on eugenics? This is insane! What's next, Concentration Camp Torture Tactics? Mr. Levine are you feeling allright?
waynebruce
"Here's a wild pitch -- let's say Ryan was a resident of Columbia who became disillusioned by the city's jingoism, and decided to deflate the city's balloons while it was over the ocean and sink it into the sea... could it be that Columbia becomes Rapture at some point in the future? And you make it happen? Could it be that Infinite is essentially Andrew Ryan's origin story?"
in the synopsis on the official website it says "so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky."
turret_awesome
12-20 when columbia was built
turret_awesome
If Rapture was Built in the 1950's-60's and "Columbia" was built around the 1912's then how could Andrew Ryan be in it? He would be about 50-60 years old when rapture was done then he would be 12-20
sac_boi93
Sorry for the double post, but this DeWitt guy kind of reminds me of the Wolf from Pulp Fiction. :D
sac_boi93
I think that if Ryan lived in the same universe as Columbia, there would've been some mention of the city in the other Bioshock games.
Or maybe he repressed memories of Columbia . . .
olds442ct
I could see this being the back story of how Rapture was created. Ryan could have been a part of Columbia. He soon becomes fed up with all the government control and starts up a civil war, which causes the destruction of Columbia. Ryan then gathers the most gifted and smartest people from Columbia, and decides to create Rapture so they would be free from government control. The only thing is I think Ryan would have made mention of this in either of the previous Bioshock games. Also if it's true they've been working on this since the release of the first Bioshock you'd think they would have put some kind of teaser into the 2nd Bioshock.
RedDeadManiac
One this city can be rapture...is it so hard to believe that since andrew ryan couldnt' get funding for his city he sinks columbia and uses it to build rapture.
cynicalbard
The flag hanging above "Ryan" is from 1908 so this trailer might be some sort of in-game flashback if the game is set in 1912.
Toggles
I find it interesting that although most of you seemed to have played the first Bioshock, many of you seem to have failed to pick up some of its main themes. One of these themes was a metagame theme about the willingness for the player to believe and act upon anything spoonfed by the game to them as "truth". To the people who claim that the city in the Infinite trailer couldn't be a precursor to Rapture because Ryan says he built Rapture from scratch, I say this is, once again, your conditioning as a video game player to believe everything presented in game as fact, in the context of the game world. Take into consideration the context of the particular scene in Bioshock 2. The particular level is little more than a shrine to Ryan. The propaganda here is coming at you hard; clearly evident in Ryan's vilification of the surface world. Furthermore, listen to the audio file that describes how Ryan chose the location for the city. Basically, he was on a boat on the Atlantic ocean, asleep, when he suddenly leapt from his bed, saying that THIS was the location they should build Rapture.
Now, Rapture gets its geothermal power from undersea heat vents or volcanoes. Ryan couldn't have known that the ship was right over top of a viable vent. This leads me to believe that this is yet another piece of propaganda in a culture already loaded with it. This audio file seems an attempt to paint Ryan as some kind of clairvoyant. Propaganda generally only speaks the truth when the truth is convenient to the cause for which the propaganda was created.
So, why should we believe that Andrew Ryan built Rapture from scratch? The story of how he "built Rapture" could easily be lies intended to glorify a man who subconsciously sees himself as a god among men, as so much of the other propaganda in both games seems to.
I don't think that thinking a city made for the sky is THAT much of a stretch of suspension of disbelief in the world of Bioshock. We're already suspended our disbelief to the point where stem cells from sea slugs allow us to shoot lightning and *ahem* BEES out of our hands, but apparently we're not to the point of believing a flying city could be submerged and become an underwater city. That BEEing said (HAR HAR), I also doubt that Columbia became Rapture at some point in history, unless the relationship is purely ideological. The architecture is wildly different, so unless the parts of Rapture you see are just the newer parts, or the entire city has been renovated to fit with trends over the years, its doubtful that the cities are the same.
Finally, I'd like to point out that the "big daddy" in the fish tank is NOT necessarily a Big Daddy. Remember, Big Daddies take their appearance from a stylized atmospheric diving suit. Similar armored diving suits can be traced back to the late 1800s, and perhaps earlier.
Ciusmonarc
Whoops forgot this part
You can find out for your self in the ingame audio when he gives a speech that says he left his country in 1919.....and came to America.
Ciusmonarc
Ryan can't be in columbia at this time. He didn't arive in America untill 1919, that's seven years after the time of this game wich takes place in 1912.
MallyLoar
Andrew Ryan talks way to much about building Rapture from Scratch. Also said beforehand, Bioshock 2 (museum level) shows how Rapture was made. Just because Dr. Suchong created the Big Daddy doesn't mean it can't make any sense. The Machine Freak in this game looks different than the Big Daddy we know of. At first, I thought the city of Columbia is for sure sunken and that it became Rapture but the more you think about the less plausible it becomes. The city was built by submarine volcanoes and placed in a spot that was well thought out. Besides, it wouldn't be able to fall to the bottom without crashing. I definitely believe Andrew Ryan is in this game, but I believe we will find out why Rapture was created and the forethought before it was made. To bad this game is predicted to come out in 2012, I can't wait that long.
Originally conceived as a floating symbol of American ideals at a time when the United States was emerging as a world power, Columbia is dispatched to distant shores with great fanfare by a captivated public. What begins as a brand new endeavor of hope turns drastically wrong as the city soon disappears into the clouds to whereabouts unknown.
This is what the game is presumably about
The player assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, sent to the lost city to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned there since childhood. He develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt must learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.
Hah after reading this, it almost changes my mind about Columbia not become Rapture, but who knows..
Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/201 0/08/12/2148531/2k-games-and-i rrational-games.html#ixzz0wUnw l1rZ
V_Translanka
Wait, why the hell was it called, "The World's Colombian Exposition"?
STCook
I wouldn't be upset in the least bit to find out that this is the back story to Andrew Ryan and Rapture. I really am hoping it is now because I want to see Rapture being built. I want to be able to walk in Ryan's shoes and discover what turned him into the man that we met in the first Bioshock. I am also going way far ahead but if it is true that this is the story of Andrew Ryan's rise to power' then I see the next game after Infinite being the fall of Rapture. I will be heartbroken if my prediction does not come true.
Catstrut
I didn't think it at first, but it is possible that Andrew Ryan is in this game:
Ryan was born in 1892 (I thought he was much younger in BioShock)
BioShock 1 was set in 1960 (killed @ age 68)
This means if Ryan is in Infinite, he would be around 20 years of age, which makes this case very plausible.
http://bioshock.wikia.com/wi ki/Andrew_Ryan
Ryan's Bio^^
randomamber
Am I missing where the still shot of the Uncle Sam/Wizard of Oz came from?
I watched it a couple of times and I'm not seeing it.
Help me, please.
Displaying 1–20 of 44
1232