Bioshock Infinite: Almost ruined by combat

Bioshock Infinite has torn me in a manner unlike any other game to date.

On the one hand, I thoughtfully enjoyed it. I adored the floating city of Columbia, the mysterious and hidden path of the protagonist, the idle companionship of Elizabeth, and the frenetic pacing of a story based around regret, redemption, suppression and brutality.

On the other, the longer I played through the game, the more I found myself sighing whenever I popped into the pre-determined arena of a "major" battle. The pre-placed rifts featuring an assortment of health packs, salt, appropriate weapons and almost useless cover. Enemies standing around in well spaced positions, with an array of weaponry designed to swarm and suppress my position as quickly as possible. A few hooks to exploit that rarely available "air to ground" insta-stun that rendered you open to attack from everyone anyway.

There's no strategy here. Enemies don't allow it. Entering the battlefield invites instantaneous flanking, rocket spam, random spawns, and sometimes even a bunny hopping Handyman with a convenient weak spot. You can't stealth in and around to land hard attacks. Elizabeth can't use her immense power to actually harm anyone, for some reason, but can through you ammo and salt at opportune times. Every now and again there's a skyline you can hop on, but I found myself thinking that the pace of these fights didn't match well against the controls nor your field of vision.

But what incensed me more than anything else was the sheer pointlessness of many fights. Why did I have to kill Lady Comstock three times? Why did I need to protect a ship when I could have flown to my destination on a giant robot bird I was able to control? Why did every single nemesis have a team of henchmen that I needed to kill almost constantly, when most of them seemed to enjoy having a yarn? Why did the game feel that I should be able to shoot the innocent poor but not the innocuous rich?

I continued playing because I adored the moments in between. I loved finding audio logs which drip-fed various dimensions of the puzzle and offered a different perspective. Winding my way through Elizabeth's prison and earning her trust. Gazing at the sheer beauty and detail in everything - from Fink's enormous factories to Comstock's multi-structure ode to himself. Digging up the detail of this seemingly picturesque locale that was rotten to the core.

So why did I need to kill everything, almost all of the time? Why was my gun on screen during dialogue, pointing at people it didn't need to be pointing at? Why couldn't I explore an area without having to run into
nameless thugs who rushed me for simply existing in that particular place?

It didn't have to be this way either. The game started well. It offered me a weapon but spent a fairly long time establishing the scene without using it. By the time I had brained my first guard, I was ready for a fight, although I didn't know I'd be hoarding ammo and SCIENCE because of the perpetual chance I'd have to electricute a bunch of guys enough so I could blow *all* of their heads off in one shot.

Combat ceased to be a potent mechanic about halfway through the game. I was tired of it. The rare moments when B:I decided you didn't have to do it if you didn't want to, I breathed a sigh of relief. I could explore a little, stare at the posters and hunt around for more logs. Oh, wait, there's a dude in here, better kill him now he's seen me. Oh great, 20 more dudes. Kllkillkillkill until the music stops.

But the final fight was the last straw. Simply put, it was one of the worst climatic fight scenes I've had the displeasure of experiencing. What could have been a powerful lead up to a spectacular ending, was instead a clusterfuck of timed fighting, waved enemies and my personal pet hate, vehicles with health. I grit my teeth and ground through it.

I loved the ending, but I couldn't help but think it was spoiled by the preceding few hours. At the point things got interesting and ramped up, the designers' felt that their only option was to simply overwhelm the player with combat. So much so, that by the time I reached the bow of the ship to meet Elizabeth, I had 3 shotgun shells left.