When you see downloadable content for a video game, how much are you expecting to be added to the game’s base price? People have had a love/hate relationship with the idea of DLC since it was introduced; it’s not uncommon to hear criticisms about launch day DLC. Many say it should have been part of the game already, and often you feel like you’re being told to pay extra for things that should have been included in the first place. We’ve all heard the complaints.
Burial at Sea is a two-part DLC for Bioshock Infinite, currently running either $14.99 per episode or $19.99 for the season pass that contains both episodes, as well as a weapon pack and the combat focused DLC “Clash in the Clouds”. A lot of DLC we see these days, often a lot cheaper than this, is just a few minor additions or modifications to the game. The major mentality seems to fall under the microtransaction concept that’s been sweeping the industry. Even I’m guilty of the occasional $0.99 skin pack purchase, or $2.99 for extra Borderlands 2 missions. The question is, what does Burial at Sea bring to the table to be worth $20 that couldn’t be included in the original game?
Finishing both episodes took us about seven hours in total, and that was without too much exploration and sidetracking. Both of the episodes take place in Rapture, but not as we’ve seen it before: this is Rapture from the its glory years and it looks fantastic on Infinite’s Unreal 3 engine while really bringing you back to the Bioshock you know and love.
In the second episode you actually play as Elizabeth, which transitions you into a more stealth-focused method of gameplay that really changes the pacing of the game. The new primary method of working your way through the hordes of Splicers is to quietly approach (or run up while invisible), and to use your one-hit, non-lethal K.O hit that will take care of just about anyone not wearing a helmet. A meter to determine how aware your enemies are of you now appears overhead to assist, which I was surprised didn’t fill faster, if I accidentally came across an enemy considering the noise Elizabeth makes wearing her heels when running.
If this gameplay style was mixed with the fast paced swinging and pouncing of Infinite it would be enough to give you whiplash, but it feels right at home in the DLC, considering Elizabeth’s inability to take a hit. They also introduce new non-lethal options for weapons to compliment Elizabeth’s style, such as knock-out bolts and gas attacks launched from a crossbow.
This new stealthy Bioshock comes with it’s ups and downs; It’s nice to see it mixed up from the usual pouncing from the sky upon the heads of your enemies and killing them in one hit, but the use of the invisibility-granting Peeping Tom plasmid makes it feel like you’re almost cheating. A group of enemies can completely surround you, but with one quick cast of a plasmid your apparently very dim-witted aggressors suddenly have no idea where on earth you could be. Then, it’s just a whack of your one-hit K.O stealth attack, back into invisibility, rinse and repeat until all your enemies lie in a heap at your feet.
The real icing on the cake for me is the story. Irrational Games did a great job of creating a story and environment you can really sink your teeth into with Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite. Burial at Sea not only expands the existing story but actually fills in characters we had met previously by giving us views into their motives and expanding their histories. We learn more about the universe, and it does a great job at tying the worlds of Rapture and Columbia together, wrapping up loose ends in a way that will leave story junkies like myself with the kind of satisfied feeling you get after a good meal.
All in all, for $20 you get new gameplay, new weapons, at least 7 hours of content, the chance to once again explore Rapture, and a story elements that don’t fit in the main games but are too good not to be told. This, ladies and gentleman, is an example of DLC done right.
Eat, Sleep, Geek, Repeat 