Parent's Guide: Bioshock Infinite - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Bioshock Infinite is a first person shooter, set in the floating city of Columbia. An airborne exhibition, built by the US for the world fair to show off American industry and society, Columbia is a mixture of Disneyland's Main Street USA and Steampunk, which makes for an entertaining place to explore. Long been forgotten by the residents of the land below, the city is embroiled in a civil war between two sides - the Vox Populi, a rag-tag band driven by a blind hate of the people who have authority, power, and money, and a religious sect, led by a man named Comstock, who people worship as a Prophet. Playing as a man called Booker DeWitt, you're sent into this with one order - to rescue a girl named Elizabeth, which will wipe away your debt.

Although it's a first person shooter, Bioshock is very heavily story driven, splitting the game almost equally between exploring areas, and being engaged in shoot-outs. Although there's nothing in the way of puzzle solving, Columbia is a huge place, with collectibles in the form of audio logs to be found, providing a welcome excuse to stray from the beaten path. In combat, you have use of both guns, and magic, which lets you throw lightning bolts at your enemies, summon a murder of crows to attack them, or even possess them. From the city's police (who are out to get you), to the giant robot defendants, there are plenty of people (and machines) that'll do their best to stand in your way.

In terms of difficulty, it's important to remember that Bioshock Infinite is a first person game, and as such, requires more than a working knowledge of dual analogue stick controls. On the plus side, it's easy to find where you're going at any time, as simply pushing up on the d-pad will cause an arrow to appear on the screen, showing you where to go. While you can change difficulty at any time during the game, towards the end, things do get rather difficult, with the ending sequence in particular asking you to defend an object as the game sends wave after wave of enemies at you. While turning the difficulty down helps a bit, it doesn't make it entirely accessible.

Bioshock Infinite has a lot of content that parents should be aware about.

First, in terms of violence, the game is incredibly bloody and gory, often using ultra-violence for shock value. One scene early in the game sees you jam a rotating, metal instrument into someone's neck, at which point blood flies everywhere. Turning around, you hit another person with it, which smashes his head. Decapitations feature frequently, while other scenes feature dead bodies lying in pools of blood, having apparently been tortured. Some moves also make your enemy's skin and/or muscle disappear.

On the plus side, there's nothing in the way of nudity, and any sexual references are rather minor, with the only notable ones being references to one character's 'seed'. Swearing, too, is surprisingly limited - most uses of the word "bast*rd" are meant in the traditional sense, while there's only the occasional utterance of sh*t.

On the other hand, one of the main themes of Bioshock Infinite is one of the racism that infects Columbia. Throughout the game, you'll see posters talking about the importance of a "pure race", warning of "foreign hordes", while giant plaques in the ground simply say "Protecting our Race". Racially charged language is, thankfully, a bit more limited, although there are several references to "Negroes" and "Crackers"

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Xbox 360