BioShock Infinite
Intense overall intensityWhat's in it
Constant first-person gunfights against human enemies with blood spray, plus brutal one-hit Sky-Hook melee executions on weakened foes.
Alcohol is served and drinkable in saloons (drinking blurs the screen), and cigarettes and tobacco appear in the period setting.
Heavy themes of racism, religious fanaticism, a public stoning of an interracial couple, a lynching tableau, child abduction, and a drowning-based redemption arc.
The player robs corpses and cash registers and kills city guards and rebels as the core activity.
Moderate profanity in dialogue during confrontations and story beats.
Some unsettling enemies and eerie moments (the Songbird, Handymen, Boys of Silence) create tension without being a horror game.
A supporting character (a gunsmith) is shown having been tortured by the regime, referenced and briefly depicted.
Mild suggestive moments such as a kiss and period cabaret imagery; nothing explicit.
Who can reach your kid
What it is
BioShock Infinite is a single-player first-person shooter set in 1912 in the floating city of Columbia, where hired gun Booker DeWitt searches for a young woman named Elizabeth. Gameplay mixes gunfights with supernatural 'Vigor' powers, and combat is frequent and bloody, including grisly melee executions with a hook weapon that tears into enemies. The city is soaked in dark subject matter: institutional racism (including a scene where the player can throw a ball at a bound interracial couple), religious extremism, class warfare, and a public lynching. The player scavenges cash and supplies, drinks liquor and smokes tobacco as health/power pickups, and moderate profanity appears in dialogue. There is no nudity or sexual content beyond mild suggestion, and no online or purchase features.
How it's framed
The game presents Columbia's racism, jingoism, and religious zealotry critically, framing them as the ideology of an oppressive regime, while the rebel uprising it sparks is shown to become just as brutal. Violence is the player's constant tool and is rewarded with money and progression, but the narrative treats Booker as a flawed, guilt-ridden figure and builds toward a somber story about consequences and self-sacrifice rather than glorifying the killing.
Details
- Developer
- Irrational Games
- Publisher
- 2K
- Released
- Mar 25, 2013
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