BioShock Infinite Premium Edition PC Games

Released on 26-Mar-2013

Step into a city in the clouds for the boldest Bioshock adventure yet in Bioshock Infinite for PC.

The critically acclaimed series returns for a new chapter, offering a new story, a new city and new mysteries to unlock as you step into the shoes of Booker Dewitt, an ex-Pinkerton agent tasked with rescuing a mysterious young woman...

This Premium Edition of BioShock Infinite is teeming with ardently crafted collectible items all designed by the same Irrational Games artists who created BioShock Infinite:

• A 25 millimeter, resin-cast Handyman board game figurine
• A Murder of Crows keychain
• A 5 x 7-inch lithograph print
  

This edition is a must-have for any BioShock fan, featuring:

• Exclusive in-game gear
• BioShock Infinite-themed PC Theme
• A digital soundtrack
• An art book that offers a look at the making of the game’s unique art style.
  

Key features of Bioshock Infinite on PC:

• An exciting new story, set in the floating American city of Columbia
• Who is the mysterious Elizabeth?
• Take on the city with new and returning gameplay elements
• Face and defeat the Heavy Hitters
• Dare you tackle the new 1999 Mode?

Welcome to Columbia, a fantastic floating city designed as a symbol of American Exceptionalism and national pride. That was before the Boxer Rebellion, when the city fired on innocent people. Columbia has since been disavowed by America, and become a symbol of xenophobia and hatred, a flying bogeyman dreaded around the world.

Columbia is now being run by the Founders, a group of self-appointed rulers, nationalist and religious zealots bent on keeping Columbia 'pure'. But opposing them are the Vox Populi, a rag-tag resistance movement hoping to overthrow the Founders and restore all rights to all the citizens of Columbia.

Thrown into this turmoil, you take on the role of Booker Dewitt, a disgraced ex-Pinkerton agent taking on a job that will clear you of "old debts" and maybe restore your name and reputation. The job? Journey into Columbia, rescue a girl named Elizabeth from the tower she's been held in for 12 years and return her to New York. Buy Bioshock Infinite is a game where your actions have consequences, and where your very presence in the city will cause it to erupt into chaos the choices you make in you mission will have long-lasting effects.

But who is Elizabeth and why has she been held captive for so long? This mysterious young girl is equal parts sweet, funny and even scary, possessing the ability to open rifts to alternate planes of existence when she sees 'tears' in the fabric of reality. These powers will come in handy as you fight your way out of the city, as she summons everything from ammo crates to health pick-ups into existence, making the environments and combat more flexible. Elizabeth can also fend off foes on her own, too!

Fans of previous Bioshock games will welcome a mix of new and returning gameplay features in Bioshock Infinite. Like the earlier games, this is a first-person experience where you will use a combination of weapons, gear and psychokinetic abilities. You'll still scavenge for supplies and audio diaries, and ingest tonics to achieve powers like spraying fire, zapping electricity, and turning enemies against each other.

But there are some exciting new elements on top of this. The combat is more dynamic than previous games, thanks to Columbia offering wider open spaces than the confines of Rapture. You can only hold two weapons at a time, causing you to think more tactically in the long-term, and more reactive in the heat of a firefight. Plus there will be new powers to uncover, and you'll be able to zip around the city thanks to the magnetic Skyhook, offering a rollercoaster-like experience and adding a new level to combat. Bioshock Infinite is also the first Bioshock game where your character speaks, helping to develop your relationship with Elizabeth.

Also making their debut in Bioshock Infinite are the Heavy Hitters, mini-bosses to defeat, and each representing the dark heart of the people running Columbia. The Handymen are robotic monsters with oversized hands like those of porcelain dolls - and human hearts and heads. The Motorized Patriots are supposed to be guides for the city, but instead reveal heavy weapons behind their George Washington appearance. The foppish Boys of Silence are blind, but have superhuman hearing and boast a terrible scream. And the Siren can revive defeated enemies during battle, making you have to choose who to focus your attack upon.

For the more hardcore gamers out there, Bioshock Infinite offers a tough but rewarding challenge - 1999 Mode. This old-school way of playing harkens back to a time where games had limited health and resources, and when decisions you made were permanent, and challenges you to play Bioshock Infinite this way. Do you think you have what it takes?

• How to unlock Bioshock Infinite's rock hard 1999 Mode

  Irrational Games made no secret of its bonus difficulty setting for the critically acclaimed Bioshock Infinite. 1999 Mode aims to take players back to a more hardcore era, with death forcing players back to the start of whichever section they're in, and taking most of their cash for good measure. It is, not coincidentally, the year when Bioshock's predecessor System Shock 2 was released.

  Bioshock creator Ken Levine even went so far as to say that the mode would have to be earned by beating the game, and certainly wouldn't be unlocked using a silly code at the menu screen.

  Like most things related to Bioshock, it turns out you shouldn't believe everything you're told. 1999 Mode can be unlocked using a silly code at the menu screen - the famous Konami Code, no less.

  That means pressing Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right and then B, A (or Circle, Cross on the PlayStation).

  Doing so will enable you to experience the dark secrets of the flying city of Columbia at their most devilishly tricky on your first playthrough rather than doing it twice. Although, since the game is so great and so packed with story detail, you'll probably want to do it again anyway.

  Bioshock Infinite is out now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

  Published: 27/03/2013

• BioShock Infinite - Review

  
  

  

  Shock Of The New

  One of the trends of this console generation is that shooters have become as disposable as sports games, quickly forgotten and discarded every Christmas in favour of an updated model. Not so BioShock. Irrational Games' thoughtful and haunting take on the genre dominated by Call of Duty has outlived most of its rivals in our memories thanks to an incredible setting, a fascinating and surprising story and, of course, great action. About the worst thing you can say about BioShock Infinite is that it only achieves the same things.

  This time the action takes place in Columbia, a city suspended in the sky by the same mixture of science fiction, magic and imagination that kept Rapture from collapsing under the weight of the Atlantic Ocean. You play Booker DeWitt, a mercenary of sorts who is sent into this unlikely setting to retrieve a girl called Elizabeth. "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt," you're told - a hint at your past but scarcely enough instruction to prepare you for the dozen or so hours of action that lie ahead of you when you wake up in the city.

  

  Columbia Pictures

  Initially, you're just mesmerised by the place you're in. It's a weird, romantic sort of religious paradise, a pleasant and very beautiful distortion of what America looked like under a clear blue sky in the early 1900s. You turn over every stone you find (well, you rifle through every bin) in order to learn more about your surroundings, listening to audio diaries and paying close attention to what people are saying and doing.

  It isn't long before all hell breaks loose and once it does you're quickly thrust into combat mode, getting to grips with fairly standard weaponry (pistol, shotgun, machine gun, etc) and magical abilities called vigors that bear more than a passing resemblance to BioShock's plasmids and let you do some of the same things - blasting people with fire and lightning - as well as a few new ones, like reflecting projectiles back at the enemies who fire them at you.

  The combat is less claustrophobic than BioShock's, and the presence of skylines - overhead rollercoasters that you hook onto with your melee weapon - means that combat is much more about dancing and flying away from your enemies and attacking them from middle or long distance than it is about clobbering them at close range. Initially it feels over-familiar, but once you grasp this distinction it's suitably invigorating.

  

  Elizabethan Drama

  It's the story that really sets BioShock Infinite apart from other shooters, however, as well as its own predecessor, and that's thanks to the person you spend much of the game accompanied by: Elizabeth, the girl you've been sent to retrieve. She's a fantastic piece of programming, if nothing else - never getting in your way, helping throughout the game and anticipating your actions - but of course she's much more than that; she's also a way for Booker to make sense of Columbia and the enemies he encounters, like the fundamentalist leader of this strange society, Zachary Comstock, and the local resistance fighters.

  The story they get wrapped up in is told at a fair old lick - through scenes you witness and take part in and information gleaned from diaries and other things you infer from your surroundings. It's done with a novelist or a screenwriter's grace and a magician's guile, and some of the tricks it pulls in the final few hours will leave you staring open-mouthed at the screen and desperate to jump online and talk it over with your friends. Like the original BioShock, this is a game you desperately don't want to spoil in advance.

  Afterwards you'll argue over whether it all hangs together - I think it does, but there's plenty to discuss - and you will inevitably want to go back and test your conclusions and assumptions. It's just one of those stories. But BioShock Infinite is not just a clever trick; it's also a wonderfully complete game that takes you soaring through breathtaking combat, head-spinning storytelling and another wonderfully memorable world, and delivers one of the most convincing companions ever seen in a game. It can never replace BioShock in our hearts, but it certainly deserves to bear the same name. A must-buy.

  GAME's Verdict:

  The Good

  • Elizabeth is the most believable and affecting AI companion in years
  • Columbia's an incredible setting that sits comfortably alongside Rapture
  • The ending will leave your head spinning and you won't want it to stop

  The Bad:

  • Some of the weapons are a little unimaginative
  • Vigors aren't that different to plasmids
  • It lacks a knock-you-down "Would You Kindly?" moment, although it comes close.

  Published: 26/03/2013

• Review Round Up - Bioshock Infinite

  Following up the 2007 hit Bioshock was always going to be a challenge, even for a games developer as focussed and bold as Ken Levine's Irrational Games. That his team has waited almost six years to do so says everything you need to know about where Bioshock Infinite is coming from. Thankfully, the wait has been worth it, if the reaction of the gaming press is anything to go by.

  At the moment, Bioshock Infinite has a remarkable twenty reviews delivering 10/10 or 100% scores, with praise being almost unanimous across the spectrum.

  "Infinite is as lavish as it is cerebral, as difficult as it is accessible. It'll be many different things to many different people, and it will be discussed, dissected and deified for many years to come," reckons GamesTM. "Both a breathtaking achievement in videogame storytelling and a marquee example of a game that will stick with you long after you see everything it has to offer. Calling it simply a first-person shooter is practically an insult," declares The Escapist.

  "BioShock Infinite's big thoughts and complicated narrative don't obscure the brilliant action game that carries those messages through," adds Polygon. "BioShock Infinite is damn near perfect," says Destructoid, cutting to the chase rather neatly.

  Even the broadsheet Daily Telegraph is smitten, once again lavishing top marks and gushing that the game represents "a fabulous piece of storytelling, thick with foreshadowing to a gut-punch of a finale."

  We've also got our own review, and deem it "a wonderfully complete game" and that "the final few hours will leave you staring open-mouthed at the screen".

  Bioshock Infinite is out now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. You should probably buy it.

  Published: 26/03/2013

• Why the Bioshock movie never happened

  With Bioshock Infinite arriving in just a few weeks, creator Ken Levine has been hitting the interview trail. It was during a talk at BAFTA that he explained that the long gestating Bioshock movie has definitely been killed off, and that it was his decision to drop the axe.

  The choice came in the aftermath of the Watchmen movie, Warner Bros' expensive adults-only graphic novel adaptation that flopped at the box office. That made Universal wary of spending a similar amount on what was then planned to be a similarly bloody video game movie, with Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski at the helm.

  "The studio then got cold feet about making an R-rated $200 million film, and they said what if it was a $80 million film. Gore didn't want to make a $80 million film," Levine explained.

  Exit Gore Verbinksi, and enter Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of 28 Weeks Later. Levine, however, wasn't happy. "They brought another director in, and I didn't really see the match there - and 2K's one of these companies that puts a lot of creative trust in people. So they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it."

  "It was saying I don't need to compromise - how many times in life do you not need to compromise?" Levine, a former screenwriter himself, continued. "It comes along so rarely, but I had the world, the world existed and I didn't want to see it done in a way that I didn't think was right."

  Instead, Levine poured his focus into Bioshock Infinite, a sequel only loosely connected to the 2008 smash hit. Set in a floating sky city, rather than one under the sea, it tackles themes of civil unrest and religious extremism and promises to be a highlight of 2013.

  Bioshock Infinite is out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC from March 26th.
  

  Published: 13/03/2013

• Is Bioshock Infinite a musical?

  We've learned to take nothing for granted where mercurial game designer Ken Levine is concerned, but the news that the imminent Bioshock Infinite features a song performed by its two lead voice actors is still a surprise.

  Actors Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper, who play Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth in the game, have recorded a version of the 1935 folk standard Will The Circle Be Unbroken for the game's soundtrack. The song was in turn based on a 1907 hymn.

  What does it all mean? Levine has made no secret of the fact that the game tackles religious themes in a controversial manner. The song features the line "There's a better home awaiting, in the sky, Lord, in the sky". This ties in rather ironically with the game's storyline, which finds Pinkerton agent DeWitt despatched to the flying city of Columbia to track down Elizabeth. Once there, he finds an idealistic society on the brink of civil war. Levine has promised that the ending will be "like nothing you've actually experienced in a video game before".

  The full soundtrack will be included in the game's Premium and Ultimate Songbird editions, along with other bonus goodies.

  Bioshock Infinite is out on March 26th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

  Published: 08/03/2013

• Bioshock Infinite 'highly altered' by religious conversations

  Bioshock creator Ken Levine has revealed that he changed one of the characters in the upcoming Bioshock Infinite following conversations with religious co-workers who were reportedly "upset" by some of the game's themes.

  Levine told Official PlayStation Magazine: "What I said to them was, 'I'm not going to change anything to get your approval, but I think I understand what you're saying and I think I can do something that's going to make the story better, based on what you said. So I did that, and I'm grateful for them bringing in their perspective. The last thing I wanted to do was change something because it offends somebody, but the thing they pointed out was making it a lesser story."

  Levine also points out that this doesn't mean that Bioshock Infinite will be a game about religion, although he expects fans to keep guessing. "I think people first saw it and thought it was a game about the tea party in America," he says. "Then they saw it as a game about the labourer movement. Now people are going to think it's a game about religion. It's about patriotism, it's about all those things but I think we keep larger meanings a little closer to our vest."

  We'll find out what thorny social subtexts the game tackles when it launches in March for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
  

  Published: 21/01/2013

• New Year Revolutions: The Top Games We're Looking Forward To In 2013

  
  

  

  Even though the excess of New Year is still fresh in our aching heads, this week sees the release of the first must-have blockbuster of 2013. Capcom's revamped and rebooted Devil May Cry has wowed critics and won over fans with its slick combat and slinky visuals, but that's just the start of what promises to be a spectacular year in gaming. Here are five games that we can't wait to play in the months ahead.
  

  

  Crysis 3

  Out: February 22nd
  Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

  Why So Excited?: Because the Crysis series has always been the benchmark for the modern shooter in terms of lush visuals, and developer Crytek is promising to pull out all the stops for this trilogy-closing entry. You'll take control of nano-suited anti-hero Prophet as he returns to a New York enclosed in biodomes which have allowed tropical jungles to sprout on the familiar streets of the Big Apple.

  Using your high tech bow, and the various cool abilities that your armour provides, you'll sneak and slay your way through stunning open environments. Quite apart from the in-game thrills on offer, when most of the big shooters cluster around the pre-Christmas rush there's also something rather fantastic about a AAA shooter bold enough to stake its claim in the quieter early months of the year, where nothing can distract us from its groovy gameplay.
  

  

  Tomb Raider

  Out: March 5th
  Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

  Why So Excited?: You really have to ask? It's the return of Lara Croft, arguably the greatest modern video game character, absent from our joypads for far too long, and often stuck in average or poor quality sequels before that. After inheriting the series from defunct UK studio Core Design, developer Crystal Dynamics finally gets to divert from a 1990s template and reboot Tomb Raider in its own style.

  The result is an action adventure that has more in common with the cinematic rush of Uncharted than the block-shoving puzzles and somersaulting tiger-shooting of old. There'll be multiplayer for the first time in a Tomb Raider game, and there's also the story to consider – one that's written by Rhianna Pratchett, and follows a much younger Lara as she learns to become the confident hero we already know, having been stranded on an island controlled by brutal pirates. Action and drama, with a gaming icon? What's not to love?
  

  

  Bioshock Infinite

  Out: March 26th
  Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC

  Why So Excited?: Because how often do you see a sequel so gleefully tear up everything from its predecessors? Bioshock Infinite may share the name of the 2007 smash hit, but virtually everything else is different. The gloomy and desolate undersea city of Rapture is replaced with Columbia, a steampunk city in the clouds. Dark is replaced with light. Water replaced with air.

  Can a game still be claustrophobic and scary in such bright, open environments? If anyone can pull it off, it's Ken Levine, the Bioshock creator who returns to the series after sitting out Bioshock 2. And it's not as if he hasn't had the time to perfect the game – Infinite's release date has slipped back more than once, but rather than a sign of trouble, it shows that Levine won't let this complex moral fable go until it's just right, even to the point of removing features – such as multiplayer – which weren't working to his required standard. When so many games tend to favour a kitchen sink approach, that sort of polish and focus demands to be rewarded.
  

  

  The Last of Us

  Out: May 17th
  Platforms: PlayStation 3

  Why So Excited?: It's Naughty Dog, one of a handful of big studios that effortlessly combine compelling core gameplay, brilliantly realised characters and staggering cinematic sweep. What happens when a developer with that pedigree tackles the survival horror genre? That's what we can't wait to find out. The Last of Us was sprung on the gaming public just over a year ago, and it immediately became a “must see” title.

  Set after a virulent plague wipes out most of humanity, it follows a grizzled survivor called Joel and Ellie, a young girl who he has taken under his wing, as they struggle to stay alive in the ruins of modern society, where brutal gangs and bloodthirsty maniacs lurk in the rubble. Unapologetically violent and with a gruelling storyline that explores the characters as much as the haunting landscape, The Last of Us brings us one step closer to gaming that packs as much punch as a big-name movie.
  

  

  Grand Theft Auto V

  Out: Spring
  Platforms: PlayStation 3

  Why So Excited?: If you have to ask, you must have been on Mars for the last decade. A new Grand Theft Auto game is a guaranteed event, not least because Rockstar doesn't turn these sequels out unless there's a good reason to do so. No annual updates for this series, so the news that players will be returning to the hot sticky streets of Los Santos for the first time since 2004's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is enough to put us on the edge of our seat.

  Ever the tease, Rockstar has released only a few trailers and handfuls of screenshots, but it's enough to whet the whistle. With stunning graphics, bringing the city to life in never-before-seen detail, the big selling point is that this time around we'll be controlling three characters as they navigate the underbelly of modern urban life. Swapping between them at will, and combining their skills for missions, this could well be the evolutionary kick in the pants that the free-roaming crime genre needs. Would you expect anything else from the maestros that created the genre in the first place?
  

  Published: 17/01/2013

• BioShock Infinite - Preview

  
  

  

  When BioShock Infinite was announced back in 2010 there was a lot of confusion over just what exactly it was. It had the name "BioShock" in the title, but the series trademark underwater city, imposing steampunk divers and mutant little girls were nowhere to be seen. It was unclear if Infinite was even going to take place in the same universe as previous BioShock games or if it were a standalone title that simply bore its moniker as a brand, a la Final Fantasy.

  Having played the first three hours of BioShock Infinite, its connection to Irrational's acclaimed series remains a mystery, but one doesn't need to search far to see its predecessors' inspirations. You'll still scrounge around for supplies in first-person, ingest tonics for super powers, and scavenge for audio diaries. The game even begins with the player adrift at sea, where a lighthouse acts as a beacon towards a dreamlike metropolis where America's goals and xenophobic fears are heightened as the elite movers and shakers of the world have secluded themselves in a twisted fantasy land.

  A Whole New World

  This time you're invited to explore the floating city of Columbia in 1912. Once heralded by the United States as a symbol of its power, it's since been disavowed after some recent unpleasantness regarding China's Boxer Rebellion. It's now run by religious fundamentalists at war with rioting workers. You play as Booker Dewitt, an ex-Pinkerton agent threatened by an unseen enemy into retrieving a mysterious girl named Elizabeth who's locked in a colossal angel-shaped tower.

  

  While the Dixieland setting may be the most obvious difference from earlier BioShocks, the enhancements extend beyond a mere palette swap. For starters, this is the first BioShock game where your character speaks. More importantly, he has someone to speak to after the first couple of hours when he meets up with Elizabeth. Despite not appearing on the game's cover, Elizabeth might be the heart and soul of the game. She's sweet, funny, excitable and even a little scary, for she has the bizarre ability to open rifts into other planes of existence when she sees spectral "tears" in the fabric of reality. For example, at one point she transforms everything around her into a modern day city street where a French version of "Revenge of the Jedi" is headlining a cinema.

  Friendship is Magic

  This strangeness manifests itself in combat, too, where you can point to ghostly projections of turrets, ammo crates, health pick-ups, and grapple points for her to summon into existence. You can only have one tear open at a time, but you can switch between them at will. This makes the environments more flexible, and the combat scenarios more exciting. When she's not altering the environment, Elizabeth can take care of herself. She'll fend off foes and even retrieve useful items for you.

  There are a couple of other key factors that make Infinite's combat more dynamic than its predecessors. The biggest change is in the skylines - there are metal rails running through the city that you can slide around on via a magnetic hook. Zipping along these at breakneck speed provides a distinct roller-coaster experience, while also offering ample opportunities for evasion. Another change since the previous BioShock games is that you can only hold two weapons at a time. This may limit your immediate assault options, but it also intensifies the firefights when you have to scramble around looking for new armaments.

  

  Just Like Old Times

  These additions go a long way toward enhancing the shoot-outs, which is good because your abilities feel overly familiar. You now shoot crows instead of wasps, but the stunning effect is similar, and spraying fire, zapping electricity, and turning enemies against each other will likewise instil a sense of deja vu. There are a few new powers demonstrated in a very brief late-game demo where you can warp across the room, yank enemies towards you or blow them away, but it's unclear when these new abilities are introduced, and the opening hours are largely limited to the series' pre-existing stable of powers.

  Based on this early section, BioShock Infinite feels like what you'd expect from a BioShock game, but unlike BioShock 2's return to Rapture, Infinite doesn't seem like a retread. It's brighter, bolder, and has more personality and warmth to go along with the socio-political commentary the series is known for. BioShock Infinite may be a little too recognisable at times, but its new world and fresh faces are still as darkly enchanting as Rapture was back in 2007.
  

  Published: 04/01/2013

• Bioshock Infinite action figures revealed

  Major action figure producer NECA Toys has announced it will be releasing a series of figures based on the upcoming Bioshock Infinite. The toyline will launch in January with two toys - one of Elizabeth, the psychic AI companion who accompanies the player as they explore the airborne city of Columbia, and one of an enemy type known as the Boys of Silence. Dressed in twee Victorian-style clothing and a sealed brass helmet with two enormous trumpets emerging from each side, he's one of the strangest - and most eerie - things you're ever likely to see.

  The toys arrive in advance of the game which is due in March, giving you several months to make up your own Bioshock Infinite adventures on your bedroom floor with all the "pew pew" sound effects you can muster.

  NECA is no stranger to turning games into toys. The company has also produced detailed plastic playthings based on Portal, Gears of War, Borderlands, Castlevania, Dead Space and many more.

  Bioshock Infinite launches on March 26th for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
  

  Published: 20/12/2012

• Bioshock Infinite slips from February to March

  Bioshock Infinite, the long-awaited follow-up to the 2007 game of the year, has had its release date bumped back by one month, creator Ken Levine has announced. The decision was made following the arrival of former Gears of War franchise manager Rod Fergusson at Bioshock developer Irrational Games.

  "When Rod Fergusson came on board we looked at the game," Levine said at a preview event this week. "He was there for about a month and he said, 'look, I've been looking at the schedule and looking at the game and frankly you could really benefit from another three or four more weeks for polish and bug fixing.' We talked about it. I knew I'd probably get beat up in the press a little bit about it. But at the end of the day, if it's going to make a better game we're going to do it."

  Bioshock Infinite is set in 1912 and casts players as former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt. He's investigating a flying city called Columbia, where a young woman has been reported missing. The connection between this game and the 2007 original is more thematic than plot based, and Levine has said he considers Infinite to be a new franchise rather than a continuation of the old.

  Bioshock Infinite will now launch on March 26th, for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

  Published: 07/12/2012

• Cosplay fan becomes the official face of Bioshock Infinite

  
  

  Irrational Games, the developer behind the upcoming Bioshock Infinite, has taken the unusual step of hiring a cosplaying fan to be the official face of the game. Anna Moleva of Moscow has dressed up as many videogame characters for her DeviantArt page, where she posts as "Ormeli", but her turn as Bioshock Infinite's Elizabeth caught the eye of series creator Ken Levine.

  "Her uncanny portrayal of Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite really brought her to our attention," he posted on the studio's website. "We were so amazed by her dedication and her resemblance to Elizabeth that we decided to ask her if she'd like to be involved in helping bring Elizabeth to life in our box, our key art and our upcoming television ad."

  Anna makes her debut as Elizabeth on the box art for the game, and will also make appearances in character at various gaming events.

  "As soon as I saw her, I knew I HAD to do it!" Anna said in an interview posted on Irrational's blog. "I love the first two parts of BioShock, so ever since Infinite was announced I followed the promotion campaign. Then when Liz's appearance was finalized - and I saw what I think is a remarkable resemblance between us - I as a cosplayer couldn't just ignore it."
  

  Published: 03/12/2012

• No multiplayer in Bioshock Infinite

  There'll be no multiplayer modes in the upcoming Bioshock Infinite, creator Ken Levine has confirmed.

  As recently as August, Levine's studio, Irrational Games, was working on at least two competitive modes for the game. One was a miniature tower defence game set inside a worn out old arcade machine, the other was a co-operative mode which allowed four players to tackle the campaign levels together. "As I've always said we are experimenting with things," Levine said at the time, "and only if they are good enough will we put them in the game."

  It now seems like those ideas didn't meet the required standard. Responding to a fan on Twitter, who asked about online play, Levine simply replied: "No multi".

  The critically acclaimed first Bioshock game, which Levine also directed, was a single player only affair and certainly didn't suffer for its lack of deathmatches. Bioshock 2, which Levine wasn't involved with, introduced multiplayer to the series.

  Bioshock Infinite swaps the undersea city of Rapture for a floating community in the clouds, and switches the 1960s setting of the original for 1912. You'll play as a former Pinkerton agent searching for a missing woman aboard the flying city of Columbia. One of the game's stated aims is to make blue skies and open spaces as terrifying as the dank claustrophobic atmosphere of the first game.

  Bioshock Infinite is out next February for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
  

  Published: 26/11/2012

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