(May 3, 2013) — As the game progresses and the player rises from the depths of the ocean where he had landed, he or she is faced with the often harsh reality that his or her actions dictated the game’s ending. When the producers of Bioshock and Bioshock 2 created the games, their main intent was giving gamers the realization that their actions throughout their gameplay would ultimately affect the plot’s final outcome. As the player worked his or her way through Rapture, the underwater city the previous games are set in, the player had no idea that killing an innocent bystander or choosing to save a little girl would affect your final position and view on the game. The difference between Bioshock and its competition was the opportunity of selection, but choice, like most first-person shooters is often, unappreciated. Before its highly anticipated release, gamers, including myself, were curious as to how 2K and Irrational Games, the Bioshock Infinite’s developer and publisher, could hope to live up to the expectations placed by its predecessors. Bioshock provided gamers a thrill that would be remembered by the scenes that made you literally get up and freak out, and transformed the world of first-person shooter games. Bioshock gave gamers the option of eliminating enemies with either standard guns or genetic modifications, commonly known as Plasmids and now Vigors, that allowed the player to obtain supernatural abilities that could be found in Marvel comic books, such as shooting fire from the palm of your hand or lifting objects with a mere flick of a finger. Bioshock was seen as the future of the gaming industry with its high variety of choices and options. That’s where the award-winning Bioshock Infinite, the successor of the Bioshock franchise, comes in. As the main protagonist Booker Dewitt, players experience the same thrill-like qualities and choices through their stay in Columbia, the setting of Bioshock Infinite. I must admit, though, that I was very skeptical about how the developers would make use of some of the promised aspects of the game, especially Elizabeth. When players launch the game, they are immediately given their first objective: “Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt.” Confused, but excited, the player progresses through the beautiful city of Columbia, cracking heads and going “Rambo,” in order to finally reach the tower Elizabeth is kept in. When I reached the tower, I kept hesitating to enter it, thinking that the game would conclude as soon as I saved Elizabeth, similar to how Mario’s task is completed once Peach is rescued from the clutches of Bowser. I had only thought of Elizabeth as the damsel in distress, whose survival would depend solely on my skills and instinct as a gamer. I soon learned that Elizabeth would provide you more assistance and stability than possibly any other “sidekick” in modern video game history. While I was trying to lead Elizabeth to safety, it seemed as if I was becoming more and more dependent on her than the other way around, with the developers doing an excellent job of creating an ally that was very supportive and at times, necessary for your survival. By using Elizabeth’s various abilities, developers gave us options to choose how we wanted to play the game, such as receiving ammunition from her or asking her to spawn in a sniper rifle for you to use. Without Elizabeth, Booker’s task would have been impossible. Like the Big Daddies in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, Elizabeth became an influential piece of the Bioshock series through Infinite. Through Elizabeth, the developers of Bioshock maximized opportunity and presented a gameplay that was unique in the congruous sea of video games. We were given choices, or so we thought. With the game’s denouement, I was left in awe, yet shocked. I found asking myself, “That’s how it ended?” I couldn’t believe it. For the sake of ruining the game’s ending, I will not reveal its ending, yet just know this. There never were any options, only a choice. With Bioshock Infinite’s clever design and gameplay, players are mislead into believing that their actions would once again dictate another of 2K’s games. In a brilliant way, Bioshock Infinite grasped players’ attentions with a twist ending that was definitely unexpected. In an unpredictable way, Bioshock Infinite’s ending revealed that choice, in gaming, is unappreciated.