The Music of Columbia

May 19, 2020 11:01 AM

BioShock Infinite Ambience.
posted by Foci for Analysis (15 comments total)

I've always loved the faux-Randian dystopic atmosphere of these games. Like being an abandoned park, only it's filled with monsters. Thanks for sharing this.
posted by Fizz at 11:07 AM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

The first 30 seconds alone gave me such chills -- I'm going to have to listen this when I not working. That game affected me very deeply, probably more than any other I've played (including the original Bioshock). It got a lot of flack for its combat mechanics but what an utterly powerful -- haunting, intimate, yet sweeping and grand -- narrative and vision.
posted by treepour at 11:13 AM on May 19, 2020 [3 favorites]

I recently re-played Infinite and it was unexpectedly melancholic experiencing the city's fall into chaos. I get that Levine wanted to explore American exceptionalism, racism, classism and how it always ends and must end in tragedy but goddamn if I didn't feel sad bringing death and destruction to this beautiful and meticulously crafted world. Still seems like a waste.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:16 AM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I never played Infinite, I heard it was beautiful with its aesthetics and atmosphere but terrible in its core gameplay, so I flaked on it. Maybe I should go back and give it a chance.
posted by Fizz at 11:41 AM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

Apparently I need to sit down and play the DLC, because the timeline gets a little bonkers with Burial At Sea.

And I didn't find Infinite's gameplay to be that bad - I bounced off of Bioshock 2 pretty hard though.
posted by Kyol at 11:43 AM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I never played Infinite, I heard it was beautiful with its aesthetics and atmosphere but terrible in its core gameplay, so I flaked on it. Maybe I should go back and give it a chance.

There's a disconnect between world building/story telling and the simple gameplay but I absolutely think it's worth playing. Fanatical.com has a really good deal right now.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:50 AM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

Oh, I have the collection, it was part of the PS Plus subscription a few months ago. I love the first game in the series, it's so moody and dark. It holds up quite well. I think I should go back and form my own opinions.
posted by Fizz at 12:01 PM on May 19, 2020

Oh, I love this. Thanks for sharing! Says quite a bit about the staying power of the game that videos like this are still being made and uploaded. I should probably replay this but I do remember the gameplay not being that compelling and the whole experience just being a tad too long to be a casual replay. But would love to experience that whole story and Booker's arc again...

This did also remind me of Other Places which explores video game spaces with music from the games. It's one of my absolute favourites to have on in the background while I'm reading or doing something else. Unfortunately no longer (regularly) updated. Here's Columbia & Rapture to stay in theme.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:07 PM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty cold on the game as a whole but it does have some (spoilers I guess?) amazing music.
posted by juv3nal at 3:37 PM on May 19, 2020

I agree with so many of the criticisms of Infinite's actual gameplay and yet this, and particularly Elizabeth's "You Belong To Me", make dust get in my eyes every time.

I think it's because we don't often see straight-up tragedies played out in gaming and so it carries that much stronger a punch. Many of the classics like Torment go that route, or at least have strong tragic elements, but they are very much the exception.
posted by Justinian at 4:46 PM on May 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

ELIZABETH BELONGS IN PARIS DAMMIT
posted by Justinian at 4:46 PM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

Was the gameplay really that bad?? JFC. I consider myself a p damn up-to-date gamer but I truly did not think it was so bad that it would merit looking past the stunning and DEEP artistic vision of this game. It's a AAA FPS sheesh.

Nier Automata? TRASH TRASH TRASH gameplay /and/ visuals with slightly compelling gameplay and fantastic character design.

If I were to compare the two (which is dumb), Infinite is 3000% more playable and replayable. It's a complete vision with hiccups. Nowhere near the travesty that is most of how Nier feels. Yet, Nier gets cred forever.

Let's all calm down. Infinite is a beautiful vision when seen from a macro level. This post is just a small snippet of the brilliance and effort behind it.
posted by RobertFrost at 8:19 PM on May 19, 2020 [2 favorites]

I thought the gameplay was middling, just not up to the level of the art direction such.
posted by Justinian at 9:02 PM on May 19, 2020

I love the sound design of Infinite. Right before the raffle there is a festive sound that seems to come from a direction that leads you to the raffle. It is just so beautifully done.

I think a lot of people get upset at infinite because it forces you to use different guns and people get to attached to their weapon. It tries to force you to use vigors and guns in a combo fashion, but people just love to shoot things repeatedly with the same weapon over and over again. So the enemies quickly become bullet sponges to their favorite weapon and then they get frustrated when they run out of ammo.
posted by andryeevna at 11:05 PM on May 19, 2020

naw I'm mostly upset at infinite because they somehow managed to "both sides are just as bad" racism. or did y'all forget that part?
posted by juv3nal at 6:41 AM on May 20, 2020 [2 favorites]