As something of a corollary to my Bioshock Infinite review (which I thought of updating but it really would be just to discuss this issue) I'd like to point out one of the great nuisances of its gameplay. The few "choices" you're presented with have either little or no impact of the outcome of the game. The pendant choice is purely cosmetic; not killing Slate has him show up in a prison cell later, eliciting a comment from Elizabeth; and a choice I'd forgotten - whether to draw on a ticket booth guy or let him stab you in the hand has the impact of some comment from Elizabeth followed by her bandaging the wound, or not if there is nothing to bandage. And it seems that if you are aggressive and harm unarmed, non-combatants, someone notices and offers you gear as a reward for your bloodlust.
That's it. Completely linear rail shooter of a game (with some literal rails) that offers choices that really have no impact. If anyone wants to complain about my complaint, let me put it this way: If the choices have no meaning, then don't bother putting them in there. If a game says it's a linear story game, I can deal with that. Giving me choices as if a second playthrough could lead to a different outcome only to leads to my disappointment. You want people to pay $80 for something that gives about 10 hours of fun? At least in other games there is lateral gameplay, such as "RPG" (to be discussed in a future post) like The Elder Scrolls series, which lets you do different things and play the game different ways. They're equally disappointing in terms of not really being able to change the outcome, but they're also relying on that lateral gameplay (not to mention lots of exploration) to extend the life of their games.
Bioshock Infinite is a straight line, and if it had been upfront about that, I wouldn't be as irritated as I am.
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