ElzarTheBam
Member
IGN
Rapture-A modern Day Atlantis?
BAS achievement/trophy list. (Mild spoilers)
Gameinformer
Polygon
Destructoid
The Guardian
Warning
OXM
Furthermore
DLC Central
CVG-Ken Levine interview
Video Previews
Gamespot
Joystiq
(Thanks Endless.)
Gametrailers
Inside Gaming
IGN
Your first hour in Rapture is then spent hunting down clues to try to find Sally, and that entire search contains no combat whatsoever. Instead, you’re simply exploring a Rapture that’s alive and well, with people milling around and enjoying life in the city. There are a few notable landmarks (Little Wonders from BioShock’s Point Prometheus, for one) and you’ll hear passing references to spots like Arcadia and Apollo Square.
Rapture-A modern Day Atlantis?
BAS achievement/trophy list. (Mild spoilers)
[Potential Spoilers]
If you would like an official link to the first 5 minutes of Burial at Sea - Episode One, here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSou7NmhOkg
Gameinformer
It's fascinating to feel both at ease in the return to Rapture and the sense of wonderment I remember diving deep into the ocean on that first bathysphere ride. Splicers move as I remember them (though there are no spider splicers at this point in Rapture's tortured history), and some hide their faces in terror of catching a glimpse in the mirror.
The splicers retain some of their humanity. While they crave adam, their conversations are filled with coherent plotting rather than the gibberings we've previously experienced. Still, the madness is starting to set in, and the wild-eyed addiction that plagues nearly everyone we've met on past adventures lurks nearby.
Polygon
Burial at Sea was an admittedly short experience, more an appetizer than a meal, but the ending was both surprising and satisfying, perhaps more so than what was delivered with BioShock Infinite.
Destructoid
The combat mechanics in Burial at Sea, including Plasmids, are very much the same as in prior BioShock installments. However, this time around resource management is much more prevalent than it was in Infinite. On medium difficulty I found myself often running out of bullets and Eve, thus having to conserve my resources to ensure I could make it through to the next area. This was intentional from a gameplay perspective, and I actually found myself getting more out of the combat situations versus the rushed combat mentality of BioShock Infinite.
The Guardian
Burial at Sea is the very definition of fan service.
Not only does it offer an intriguing glimpse into the barmy universe of BioShock Infinite, where neither the motives of the characters nor the very fabric of reality can be trusted, but it satiates a couple of desires many fans of the original BioShock have had since the credits rolled on that game back in 2007.
Warning
Won't quote details here, but be warned HUGE SPOILERS in the Eurogamer preview.
OXM
As we follow a very film noir-styled Elizabeth on a mysterious mission, we’re whisked through a Rapture that isn’t patrolled by Big Daddys or terrorized by Splicers. Instead of dive-suits and psychos, the city’s instead bustling with well-dressed civilians who marvel at gorgeous underwater scenery from behind thick panes of glass. We stroll past a baby carriage that doesn’t contain a pistol — as it creepily did in BioShock — but an actual baby, and we eavesdrop on a sly gent attempting to impress a woman by claiming Dr. Steinman uses his handsome features as a template for facial symmetry.
Furthermore
Levine sees the 2-3 hour chapter as not just DLC, but as an “expansion pack” — an experience that not only provides value but, as he puts it “something that isn’t just thrown together or phoned in by some farm team.”
DLC Central
There are three other things of note here: 1) the Sky-Hook is back, but now called the Air-Hook, 2) this means that rails and hooks to higher levels are available and 3) you can now carry every weapon you come across – shotgun, Tommy-gun, carbine and the like – squeeze R2/RT and cycle through them all instead of flipping between two.
CVG-Ken Levine interview
The Elizabeth you see here is not the one that was dancing on the beach in Infinite - even though there are echoes of that scene here - she's more opaque. I can't tell you how this ends, but she's not the person you met. While her story set against the backdrop of this world, in terms of the political and social themes, their function is to show how they impact on these characters rather than show how they themselves operate - because I think we did that already.
Video Previews
Gamespot
Joystiq
(Thanks Endless.)
Gametrailers
Inside Gaming
IGN