For a long time I’ve felt that 1st Person shooters have become stale and basically boring. The original Bioshock redeemed them for me. It showed that with a little imagination and effort, a 1st person shooter can be created which highlights just how great the genre can be.

 

Bioshock Infinite further proved this, with my review hopefully outlining why these 2K games are genre defining. That game was enthralling, tense and more importantly good fun to the very end. With the actual end of the title throwing up more questions than answers. These answers would of course be answered via story driven DLC.

 

Burial At Sea is the first of the upcoming DLC. What can only be seen a bit of fan service, we return to the much loved city of Rapture, on the eve of the city’s downfall. You play once again as Booker DeWitt and are tasked with finding a young girl named Sally. Of course it sounds simple, but as with most things in Bioshock, things occur….I’d hate to spoil it, but you’re in for quite a surprising treat.

 

Elizabeth also returns to assist Booker in his task. I was a bit worried when this version of Elizabeth was first revealed all those months ago. I thought the creators/writers would make her a slightly dull emo version of the bright and complex Elizabeth we have all come to love. However my fears were wrong and as cryptic as she can be, I found myself quite liking her.

 

Gameplay wise Burial At Sea plays much the same Infinite. Fun 1st person shooting which allow you to experiment with combinations of plasmids, some of which are brand new. The slight difference from Infinite comes due to the setting. As Rapture is a much more confined space, with enemies thrown in you find much more tension and a more “less is more” approach to gun battles. This I loved as Columbia was a much more open location with battles taking place over larger (and more varied) plains.

 

When jumping into this, don’t expect a 12 hour long experience. It took me around 3 hours to whisk through the story and events and only found it slightly challenging at points. Ofcourse this can be extended by adventuring for the collectables, such as the voice recordings etc. The short length shouldn’t put you off however, as this is fully worth it and the jaw-dropping ending is worth the price of admission alone. Certainly looks like there will be a Burial At Sea: Episode 2 and this will no doubt be yet another awesome addition to the overall narrative.

 

If you’re still confused by the ending of Infinite, don’t expect much in answers from Burial At Sea. What you should expect however is a delightful return to the dark and depressing city that is Rapture and a rare example of DLC actually being pulled of right.

 

Fingers crossed that more developers and publishers will follow Mr Levine and 2Ks lead in producing DLC which truly adds to the experience and doesn’t leave us feeling as hollow as a Big Baddies suit.

7/10