BioShock Infinite
The BioShock series is fairly uniformly excellent, and has served to launch many a gaming-related thinkpiece. While some critics have questioned Infinite’s handling of issues like race and gender, there’s no denying that the game is fascinating: In an impossible city in the sky in an alternate 1912, you team up with a woman (who’s slightly short in the fingers department) who can travel between dimensions.
Your job as Booker DeWitt, however, is fairly straightforward: escape with Elizabeth and dispense large amounts of lead in the general direction of everyone who gets in your way. Like the other BioShock protagonists, Booker also has a collection of supernatural abilities to bring to bear as well: you can fire Palpatine-esque lightning bolts from your fingertips, possess people and machines, and even summon a gang of crows to attack enemies.
It’s a gorgeous game too, with a look that marries Disney’s Beauty and the Beast with art deco into a strange and violent post card from O Brother Where Art Thou. Well worth your time, we say.