The first story-based chunk of BioShock Infinite DLC, Burial at Sea, is quickly approaching. Developer Irrational Games has been hard at work with the next piece of one of the year’s most interesting projects, and really, it’s been a long and difficult wait. Even though we don’t have a solid date at this time, plenty of new information has just surfaced on the underwater story that paints an enticing picture for the Season Pass content.
As the initial announcement told us, Burial at Sea takes place in an alternate reality Rapture where Booker and Elizabeth meet for the first time. Booker is still a detective, and is asked by Elizabeth to find one of the many missing girls within the city. It sounds like a basic setup, but as you can guess, things will get quite complex after the opening moments.
The recently released previews indicate that the world is more alive than ever before, with NPCs going about their everyday lives as you conduct an investigation. The Sky Hook (now called the Air Grabber), as well as Plasmids, will be making their return, and you’re also likely to see certain Rapture landmarks that should be familiar to series fans.
However, it’s the gameplay that looks to experience the biggest shift in focus.
“We rebalanced everything to be more toward resource management and stealth, which changes the way that the encounters play,” lead level designer Andres Gonzales told IGN. “It’s more player-initiated. You hear enemies off in the distance. Because these are BioShock Infinite systems, tweaked to create the experience of the original BioShock, it’s sort of a hybrid of the two. We had to create the environments to support that gameplay.”
A hybrid of two of the best games coming out of this generation doesn’t sound like a bad thing. Look to hear more on this holiday release in the near future.