File:Bioshock Infinite - The Free Will Paradox-2

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I recommend watching my previous video 'Bioshock: A Sea of Hypocrisy' before watching this, however I do recap the relevant points in the beginning of this one

it's worth pointing out that I haven't yet played Burial at Sea, which was also directed by Ken Levine, and as a helpful Redditer pointed out, it falsifies a couple of the literal events I mention. Although subtextually, I doubt it will change my reading of Infinite much.

Bioshock Infinite seems like a swan song for the entire Shock lineage.

With it's ending, it seems to me that Infinite is acknowledging the formulaic plotting that was starting to become apparent around the time Bioshock came out. While every single game in the Shock or 0451 lineage is incredibly unique, interesting, and thought provoking, the broadest strokes of their plots are full of parallels, leading to a twinge of predictability even as the lore of the games takes dozens of unexpected twists and turns. By letting us peer across the multiverse and see how similar all of the different realities are, with nothing distinguishing them but cosmetic changes to the world and story, Bioshock Infinite acknowledges the "System Shock formula" that's present in its entire bloodline.

The music in this video is from the Bioshock Infinite OST by composer Garry Schyman and music director Jim Bonney