Fans have been waiting patiently for news on DLC for BioShock Infinite since the game's spring release, but getting only silence from 2K and Irrational Games. Now, seemingly out of the blue, the game's first DLC is out now, and news has finally been provided for future DLC.
First, let's address the DLC that's available now through Steam, and later today on PSN and Xbox Live.
Clash in the Clouds is Bioshock Infinite's first DLC, and it's fairly rudimentary. It's a challenge mode in which the player, supported by Elizabeth, is given four challenge maps, on each of which they will need to complete fifteen waves of progressively more difficult enemies.
To keep things interesting, each wave will have Blue Ribbon Challenges, or side objectives, like defeating enemies in a given period of time, and various other tasks.
Bioshock's Ken Levine said in a statement, "We are really excited to offer our fans the content that they have been asking for. With Clash in the Clouds, people get a pure action experience that takes BioShock Infinite combat to its highest challenge and intensity level. With the Burial at Sea episodes, we are bauilding a Rapture-based narrative experience that is almost entirely built from scratch."
The DLC will cost $5.00 or 400 Microsoft Points and is also included in the game's season pass. It's seen as a stop-gap to tide players over the next DLC launches, which speaking personally, is what I'm Infinite-ly (see what I did there?) more excited about. A trailer beow shows you what it's all about.
Here's the interesting one. A two part story DLC, Burial at Sea takes players back 20,000 leagues under the sea to Rapture, where the BioShock series is rooted like so much kelp. Like Elizabeth once alluded to, this is a story of alternate versions of her and protagonist Booker DeWitt in Andrew Ryan's underwater metropolis.
Players will play as both Booker and Elizabeth during the course of the DLC. The story isn't exactly clear, only that Booker is working in Rapture as a private eye, and an adult (rather sultry) Elizabeth has sought him out.
Speaking with Eurogamer, Levine notes, "At the very beginning, you're Booker, private detective in Rapture," Levine explained, "in your office and this woman comes in, and you two don't seem to know each other, and we don't explain that. We always like to put people in a place where there's a story that ends up making sense, but we don't want the obvious... We like people immediately having a sense of wondering what's going on."
Here's where it gets interesting. In past games, players only experienced Rapture on its way to downfall, the result of a civil war sparked by riots on New Year's Eve of 1958. It's during this point when Burial at Sea takes place, so players will finally be able to see Rapture at its peak, and what led to its collapse. A lot of significant events in the BioShock universe take place during this time, and it'll be interesting to see if players will get to experience them in this DLC.
Levine explained the reason for the DLC's return to Rapture: "...we were really excited, having done all the work on the population - a living, breathing population in Columbia - because Rapture was a tomb, y'know? Originally we wanted to show Rapture when it was fully alive, but do it in the context of an interesting story, not just to go back and talk about Midi-chlorians, you know? To do it in a sort of integrated way, but to tell a story we thought was important to tell with these characters as well."
And before you ask, yes, you will fight Big Daddies using plasmids, not vigors. The first part of the DLC is scheduled for a fall release. Season pass holders get it for free, whereas non-holders will have to pay $14.99 or 1200 Microsoft Points for each episode. Check out the trailer below, which reeks of film noire, and that's a good thing.
