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PARTING SH T<br />
<br />
Celebrating PlayStation’s finest moments<br />
No.19<br />
Fairgrounds for dismissal<br />
Revelling in Bioshock Infinite’s invigorating carnival<br />
Last<br />
Month<br />
Shadow<br />
Of The<br />
Colossus<br />
Take flight<br />
with the most<br />
incredible<br />
boss on PS2<br />
as you ride<br />
Phalanx.<br />
FORMAT PS3 / PUB 2K GAMES / DEV IRRATIONAL GAMES / RELEASED 2013 / SCORE 10/10<br />
Life moves pretty fast. If you<br />
don’t stop and look around<br />
once in a while you could<br />
mis… aaaand Booker’s been<br />
pole-axed by the Songbird again.<br />
Terrific. Day to day existence in<br />
Columbia – thanks to the constant<br />
intervention of murderous cult<br />
members and 70 ton mechanical<br />
budgies – shifts along at quite the<br />
pace. So praise be to the almighty<br />
Comstock for that fairground bit.<br />
Bioshock Infinite’s opening hour<br />
is simply masterful. It’s a joyous<br />
synergy of mystery and theatre<br />
that carries real spiritual weight<br />
as you find yourself reborn in a<br />
skyward city. Ken Levine’s shooter<br />
has the power to shake your<br />
emotions out of FPS apathy long<br />
before carnage ever erupts among<br />
those rolling clouds.<br />
No moment sums up this expert<br />
authorship over atmosphere<br />
better than Booker DeWitt’s trip<br />
to Columbia’s fairgrounds. After<br />
going through a twisted baptism,<br />
your hero has to contend with<br />
all the sights, sounds and creepy<br />
clowns of the carnival. Breathless<br />
salesman trying to hawk Vigors;<br />
a humiliated Handyman being<br />
paraded in front of the gawking<br />
masses like a mechanised King<br />
Kong; crooked games that rekindle<br />
warm memories of candy floss<br />
and ring toss. Columbia’s fair is<br />
a completely intoxicating detour<br />
from the inevitable havoc and<br />
headshots that await.<br />
Whether using the Bucking<br />
Bronco ability to ‘Cast Out The<br />
Devil’ in one stall or unloading on<br />
tin Sky-Line Vox targets in another,<br />
the carnival also subtly teaches<br />
you the game’s superpowered<br />
mechanics. Yet because of that<br />
commitment to atmosphere and<br />
a sense of place, this is one setpiece<br />
that can never be accused<br />
of tutorial blandness. Fair play. <br />
Next<br />
Month<br />
Half-Life 2<br />
Celebrate an<br />
iconic gaming<br />
gun as Gordon<br />
Freeman earns<br />
his physics<br />
degree in<br />
Ravenholm.
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