BioShock Infinite trailer analysis – we dissect it frame by frame

Columbia shares Raptures love of propaganda posters, in this case encouraging citizens to take care of their own before foreigners. Perhaps we’ll learn more of this philosophy through conveniently placed audio logs. It’s almost the exact opposite of the Statue of Liberty’s “Send us your poor, your wounded…” plaque.

Playing conductor to an invisible orchestra, this character—who could arguably pass for Andrew Ryan in a pinch—represents Columbia’s scary patriotic conviction. Is he in charge?

Seeing a building, that should be sitting securely on a city street somewhere, instead propelled upward by hot air is one of Infinite’s cooler visual tricks. We’re eager to see how the ability to move entire buildings at will affects the level designs as well.

Elizabeth, the mysterious character at the center of Infinite’s complex story, possesses incredible powers that the bad guys seem to want. That or they just want a closer look at her Lara Croft-like figure.

The trailer’s cliffhanger conclusion presumably shows the protagonist falling to his death toward a rose - which was a whole bed of roses that lifted you upward, thanks to Elizabeth’s special power, until she got ganked by a cyborg and you started falling again. Note the checkerboard of farmland below – we’re clearly floating over an agricultural area. The Midwestern US? Rural Europe?

Though not in the actual trailer, the three additional images Irrational released offer plenty of clues about what kind of place Colombia is. This propaganda-spewing politician, who attacks the player before fleeing on the Skyline with his handheld hook, seems to be a character of some importance in the city’s overly patriotic society. Maybe it’s got something to do with his cool outfit.

We wonder if this Lady Liberty-like sculpture is Columbia’s counterpart to New York’s iconic statue. Regardless, it totally recalls the towering “great chain” figures watching over Rapture’s crazed populace.

Originally constructed to transport freight through different parts of the flying city (as seen here), Columbia’s Sky-Line rail system now serves as transportation for hook-equipped citizens.

Aug 12, 2010

Matt Cabral
A full-time freelance writer based in Lizzie Borden's hometown, Matt Cabral has covered film, television, and video games for over a decade. You can follow him on Twitter @gamegoat, friend him on Facebook, or find him in the basement of an abandoned building hoarding all the canned goods, med-kits, and shotgun shells.