Foreword

Set in 1912, the player assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, sent to the flying city of Columbia on a rescue mission. His target? Elizabeth, imprisoned since childhood. During their daring escape, Booker and Elizabeth form a powerful bond—one that lets Booker augment his own abilities with her world-altering control over the environment. Together, they fight from high-speed Sky-Lines, in the streets and houses of Columbia, on giant zeppelins, and in the clouds, all while learning to harness an expanding arsenal of weapons and abilities.

By Ken Levine

I like strategy guides. Always have. I like poring over data. I like the concept art, the dev team commentary. I like having another part of a game I love that I can put on my shelf.

I’ve been carrying a strategy guide for a 3DS game in my backpack for months as I travel on press tours and other Irrational business. I find it comforting to know: I am equipped. I have knowledge.

Here’s a shameful confession: I especially love strategy guides that cover our games. Vain? Sure. But if I’m being honest, it always amazes me how much the guide makers seem to know about a game that I don’t know. I get so distracted with the million things going on that sometimes I’m so focused on the part of the game I’m working on that other parts momentarily slip out of memory. The guide is the game, encapsulated, organized. It’s a BioShock Infinite encyclopedia, just like the ones I used to pore over in the library in grade school.

Except this one has robots, and skylines and one beautiful, plucky, smart, and potentially dangerous woman. Which beats articles about rice production in ancient Mongolia. (Which, actually, while I write it sounds kind of cool. Note to self: Wikipedia rice production in ancient Mongolia).

That’s my long winded way to introduce you to BradyGames’ Official BioShock Infinite Strategy Guide. It’s a true insider’s look at the game, to explore the city of Columbia with a packet of information that Booker DeWitt would have killed for. It’s packed full of exclusive details and artwork never shared outside our studio.

In order to help the writers and artists responsible for the guide research the game thoroughly, we invited them out to Irrational Games during BioShock Infinite’s final hours to play it like crazy and meet with the staff. The crew from Brady not only fashioned a complete walkthrough of the entire game (including looks into all its secret areas and side-quests), they created detailed level maps, breakdowns of the enemies and loot, and bios of the cast that you won’t find anywhere else.

To further aid in the making of the guide, we asked our team to share their own personal strategies for playing BioShock Infinite. They fired back with advanced techniques for taking down “heavy hitter” enemies like the Motorized Patriot and Handyman, recommendations for outfitting your character with Gear upgrades that reflect your favorite play-style, weapons and Vigor combo attacks to help you survive the most challenging battles, tips for how to best employ Elizabeth’s powers and the high-flying Sky-Line in battle, and more.

That’s advice straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were… From the combat designers who set up BioShock Infinite’s toughest encounters, systems designers who tuned the game’s weapons and Vigors, and testers who spent countless hours poring over every inch of the game.

I know I speak for the entire team at Irrational Games when I say we all hope you really enjoy playing BioShock Infinite. You’ll soon learn that Columbia is a city teeming with mystery. Who is Booker, and what is the debt that drives him to the city? What are Elizabeth’s powers and why has she been locked up since she was a child? Why does Booker have the letters “AD” branded into his right hand? And what, in God’s name, is the Songbird?

It will help guide you in your darkest hours. It will be your confidante and your best friend. It will save your butt. We spent nearly five years creating Columbia. Now we pass the creation to you. And that’s really where the fun begins.