Booker stands out from the protagonists of BioShock 1 and 2

Mar 29, 2013 09:50 GMT  ·  By

BioShock Infinite may share some common elements with previous games in the series, but one of its key differences is the fact that the playable character, Booker DeWitt in this case, can speak and is a much more fleshed out hero than BioShock 1's Jack or BioShock 2's Delta.

BioShock 1 followed a core gaming principle, which dictated that, for first-person shooters, it's sometimes better to make the protagonist silent so that players can easily identify with him.

This, however, means that the hero needs to stick to a pre-determined patch and not do anything out of the ordinary which would then pull people out of their immersion within the game's world.

Both with BioShock 1, which starred Jack, a regular human, and with BioShock 2, which starred a Big Daddy known only as Subject Delta, this worked pretty smoothly.

In BioShock Infinite, however, Irrational Games decided to keep the first-person experience but placed players in the shoes of Booker DeWitt, a character who can talk and has a very troubled past before reaching the city of Columbia and trying to rescue Elizabeth.

It's a bit harder to identify with Booker, as his past is filled with atrocities such as the Battle of the Wounded Knee, where he helped massacre native Americans, as well as time with the Pinkerton detective agency, where he helped company owners stop strikes among the workforce.

At the beginning Booker still hasn't forgiven himself for his troubled past but, throughout the story, both Elizabeth and the player begin to learn much more about him, his past, and how he's coping with the different things that he did.

His voice further solidifies this, as Booker isn't hesitant in expressing his surprise, amazement, and frustration with the different things he encounters in Columbia. He also begins to care about Elizabeth and this is clearly evident through his voice.

While Booker actually has a personality as opposed to Jack or Delta, all three characters work great as protagonists in their actual games.