Clash in the Clouds offers a great opportunity to delve in those action filled moments we all loved in the original game. Although killing wave after wave of enemies in 4 different maps might get old relatively quickly, the implementation of the Blue Ribbons adds variety to gameplay and require a higher strategy level.
Clash in the Clouds is a good example of what DLC should be like. Instead of bringing more of the same, it does something completely new. It makes you experience Bioshock: Infinite from a completely different perspective en pushes you to do the best you can. Even if you get through all four arena’s and manage to get every collectible, there’s still the challenge of beating your high score.
Bioshock Infinite: Clash In The Clouds Review Originally posted on ****/2013/08/04/bioshock-infinite-clash-in-the-clouds-review/
By: William Valdes @WTValdes
Since the release of Bioshock Infinite back in March, we’ve played through and beaten the game (multiple times for some), pondered, discussed and sometimes argued about the game’s complex story but for those of us still hungry for more, a season pass for future downloadable content has been available for purchase since release but without a word of detail concerning content or release date. After months of anticipation, we finally get our first piece of DLC: Clash in the Clouds.
Just announced and released this past Tuesday July 30th, CitC puts you back in the shoes of Booker DeWitt, accompanied as always by Elizabeth but if you were hoping for some new, story-based gameplay with this DLC, you’re in for some disappointment. Irrational Games have taken Infinite’s purely action-packed gameplay and distilled it into four battle arenas, each containing 15 waves of enemies. Each wave you encounter is a fun, bite-sized battle against anywhere from one heavy-hitting Handyman-type to more than ten enemy soldiers with variations in between. There’s a leaderboard scoring system for each stage that rewards the player with a higher score and money for surviving waves, racking up kills and using different combinations of vigors, weapons, tears, and environmental hazards. Every wave features a Blue Ribbon Challenge that compels you to complete the wave while following certain parameters such as defeating all enemies within a certain time limit or only using skyhook attacks. Run into a challenge that’s way too hard? Don’t worry, it’s super fun to revisit them later when you’ve acquired a bunch of infusions and purchased a bunch of upgrades from vending machines. When you want to take a break from the battle arenas, you can bring your hard-earned cash down to The Columbian Archeological Society Museum and spend some of it to unlock concept art, character models, kinetoscopes and phonographs that play some of the cover songs that were heard in the main game.
Like Infinite, this is a highly polished experience with rare exceptions like when I would die during some of the tougher waves, I sometimes found myself respawning in a part of the map where the enemies would destroy my shields and most of my health within a second or two. Here’s hoping that gets tweaked. Co-op multiplayer would have been really nice with this DLC too. Overall though, I really enjoyed my experience playing through Clash In The Clouds. While I admit that I would’ve preferred something with more story, I had a lot of fun and there was even a tiny bit of story-related content at the end. (Check the museum once you’ve completed all four of the arenas). Well worth the $5 asking price and something to hold us over until the story-centric “Burial At Sea” DLC is released.
B-
Due to its mature, breathtaking narrative, perhaps we sometimes forget that BioShock Infinite is, at heart, a true FPS. Clash in the Clouds, on the other hand, will shoot you in the face if you try to forget it.
Clash in the Clouds is a decent enough diversion until the main event, Burial at Sea, eventually arrives. For as long as the leaderboards and museum can keep you entertained, there’s nothing inherently wrong with what Clash in the Clouds is offering.
This is probably the only DLC with challenge maps that is truly good. the 4 locations are varied and take place on places throughout the Infinite campaign (but none of them are identical to places from singleplayer). The goal is to beat 15 waves of enemies on every map. You can choose if you want to complete Blue Ribbon Challenges in every wave to boost your money and get an achievment if you can do them all (which is really hard). Then you have a sort of pre-match museum where you pick your map, buy upgrades and most importantly, you can buy concept arts, videos, models in the hall. For 400 MSP I definitely recommend this.
First off, I will say that Irrational has done a good job creating these challenge maps and you can tell that they spent time and effort on them. They are a fun little addition to the game, and $5 is the right price for the DLC. However, I am a bit disappointed that not every DLC released for Bioshock Infinite will be a story DLC. Irrational writes the best storylines for games out of any developer whose games I have played, so it is a sort of puzzling why they wouldn't make all 3 DLC packs story DLC. In my opinion Clash in the Clouds is a waste of one of the three DLCs included in the Season Pass, and we already know what the other two will be, and they'll be two episodes of one storyline. I was hoping we would get atleast two completely new and innovative storylines amongst the three DLCs, and while CitC is good and fun, and I'm really looking forward to Burial at Sea, I wish they could've made this DLC a story one instead of just a filler is the way I see it. I do like how you can use the money you earn in the game to unlock concept art and other things in the gallery, but if you don't enjoy running around a small map facing waves of enemies and earning money to upgrade weapons and vigors, then this probably isn't a buy for you.
Did anyone want this? I only got this, because I bought the season pass. While the action in Bioshock Infinite is good, it's generally not what most people play for, I don't think. Bioshock without story, is severely lacking in my book. That being said, what is here is reasonably well done, it's just not what I want in an expansion to a game with such an amazing narrative.
After purchasing my Bioshock Infinite season pass, I was very much looking forward to the first piece of DLC. Unfortunately, what I received was best described as filler.
In the modern videogame world, AAA developers seem to be obsessed with multiplayer additions to games where it is completely unnecessary. Tomb Raider is one such example. I was very pleased when Bioshock Infinite was released without any multiplayer options. Clash in the Clouds feels like a multiplayer addition, without actually being a multiplayer game. The competition is not on a face-to-face basis, but over leaderboards. I play Bioshock games for the interesting storylines, incredible characters and varied single-player combat mechanics. So this doesn't interest me in the slightest.
Well... I say that, but Irrational Games have done something very clever here. And that is the ability to buy collectibles voxphones, statues, artwork which will complement and expand the storyline from the original Bioshock Infinite single player experience. As that is my focus, does this mean that I will be "grinding" through this DLC to unlock them all? Possibly. But under duress.
To me, Bioshock games are fantastic single-player experiences with just the right difficulty level for those gamers that adore storyline and cleverly-crafted backdrops over getting sniped by a 14 year-old from two miles away on COD. Having to fight two handymen and a patriot on the same map, at the same time, feels more like the latter, I'm afraid. A chore that must be endured if you want to unlock all of the collectibles.
Can't wait for Burial at Sea.
SummaryThis first add-on pack puts an intense focus on BioShock Infinite combat. Combine weapons, Vigors, Gear, Tears, and Sky-Lines in ways you never thought possible as you square off against impossible odds. This pack features 60 challenges in four brand-new environments. Complete Blue Ribbon Challenges and unlock concept art, Voxophones, Ki...