Art Direction - Bioshock

 In early 2013 many popular games were very... grey. The colour palette was subdued with browns and grey's with the ideal to make the games seem real, gritty and dark. While this may have worked, after some time the gaming audience started to get tired of it.

  So it is March 2013 and you've just started playing Bioshock Infinite by Irrational Games. It seems pretty standard as you play through the first view minutes of the game, very dark and very subdued. Then you open a door and you're presented with this : 

Behold! Colours! I remember very definitely when this game came out the gaming reddit's coming alive with talk of how colourful and bright this game is. And this is not a child's game it just uses colour far more effectively than most games at the time. 

Not only does this view hold colour but it also shows you alot about the game.

The design of the level draws your eye towards the left which is the direction you need to go, with the skyline and the statues pointing sword. This is all subtle as well, no big flashing arrows telling you where you need to be. This image also gives you an idea of the size of Columbia, the flying city, with the buildings in the background.

As you can see the colours use mostly oranges and blues on creams and whites. Orange and blue being obviously complimentary colours making the whole scene pop.

When it comes to lighting the entire scene is very bright. Theres little contrast although there is some. Over all I believe Irrational was trying to create the bright mood. Overall this whole thing does create a very happy and cheerful mood. But I feel it alittle uncanny. It's too bright, too clean. Suspiciously so.

And all of this works together AMAZINGLY! It's important to note that all of this is moving. It's not a static scene. The buildings swaying ever so slightly, cargo travelling down the sky-line, the clouds moving in the back. It all creates a very living real place.

But that is something I would do differently, and this applies to all of Bioshock Infinite. It feels very empty. There's only two or three people hanging around. I'd like to see more people, more activity. Also I'd perhaps move the sky-line up slightly, as it imposes the statue of Comstock center stage.

This whole scene is brilliant however, despite small gripes. I loved this moment, and I know reddit was ablaze with screenshots of this moment. It's awesome just like the game it came from. If you haven't played Bioshock Infinite yet play it already!