#bookstock

Freddy Carter and Amita Suman discuss their onscreen chemistry!

SPOILERS FROM THE BEGINNING YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

I have owned this DLC for years but I have been putting off playing it purely because I didn’t want the series to end. Obviously I caved, and I loved every minute.  What a delight to go back to the Rapture and Columbia!  I really missed the playstyle and the quality of the writing.  I really enjoyed being in the company of Elizabeth and Booker again, it felt like seeing an old friend again.

We find ourselves in Booker’s office in Rapture, when Elizabeth walks through the door and presents you with a case - to find Sally, a girl Booker had been looking after before she was kidnapped.  All is not how it seems however, as Elizabeth has a different goal in mind instead of just the rescue of little Sally - revenge.  You see this Booker is a displaced Comstock, fled to Rapture with a little help from the Luteces after the death of another Anna.  Thus ends the first part, with Bookstock ending up with a Big Daddy’s drill in his stomach, Elizabeth’s face painted with his blood.  You’d think Elizabeth would be happy then, with the second part opening in Paris, enjoying a croissant and a glass of wine in a cafe.  The idyll doesn’t last long however as it becomes increasingly obvious this Paris isn’t real, haunted by images of Sally, reminding Elizabeth of the costs of her revenge, causing her to give up her afterlife paradise to return to Rapture and save Sally as a normal girl without her abilities.  The thing about using a Big Daddy to enact your revenge is that you have no control over what it does afterwards, killing Elizabeth shortly after Bookstock.  The Luteces return her to Rapture, where she is forced to work with Atlas and Suchong to ensure Sally’s safety, causing Atlas to learn the code phrase for Jack and setting up nicely for the events of the first game.   But at least it’s canon that Jack saved the Little Sisters?

I didn’t think it was still possible for Irrational to shock me, but I did not see the ending of part 1 coming.  Having gone back to mop up achievements it is quite obvious when you know what’s coming but I thought the references to a debt to be repaid was Elizabeth trying to save another Anna from being taken.  My jaw dropped when I realised the whole chapter had been Elizabeth’s plan to dispatch Bookstock.  As much as I was shocked by part 1 however, I feel part 2 is where Irrational really shone.

Part 2 you control Elizabeth solely and can select a new difficulty - 1998 mode.  1998 mode involves completing the chapter using non lethal methods only.  I feel like this really complements Elizabeth, although she is a lot more “femme fatale” in the DLC I don’t believe she would kill if there was another option.  You are a lot more stealthy, and can knock people out with the “Air Grabber” or use special tranquilising crossbow bolts.  It is a little more difficult as you can’t use possession to make splicers or turrets your personal bodyguards but hey at least they can’t hurt you right? 

Part 2 also made Daisy a much more sympathetic character for me.  I didn’t outright dislike her, but threatening Fink’s son always chafed me.  Knowing she had to do that to preserve the timeline makes a lot more sense, all Daisy wanted was a better life for the opressed of Columbia, not to kill needlessly and originally outright refuses when asked to hurt the boy by the Luteces, stating “I will not punish the boy for the sins of the father”.  I appreciated seeing “behind the scenes” of the main campaign as it were.  It was also really great to see Rapture in it’s prime, a palace of excess and all and any whims fulfilled for cold hard cash.  The opulent surroundings and pampered citizens are a far cry from the flooded corridors and splicers of the first game.  

It’s also really striking how much Elizabeth, despite what Booker means to her own story, misses Booker, calling him her only friend.  Granted she was locked in a tower with only the Songbird for company most of her life, but there is genuine sorrow in her voice when she admits she misses him, for the “Booker” in part 2 to gently remind her he’s just a voice in her head.  Elizabeth has been alone most of her life and it’s easy to see how she got attached to Booker.  He was the only human she ever spent any real time with.  It makes sense for her to choose damp and mildew over a lonely omniscience.

The Consequences of Déjà Vu….

Hot summer temps had arrived in Woodstock, VT. Vibrant cobalt blue skies stretched overhead. White clouds of cotton suspended while hovering above the Ottauquechee River. The Village Green dotted with festive tents filled with vendors, authors, and freshly stacked books. Coffee available at the first tent on the left. The perfect companion for any good book. Music gently floated through the…