Bioshock Infinite: 10 Important Details You Didn't Notice

Unlike BioShock’s fiery arrival at its lighthouse, Infinite’s sedate row through gloomy seas is far less dramatic. The drama, however, is not in the arrival, but in your companions’ conversation.

One, a man, insists that experiments can fail, to which the other, a woman, retorts that one does not undertake an experiment knowing one has failed. The conversation continues, with the man complaining about have to do the rowing, being told that he should ask Booker for help, and responding by saying that Booker never does.

The first time through, this is completely incomprehensible. But the second time you understand exactly what is being said.

We learn that the Luteces have sent 122 versions of Booker against Comstock, only to see them all try and fail. That means that a version of Booker has been in that same boat, taking that exact same journey, over one hundred times, and not once does he ever help with the rowing.

Booker, like the player, knows none of this until near the end of the game.

It’s a ballsy move to wave your plot under player’ noses, but that Irrational Games pulled it off shows just how much thought went into the game and provides ample motivation for experiencing Columbia a second time.