For me, the most memorable part of BioShock was the first half hour. That's not to say that I didn't love the entire game, but the emotions that I felt when first entering Rapture are more vivid than any others I have of my playthrough. Just the idea of a group of scientists forming their own society away from the laws and morality of civilization, and following that to its logical conclusion was the kind of hook that every game strives for.

So when Irrational Games first announced that their next project would be Bioshock: Infinite, taking place in a floating city in the sky I thought it looked just as cool as most of you probably did. But I've seen that story. People whose ideologies have forced them to escape from society, but in the sky? Cool.

Now we have more details on the actual story of the game, and when you add the new Game Informer exclusive artwork it seems that Infinite may take the standard set by Bioshock into entirely new territories. Where the first game was dedicated to exploring the concept of valuing scientific discovery over ethics, Infinite is going right to the heart of America's identity. Specifically, the notions of patriotism and racism. Have a look:

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This game seriously can't come out soon enough. Ken Levine and Irrational gave us one of the best games of the last decade in BioShock, and we already know that they're looking forward to how well Infinite will be received. Frankly, Irrational had my interest piqued when they first revealed SkyoShock, and since I only have a few gripes with BioShock, the team has had a long enough time to have corrected them.

This game may end up being a little too familiar, with not enough new  for a lot of gamers out there, but with the amount of excitement and attention to detail that the team has shown, it's hard not to look forward to what we'll see. And the racial and nationalist tones to the artwork make it clear that Infinite is not planning on pulling any punches. If they explore the concepts of race and nations as thoroughly as they did with the subject matter of BioShock, this game will get a lot of people talking. The propaganda in the images above will most likely get people talking immediately.

Are you going to be getting these pictures blown up to poster-size like I am, or are you waiting to see more gameplay before you make up your mind? Either way, we'll have to wait over a year to take our first steps in Columbia, plenty of time for more Infinite goodies to come our way.

Get ready to take a side in late 2012 when BioShock: Infinite comes to Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

Source: Game Informer