The question that lots of people may be asking is did we really need a BioShock Infinite expansion? The events of the story saw things tied up by the end, although we all also came to realise that there's much more to the BioShock universe.

BioShock Infinite on its release earlier this year received the sort of critical praise that would make a pop-star buy a private jet in an orgy of self-congratulation. Flawed but hugely ambitious, Irrational created a sweeping, involving narrative and world that left many gagging for more.

Presented as more of a side-story than anything else, the first episode of this two-parter moves away from Columbia and back into the familiar setting of Rapture, the underwater city from the first two

The first thing you may notice about this review is there are minor spoilers. Nothing huge, but just be warned. Don't get upset if you read something you didn't want to, but I'll be keeping some of the more major plot points under wraps for those of you on the fence.

In 2007 Irrational Games' vision of Rapture provided one of the most engaging and haunting backdrops for a game in memory. Bioshock was born and a genre was changed forever as Bioshock combined an almost perfectly horrific narrative with suspense, frights and gameplay that just took a giant leap...

When a noired-up dame strolls into your office asking for help in chasing down a missing girl, no self-respecting private eye can say no, right? Yet the premise of this possibly alternate-timeline, quasi-epilogue DLC is anything but straightforward.

+ Delightful nods to the, + Plenty of reasons to explore; lots of items to hunt down

- Infinite gameplay in Rapture feels out of place; interstitial feel to plot; not for series newbies, ?

There's always a lighthouse. There's always a man. And now, there's also a gimmick. Episode 1 of BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea isn't a story that sheds new light on BioShock lore, but is rather a story that stitches together two worlds in ways that don't enhance either of them.

Beautiful sounds and visuals; Several standout moments with intriguing allegorical implications

BioShock Infinite's mechanics and narrative devices don't make sense in Rapture; Easy; throwaway action sequences

Though Burial at Sea Episode 1 may be a short vignette next to Infinite's novel, it's still one you aren't likely to put down for the brief time it lasts -- and it's priced accordingly at $15. Just don't expect the story to yank the rug out from under you quite so delightfully this time.

Revisiting Rapture; Infinite's combat in Rapture; Mini references to Infinite

Story won't surprise; Too short to build mystery

"Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt." That is all Booker Dewitt had to do, and it sounds easy enough doesn't it? Wrong! This girl isn't waiting at a mall to be picked up by you.

Arriving by row boat to a lighthouse, across a stormy sea, guided by two people who seem to know the fate that awaits you. There's always a lighthouse.... Bioshock Infinite transports the protagonist Booker DeWitt into a floating city in the sky, Columbia.