BioShock Infinite "Icarus" Trailer Series Redefines The Art

This week we're seeing the second in a series of retro-documentary trailers made for the upcoming game BioShock Infinite going by the name "Columbia: a Modern Day Icarus?" The actual content of the game becomes more enticing each moment one watches each of the two trailers that have been released thus far, so much so that I've passed these video spots on to friends and colleagues even when they're not the type of people who would ever end up playing the final product. This sharing is important in and of itself, as the medium almost becomes the message itself with such zeal as we'd only otherwise find in an art film meant for a gallery.

What you'll see here is a set of information about Columbia, a flying city, and a man by the name of Zachary Comstock. Interesting still is the fact that the presentation of this video is such that the picture works just as well in low definition as it does in high. This is more of a filmstrip than it is a web video.

This video was released near the end of January, then another appeared here in the middle of February. This Part 2 video spot is once again narrated by the enigmatic Alistar Bloom and surrounds the mystery of the "Songbird". It also once again makes the case for the flying city of Columbia and its mysterious disappearance being the central point of the game that'll be released this year.

This video again mixes animation, photography, and design elements that make this presentation both "retro" and timeless at once. Of course you and I being part of a timeline that places the filmstrip video presentation from grade school squarely in our minds will be reminded of educational oddities from the 1950s, with a few 1980s video swoops in for good measure. The end result is, again, a wholly enticing prospect: jumping in to a world that's real in a video game that'll be released this year.