If academic Howard Zinn were to make a video game, it would be BioShock Infinite.

The game's theme is a massive homogeny of American xenophobia, imperialism and ignorance mixed into a first-person shooting adventure with heavy tones of Ayn Rand and Leonard Peikoff. Visually, there is just enough steam punk in the design that the environment almost becomes a character in itself.

When the game is not hitting you with satire of 1920s-style American exceptionalism, it engages you with fast-action sequences and a nonplayer character artificial intelligence that verges on perfect. The AI is probably the best I've ever seen in a video game.

Infinite has dragged BioShock out of the cacotopian underwater city of Rapture that dominated the series' first two games and sets it afloat 40 years into the past somewhere in the skies of early 20th-century America.

The floating airship city of Columbia is where America decided to put the virtues of its excellence on display for the world to admire, but at the same time to stay the hell away from, too. You play as a former Pinkerton agent who has been hired by an unknown benefactor to rescue the main NPC, Elizabeth, who has begun to manifest powers. And it seems the whole weird city is out to stop you.

The developers have injected originality into this shooter by way of a zip line form of transportation that is fun and addicting to watch. The aerial rail line shoots you around the city's various platforms and airships; and when incorporated into combat, these rail lines morph from transportation into game gravy.

The story is intriguing and a little bit droll in its suggested political commentary, but the visuals and sound are great and game play is outstanding.

2K Games and Irrational Games, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, $59.99, PC, $59.96, First-person shooter, Mature 17+, Tuesday

Where BioShock Infinite slashes at you with bits of dry intelligent wit and subversive giddiness, Army of TWO The Devil's Cartel just plain shoots you over and over and over.

Don't look for subtlety in this over-the-top third-person shooter. There is a story somewhere in Army of TWO The Devil's Cartel, but in the same way there is a story in Steven Seagal movies.

Go here to see the original:

Artificial intelligence shines in 'BioShock Infinite'