BioShock: Infinite releasing October 16

Gamers will be able to explore the flying steampunk city of Columbia in October of this year, 2K Games confirmed today. BioShock: Infinite, Irrational Games' first full game since the launch of the original BioShock in 2007, will be in shops on October 16 in the United States and on October 19 "internationally," according to 2K.

BioShock Infinite was officially unveiled in August of 2010 and confirmed for a 2012 release. The game has similarities to the original BioShock but is not a sequel per se, the firm has said. It is a first-person shooter set in Columbia, a flying city in an early alternate 20th century where utopian ideals have given way to chaos in a sea of weaponry, plasmid-like powers, and political upheaval.

Into this mess steps the game's protagonist, Booker DeWitt, a former member of the feared Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which was America's largest security company in the late 19th century. According to GameSpot's latest preview, DeWitt will enter a world where steampunk robots have replaced horses and people, and where crazed citizens foment revolution with strange powers--and lots of guns.

BioShock: Infinite is due for release on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. A BioShock game is also in development for the PlayStation Vita, though as recently as October last year this was said to only be in the "paper design stage." In August last year, one analyst suggested the game would be a significant financial boon for 2K's parent firm, Take Two, saying it could ship 4.9 million copies. For more, check out the gameplay trailer below.