ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the intersection of militaristic, racist, and nationalistic discourses with notions of Gothic monstrosity. Taking the game's visceral combat mechanics and meticulously detailed environments into account, it examines how gameplay facilitates direct encounters with the complexities of civil war, and unpacks some of the ways in which these experiences are framed by the Gothic. As the game addresses the haunting monstrosity of war and the culpability of its own medium and genre, it also flees from the implications of this investigation-reinstating imperialistic violence as your sole source of engagement with the virtual world. Possessed by racism and religious extremism, Columbia's history is very much alive in the present. Following through to the game's now famous conclusion, this chapter considers how BioShock Infinite operates as a unique American Gothic text that attempts to strip away any romance surrounding social revolution and urban conflict highlighting the notion that, despite the best of intentions, war ultimately makes monsters of us all.
