2K have revealed the next instalment of the Bioshock series, Bioshock Infinite, which sees us leaving the underwater city of Rapture and heading to the skies.

The art-deco utopian setting of Bioshock and Bioshock 2 has been replaced with the sky city of Columbia for Bioshock Infinite, while this latest episode in the Bioshock series moves back in time to 1912. That means the events of Bioshock Infinite take place almost half a century before Bioshock.

Bioshock: Infinite will see the player assuming the role of Booker DeWitt who is sent to the ‘lost’ city of Columbia to rescue a prisoner named Elizabeth. The trailer actually seems to show people in the city, so perhaps unlike Bioshock there will be more character interaction in Bioshock: Infinite? Unfortunately, we’ll be waiting until 2012 to before we can play the game to find out for sure.

Bioshock: Infinite is being developed by Irrational Games, the team behind the original Bioshock, and is once again being led by Ken Levine – who didn’t work on Bioshock 2. Of course, this is Bioshock we’re talking about so enough with the text – here’s a very pretty looking Bioshock Infinite trailer:

How impressive does that look?

The press release from 2K fills us in with the rest of the details about Bioshock Infinite:

“Set in 1912, BioShock Infinite introduces an entirely new narrative experience that lifts players out of the familiar confines of Rapture and rockets them to Columbia, an immense city in the sky. BioShock Infinite is currently planned for release during calendar 2012.

Originally conceived as a floating symbol of American ideals at a time when the United States was emerging as a world power, Columbia is dispatched to distant shores with great fanfare by a captivated public. What begins as a brand new endeavour of hope turns drastically wrong as the city soon disappears into the clouds to whereabouts unknown.

The player assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, sent to the lost city to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned there since childhood. He develops a relationship with Elizabeth, augmenting his abilities with hers so the pair may escape from a city that is literally falling from the sky. DeWitt must learn to fight foes in high-speed Sky-Line battles, engage in combat both indoors and amongst the clouds, and harness the power of dozens of new weapons and abilities.”

So Train2Game what do you think of the Bioshock Infinite trailer? Are you a fan of the Bioshock series? If so, what are your thoughts on the setting? And of course, how visually impressive does the game look?

You can leave your thoughts on Bioshock Infinite here or on the Train2Game forum.