BioShock Infinite will see Columbia under civil war, says Irrational

It's time to do your part for Uncle Sam. Or to raise anarchy. Whatever.

Irrational Games boss Ken Levine has detailed how Columbia will be under civil war in BioShock Infinite.

"You see a buildup of a nativist or nationalist movement, and often there’s an event that comes out of that – whether it’s a war or whatever – which either enhances that or pushes it back," he said.

That event happens to be an international incident that sees America disown the flying city after Columbia is exposed as a working warship. This is revealed to the world when "a catastrophic event", according to Game Informer, sees the US cut its ties from it.

This ends up triggering a civil war, with splinter groups fighting for what's it feels is right for Columbia: the Ultranationalists and a group known as the "Vox Populi".

Levine says the patriotism of America today has some inspiration to Infinite.

"There’s definitely a component in America today that nationalism is extremely important to certain people – a sense that America is a separate case," he says.

"It’s something I’ve always found fascinating. It’s an interesting element to divide over – where you’re born.

"It’s kind of an accident, right? And how porous those borders are – people who are in the same country with different ethnic backgrounds and religious backgrounds – there are a lot of ways to draw demarcations.

"It’s interesting to me how important those become to people and I wanted to explore that."

Levine adds that one of the game's main figures, Elizabeth, is "is the trump card that can turn everything around" for the war.

You can get more here. There's two new shots as well.

BioShock Infinite launches in 2012 for PS3, 360 and PC. The much anticipated gameplay demo for the game goes live next Tuesday.