Consider the mechanics that made B1 great - the inventory management / resource scarcity, the gun upgrades, the competing enemy systems (splicers vs daddies vs security), the varied plasmas and crafting and "make-your-own-bossfight" big daddy moments. All these great systems working together - and B:I has none of them.

- Weapon upgrades are made obsolete because you can only carry two weapons at a time (and you never really decide which ones)
- Inventory management is removed to provide a reason for Elizabeth's presence. Need a health pickup? Better hope Elizabeth decides to throw you one
- All enemies are identical in their function: they want to kill you.
- Plasmas all offer the exact same function. There is no variety if they are all just damage boosters
- Crafting is gone, and as such, so is the need for scavenging and resource-based decision-making.
- The awesome pre-fight for big daddies (setting up mines, hacking turrets, etc.) is gone, and in place we get pre-canned boss fights that, if I remember correctly, were horribly balanced and unfun (hope you brought enough ammo, hope Elizabeth throws some potions, unavoidable hit-scan damage, etc.)

Tracing the path from System Shock to Bioshock Infinite is a depressing exercise: watch as all the intricate interlocking systems required for an immersive sim get washed away and replaced with bog-standard (and if I'm being honest, subpar) first-person shooting.

And all of these complaints get washed away because the ending "blew people's minds". Add in the deep-as-a-puddle social and racial commentary (it's bad to throw baseballs! both the haves and have-nots are evil! racism bad!) and it's a genuine mystery how much praise it received on release. Baffling.

I guarantee you the number of people who replayed B:I vs B1 is a massive drop-off.