Irrational Games hires cosplayer to portray BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth on boxart, in ads

Irrational Games has hired Russian cosplayer/veterinarian Anna “Ormeli“ Moleva as the official face of BioShock Infinite's leading lady, Elizabeth.

"We were so amazed by her dedication and her resemblance to Elizabeth that we decided to ask her if she'd like to be involved in helping bring Elizabeth to life in our box, our key art and our upcoming television ad," said Irrational president Ken Levine on the company's official blog.

Moleva is no stranger to the cosplay scene, having done immaculate impressions of American McGee's Alice, Poison Ivy, and the FemShep on the reversible cover of Mass Effect 3.

The cosplay veteran noted that her Elizabeth costume took "a month or two" to make, but estimated that the time spent on it could have been condensed into a week if worked on full time. Still, that's some mighty impressive dedication.

Irrational also revealed BioShock Infinite's box art. It's underwhelming and conventional, but I believe that Booker is featured on the cover because it's a first-person game and I doubt we'll see anything but his hands and feet in the game proper. This same tactic was used in games like Half-Life and Dishonored to give a face to our invisible heroes. In fact, had Gordon not been on the cover of the Half-Life games none of us would have had any idea what he looked like.

While Irrational didn't show its protagonists in previous first-person games like BioShock and System Shock, Infinite is a little different in that it features a speaking role for its lead, making him a much more defined character. Placing him front and center on the box makes sense from that standpoint, even if the layout could be more creative.