Tear

"For I have looked into the future and one path is filled with amity and gold, and the other is fraught with the perils of a hostile and alien world."

- Saltonstall's speech, referring to a Tear

A Tear is a rip in dimensional time and space, revealing an alternate event which does not exist in the current Columbia world. Every citizen of Columbia is able to see Tears, but Elizabeth is the only one capable of interacting with them. When tapping into these Tears, she is able to transport something from there to the current world. However, she does so with the possibility of losing her concentration and causing the Tear to widen, producing unpredictable results.

When fighting the citizens of Columbia, Booker may encounter multiple Tears ranging from a single turret, to a few members of either the Vox Populi or The Founders, to a completely separate Sky-Line. Elizabeth is then able to transport these to Columbia's world to either supply objects or mend an existing counterpart, yet this also forces a risk to herself when using her ability.

Types of Tears
The player will be presented with choices of what type of Tear Elizabeth should open. Once one of them is activated, the others will become temporarily unavailable. Some Tears appear individually and are only prevented by Elizabeth's inability to open Tears for a set amount of time.

Cover
Opening a Tear of this type will bring an object primarily used as cover by the player. In the E3 2011 Gameplay Trailer, Booker has Elizabeth bring a wagon in through a Tear to protect them against an enemy's fire. Another sub-type of Cover Tear can bring a Columbia Freight car onto a Sky-Line, which can be both used as cover and as a blunt weapon.

Weapons
Opening a Tear of this type will bring a Weapons Barrel or other access of munitions to the player. The type of munitions provided varies.

Rocket Turret
A variation of this type of Tear is shown in the E3 2011 Gameplay Trailer. This variation can be used to bring a stationary, heavy turret into the player's world for use against large enemy weaponry, such as Security Zeppelins.

Doorway
Opening a Tear of this type will bring a doorway or other escape route into the player's world. Booker and Elizabeth can then utilize them and possibly return later after recovering.

Trivia

 * According to an article from Gamasutra, the massive Tear that opens after Elizabeth's horse revival attempt was originally going to open to a primeval forest, not the 1980's. Ken Levine felt that world didn't have much of an impact to sell the concept for the Tear, so it was substituted with the 1980's world which reused model buildings from a canceled Irrational Games project.