Bioshock 2

5 Comments

1. R. Ross says:

   June 11, 2010 at 2:30 am

   Bioshock, when it came out 2 years ago, completely reinvented the way I’d played first person shooters (I had never played System Shock 2). Diving into the sea, into a world eerily familiar to mid-20th century America was one of the most blindingly original, involving experiences I ever had with a controller. My main problem with Bioshock 2 is that this feeling of originality never returns. Despite what the designers do, this new main villain Sofia Lamb just doesn’t strike the same terror at Andrew Ryan did and fighting splicers and other big daddies from the other perspective- that of a big daddy–just isn’t as exciting or new as i would expect. The game feels so much like more of the same, and for that I give it fun factor of 5, because it builds on a brilliant foundation, but overall i feel its lack of originality compared to the original earns it only 4.

   As an addendum– I can find no issue technically with the game- I think it’s running on the same Unreal engine as the first, and I believe that was pretty maxed out in the first one so there was likely not room for substantial improvements. The new plasmids aren’t really as cool as the ones in the original game either, as they seem more practical (maybe not a complaint, but being able to go vertical just isn’t as sweet as shooting bees at a guy). Graphics were good, sound was just as immersive as Bioshock 1, technically I really didn’t have any problems with the game. I stand by the 5 I give it for fun, but I can only really give it a 4 because it just doesn’t invoke that same sense of ingenuity I got in the first game.
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. impitbosshereonlevel2 says:

   June 11, 2010 at 4:25 am

   I was a bit apprehensive about getting this game – I knew for fact that I’d get it, since I loved the original so much, but I was worried that the absence of Ken Levine would be too obvious on its story. However, I kinda ignored the voice in the back of my head, and decided to get the game anyway. When the ‘more of the same’ reviews started coming in, I wasn’t disappointed; I loved the original game enough not to mind going through a very similar the game again (I played through Bioshock two or three times; each time finding something new in the game, or the story).

   The beginning of Bioshock 2 seemed promising. It’s certainly impossible to top the beginning of BS1 (the whole segment up to the exit from the bathysphere is classic), but there was a lot of promise in the presentation of the new antagonist of the game, including the shrines you find here and there, and the occasional communist drivel she spouts. Once you reach near the end, however, you begin to realize that there’s really not much of a twist in terms of a plot. The ending(s) is predictable, at best. In the grand scheme of things, Lamb is barely touched upon; enough to make you wonder why she was chosen as an antagonist. Many of the characters you meet in the game seem transient; the last conflict with Sinclair is almost laughable in its brevity and insignificance. In short, the story of Bioshock 2 doesn’t hold a candle to that of the first game.

   On to gameplay.

   The Big Sisters, which seemed to hold so much promise before the game’s release are nothing but another enemy – one almost impossible to beat without dying – at least early in the game on Medium and Hard. No real story is presented to explain their existence, short of a silly blurb about them being Little Sisters in a specialized suit.

   The underwater levels promised early on are nothing but brief stretches of linear path, and not deserving much mention.

   The Big Daddy drill is an interesting weapon in the new arsenal, but it lacks in two serious aspects: a) the drill dash is not available until later on in the game, and this move is often crucial for survival, and b) unlike the wrench, it requires “ammunition”, which is often scarce to come by, especially on higher difficulty levels. You are pretty much guaranteed to drain the drill’s ammo in any serious fight; therefore, you cannot depend on it in any medium- to large-scale fights.

   The variety of new weapons offered in the game is great, but you’ll soon learn that you really need the drill, the shotgun, and the rocket launcher. The rivet gun becomes useless almost from the beginning – even headshots hardly scathe the opponents.

   The music! One of the best parts of Bioshock is the music, as it sets the mood perfectly. In Bioshock 2, music is barely heard in five or six locations throughout the game. I have heard more old-timey music waiting for the game to load, than I have throughout the entire game; making me wonder why 2K even bothered licensing the songs.

   That said, the game does make some good gameplay changes, including the spear gun, which is a fun weapon reminiscent of the one in Half-Life 2. Hacking is better, if not much more realistic, as now you need to hack as you play. While the underwater moments are all-too-brief, there are a few scenes which are beautiful and deserving a lot more attention, than that given. Another excellent addition was the view of the world through the eyes of a Little Sister – if you ever wondered why they refer to the splicers as ‘angels’, this part in the game makes the reason all-too clear.

   All said, I’m far more disappointed by the lack of a solid story in this game, than I am by the elements of gameplay. Living up to the original is not an easy task, and while I didn’t expect the same level of innovation from this one, what I did get, I expected – a sequel that desperately cried out for the attention of the author of the original.
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. SteelBlueRage says:

   June 11, 2010 at 6:15 am

   Introduction:
   
   Ah, Rapture. Something about this place allows me to immerse myself in it’s sudden downfall and world like few other games can. I’m not sure what it is. All I know is that I care, and I care A LOT. I REALLY like the 1950′s retro look of Rapture, the views you get to see of the outside underwater city as you’re meandering through it’s many see through corridors, and the many audio diaries you pick up chronicling the steady decline and madness of Rapture’s many inhabitants and founder.

   Just a fun fact for all the book readers out there in the world, Andrew Ryan’s (the founder of Rapture) beliefs are VERY similar (if not exact) to real world author Ayn Rand, Particularly in Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged” “Andrew Ryan” is an anagram of Ayn Rand’s name with the letters “REW” added in. This attention to detail on the BioShock creators behalf is that little extra “wow” factor to me.

   With that being said, I HAVE to HIGHLY suggest/advise/recommend to everyone out there who hasn’t played the first BioShock (And completed it) that you play that one first. There are WAY too many references in audio diaries to things that happened in the first game, It would be VERY easy for anyone who didn’t play and complete the first BS to be quite lost. Rapture’s story, and history are far too detailed and in depth to just pick up and play this installment. Though you COULD if you really wanted to, I wouldn’t recommend it, just play the first game or at least go to [...] and brush up on the history of Rapture and the events that take place in the first game if you don’t want to spend the time playing the first one and just want to play BS2.

   Review:
   
   *DISCLAIMER* This review will probably be long, sorry, I try to write long, fairly in depth reviews. Something besides “OMG, I PWN SPLICERS AND LUV DIS GAME! GET IT!” Though, reviews like that are pretty amusing, it’s just not my style.

   Assuming you played the first BS, once you start playing BS 2 it will IMEDIATELY feel familiar to you…almost too familiar. This installment was actually done by 2K Marin this time, Not original developer 2K Australia (also known as Irrational Games) 2K Marin does a great job handling the Rapture Vibe, but in making sure they stayed true to what people loved about BS and Rapture they played it safe…almost too safe. This game is more of the same gameplay and BS1 vibe, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Though there are still many new things implemented in this Bioshock. New story, and new main Character, new bad guy (in this case bad girl) Some plasmids in the first game are now “Gene Tonics” and instead of 3 seperate Gene Tonic tracks (Physical, Combat, Engineering) there’s just a crap load more overall, and general, slots to purchase. You can now wield your plasmids and firearms simultaneously, which is pretty sweet and will certainly come in handy. Get good enough in your combat technique and as your right hand is reloading you can still blast a splicer, big daddy, or big sister, repeatedly with a plasmid.

   In this BioShock, you play as “Subject Delta” (or many times referred to as just “Delta” for short) The FIRST Big Daddy to successfully be Psychologically bonded to a Little Sister. Without giving too much of the story away, you’re screwed over by the main Antagonist (shocker) and lose your Little Sister. You awaken at a nearby Vita-Chamber for an unknown reason, and due to your bond with your Little Sister feel compelled to find her, for many reasons, but mostly because if you’re seperated from her for too long you’ll slip into a coma like state and probably die. So begins the journey of our Big Daddy, Delta. The one and only, original, Daddy.

   Though the world of Rapture looks and feels familiar, you’ll probably notice that Rapture has deteriorated and aged drastically since the first BS. In the first BS it had only been a year since the civil war and downfall of Mr. Ryan’s Utopian Dream, so though the place was pretty screwed up anyway, there were still many neon signs lit and many of the buildings looked pretty fresh still. Well, in this game it’s been 10 years since the first BS ended, so naturally, war, splicers, and all the crazy crap that goes on in Rapture, has ravaged the overall look and structure of Rapture.

   In this game you still have to fight big daddies, but unlike in the first BS, these guys are the least of your troubles (though they still pack a wallop). Apparently, The new psychopath that runs Rapture, Dr. Sofia Lamb, thought of the PHENOMENAL idea to implement her own form of a Little Sister protector. A Big Sister. Think of a Spider Splicer on crack and steroids, and the ability to wield random Plasmids (Mostly Incinerate and Telekinesis) give them armor and Agility that surpasses a Spider Splicers by leaps and bounds and you have our new friendly neighborhood Little Sister Protector. Anytime you defeat a Big Daddy to adopt (or harvest) his little sister there’s a chance a Big Sister will make an appearance but it seems to be once a level towards the end of that chapter. As I hinted at just now, You can defeat a Big Daddy and adopt his sister, as a big daddy the little sister will imediately take a liking to you (or be terrified of you, depending on if you’ve harvested any of the other sisters up until that point) as soon as you pick her up.

   If you adopt her, she will sniff out corpses to gather ADAM from (A necessary substance derived from a sea slug to enhance your abilities) HOWEVER, The sound of her gathering from a corpse will attract every splicer and their mother to where you and your sister are and you have to fend them off while she gathers. So MAKE SURE you’ve set down various traps around the area you’re gathering from BEFORE YOU SET HER DOWN ON THE CORPSE. You can use Proximity Mines, Trap Rivets, the Cyclone Trap Plasmid and Trap spears from your Spear Gun (If you have the ammo) in various doorways, around the imediate area your little sis is gathering from, stairways and whatever other place that may be an entry way for the splicers to ruin your fun night out of gathering corpses with your little sis (The nerve of them!) You have to do 2 gathers back to back, so you must gather from two seperate corpses (Which your Lil Sis will kindly lead you to) Once she’s done you can pick her back up or harvest her right there. If you pick her back up after her 2 gathers she’ll lead you to the nearest vent where you’re once again offered the option to rescue her or harvest her. If you wanna be the good guy, You cannot rescue her without taking her to a vent first, But you can harvest her whenever you want.

   The graphics are nice, and the ragdoll physics lead to pretty amusing death animations. You’re offered a robust selection of weapons and alternate ammos, Thankfully if you need to change ammos during a fierce fire fight, your character doesn’t go through the “One sec dude, I gotta like change the ammo for you to VISUALLY see, look at my awesome ammo replacing skills!” Animation like Jack did EVERYTIME you changed ammo types on the fly in the first BS. (Was that annoying or what??) instead Delta will just give a neat little downward motion with his right hand, almost like he’s cocking the other ammo into place. You can Melee attack with any weapon now, thank goodness. And you also have that infamous drill to smack and drill splicers with, The only downside to this is that the freakin drill is powered by “Fuel” and the fuel burns ridiculously fast, even with the upgrade that makes it burn fuel slower. This was a damn shame to me, as my drill and shotgun were like my personal money makers. I absolutely LOVED using the drill.

   Throughout the game you’ll end up getting your tin @$$ kicked quite a bit, even on normal, leaving you to wonder if you actually ARE a big daddy or not, through the better part of the game, you won’t truly FEEL like a badass big daddy….That comes during the last chapters (Like the last 2 chapters) The Big Sister dwarfs your Daddy’s skills in so many ways that a lot of times your left wondering “Really? I feel like a fairy…I’m a BIG FREAKIN DADDY!” But if you tough it out till the later chapters in the game (Like I know you will) You’ll hit that point where you’re like “Yeah! That’s WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT! BRING IT! I AM A BIG DADDY!! NOT JUST A BIG DADDY, BUT THE ORIGINAL BIG DADDY!!!” Though I wish you truly felt like you should while playing as a Big Daddy for an entire BioShock game, that’s to say, like a BEAST! Fairly early on though, you get the drill dash ability, and I tell you what….That’s really the first time you start to KINDA feel like a Big Daddy.

   Hacking can be done remotely now with a “Hack Tool” your big daddy has on his wrist. It acts like a firearm for hacking, you can zoom in and zap cameras, turrets, etc etc from a distance. The hacking mini game in this game is MUCH better than the hacking in BS1, but the game DOES NOT pause so make sure you’re somewhere safe or behind cover if engaged with splicers. The hacking mini-game in the first BS was annoying, and took too long, In my opinion anyway. So I much prefer this hacking style. But a Big Daddy with a hack tool on his wrist seems a tad out of place, and a tad out of character, it’s a minor inconsistency, and oversight that can be easily ignored.

   Multiplayer:
   
   6/10
   
   There’s an online Multi-Player now….I can tell they made an effort to make a solid, in depth, MP but laggy servers and buggy gameplay hinder what could have been a pretty phenomenal MultiPlayer, it’s worth playing a few rounds though, assuming you can find people on to play it to begin with.

   Final thoughts:
   
   Overall, this game is VERY well done, the voice acting is phenomenal and the twist in this games story will let you see a side of Rapture you thought you’d NEVER see. I care more about Delta than I did Jack in the first BS (As a Character) There’s more room to slide into a type of play style for your character.

   I played Delta as more of a “Knight in rusty armor” type character, using my drill a lot (like a Knight’s sword) using the Electro Bolt plasmid primarily, and my shotgun. Protecting, and saving everyone I could, and loyally fulfilling my Big Daddy Oath, and own personal Code of Honor (like not killing anyone unarmed “bad” or not), and Searching endlessly for my lost little sister. BioShock 2 allowed me to see the Big Daddies as something other than mindless protectors and obedient dogs that followed their Sisters around. I was able to immerse myself in the world of Rapture and Delta’s role, I was able to see things from a thinking man big daddy’s point of view, and that was enough for me to fiercely protect all the little sisters in Rapture and rescue them. If you allow yourself to take in ALL that Rapture has to offer and allow yourself as a gamer to fully immerse yourself in this title, I guarantee that you will see it, and enjoy it, just as I did…

   So, Would you kindly?

   ^_^

   -Brian-
   Rating: 4 / 5
4. Adam Ruining says:

   June 11, 2010 at 6:47 am

   “Bioshock 2″ is an examination of Ayn Rand’s Objectivist ideals taken to a logical extreme as well as a thoughtful consideration of the nature of parenthood. The primary mechanism driving these ruminations is a blunt drill you apply to the skull of crazy Art Deco mutants and the ability to eat little girls.
   Rating: 4 / 5
5. joe bitterman says:

   June 11, 2010 at 8:26 am

   Unlike the first, this game will not remain in your memory for long. It feels more like a prelude to another, not an end in itself. And instead of being unique in its gameplay it steals from other games. For example, the voice of a loved one interrupts the game – as seen in Dead Space and countless other games. It also steals from itself, as basically the entire game is fighting Big Daddy’s and splicers, again.

   The main antagonist is also watered down. She starts out with a bang but quickly becomes just a nuisance. I found myself wanting more snippets of Andrew Ryan along the course or hearing again from the woman who was an actress/singer, versus hearing from the main foe, Dr Lamb.

   The game also provides way too many opportunities for help through the “Hypnotize” plasma, which is ridiculously overpowered, and with too much ammo, money, and health (on average difficulty) there is little need for strategy.

   Stepping away from the complaints for a second, the world is again, beautiful. But stepping right back, the underwater section is pointless. There is little chance for exploration and no enemies. It is completely underdeveloped and is a waste. And unlike the first, I don’t recall a single unique section of Rapture in Bioshock 2.

   So, doing the math, Bioshock 2 is a vanilla cookie. It’s there, but if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t care. The story in this attempt is fine. The enemies are fine, though there are no real “bosses” again and the majority of the game is finding a little sister and protecting her (which gets very boring and was stolen from the first as well). The new recurring foe, “The Big Sister” has a frightening shriek, but when you figure out she’s just a quicker Big Daddy, you don’t care anymore. And the end? It just ended, which is especially frustrating, given how poor the finish of Bioshock was.

   Bottom line, if you played the first you will likely play the second, regardless of the review. I just hope that you rent it through a free gamefly trial instead of spending money on it.

   Rating: 3 / 5