2 Review Of Bioshock

In 2007, BioShock was released for the Xbox 360 with wildly
unexpected levels of success. No one expected the game to be as
phenomenal as it was and it earned over 50 Game of the year
awards from various website and magazines. The strange thing is,
no one really expected a sequel. This worried fans, and the fact
that Ken Levine (the original creator of BioShock) had nothing
to do with BioShock 2, didn't help allay fears. Bioshock 2 is
finally here, and everyone is eager to know if it lives up to
its legendary predecessor.The story takes place in 1968, eight years after the first game,
and as you can imagine, things haven't exactly improved in the
so-called Utopia. Doctor Sophia Lamb, a Rapture psychiatrist,
deeply believes in unifying the remaining citizens of the city,
calling them "The Rapture Family". Dr. Lamb is sending out Big
Sisters to kidnap little girls from the surface and bring them
back to rapture so the ADAM fueled gears of the city don't stop
turning. You play as Delta, the first prototype big daddy, who
has got some pretty legitimate beef with Dr. Lamb. Lamb robs you
of your little sister, Eleanor, but also (without going into
spoiler territory) forces you to make a pretty painful choice.
Shortly after waking up from the "Lamb incident" you get a
message from Eleanor, who isn't so little anymore, telling you
that she desperately needs you to find her. Your mission is
pretty clear after that: find Eleanor and find out what the hell
happened while you where KO. Thankfully, some of the sane
citizens, like Dr. Tenenbaum, and the selfish Augustus Sinclair
(the creator of Sinclair Solutions), are willing to help you.
You also get to meet entirely new faces, like the acclaimed
Rapture jazz singer, Grace Holloway. What's unfortunate, though,
is that Delta's interaction with each character in the game is
somewhat repetitious (it almost seems the same for everyone you
encounter). The characters are more like chess pieces that,
depending on how you've manipulated them, change the end
cut-scene of the game. To add to the impressive storyline, audio
diaries also make a return with the same quality of work put
into them as in the first one. The story can get a bit confusing
at times, but it's exceptionally well written, and as more
secrets get revealed to the player, he or she will sink deeper
and deeper into the plot and characters. Nevertheless, players
might find it difficult to get really interested in the main
character until close to the end of the game. Delta is simply a
bit of a dull figure. Not much is known about him, and this is
probably the way you'll feel until certain specifics are
revealed in the last few hours of the game-which then skyrockets
the interest in him! The game starves the player of almost any
information in the first 75 percent of playing-time, and then
most of the important information hits the player at once. This
effect can be extremely overwhelming. I can almost guarantee
that you're going to put your controller down several times in
the last few hours of the game to mentally unravel the massive
amounts of information thrown at you.Just like the original, Bioshock 2 is a first person shooter
with certain RPG elements, but you will definitely be dishing
out more lead than words so don't worry. This time around the
guns feel much more like real guns, unlike in the original. Ammo
is found more frequently than before lying around the halls of
Rapture and in vending machines, and pumping a splicer full of
bullets never gets old! The combat give the player sufficient
amounts of ammo to enjoy the specific qualities of each gun, but
also forces you to strategically apply the plasmids to each
unique combat situation. Weapons range from the Gatling gun to
the rivet gun, and the ever so badass drill. Each weapon has 3
different ammo types, each best used for different situations.
In addition, the hack tool has been modified to better allow
players to gain control over turrets, sentry guns, and other
strategic points in a matter of seconds without dragging the
player out of the action. Unfortunately, there are no actual new
plasmids. Instead, there are new ways to use them. Each new
level that you upgrade gives the plasmid a new, more powerful
attack.Don't start the game with the mindset that you're a walking tank
now that you're in the boots of a big daddy, splicers are more
aggressive and challenging than ever, frequently attacking in
groups. They use weapons, take cover, get in your face, and are
extremely agile. While taking on a splicer or two isn't a
problem, they usually attack in hordes of six or seven. The new
class of splicer, the brute, is disappointingly similar to the
bouncer big daddy. He will charge you with his shoulder just
like the bouncer; in addition he will launch debris at your
face. There is also a new type of big daddy, the rumbler, who is
all about long distance shots with his rocket launcher and
manipulation of the environment by throwing out sentry turrets,
which should be dealt before you find yourself in a
vita-chamber. When you manage to kill off one of the little
sisters guardians you can choose to adopt, or harvest her.
Adopting a little sister allows you to replace her former dead
protector, allow you to look around for corpses orange ls for
the sister to gather ADAM from. The sight of a little sister
gathering ADAM is a magnet for splicers. If you survive the
onslaught, you pick up your sister and move on to the next body
or bring her back to one of the many vents around the world.
This gives you the decision to harvest her, which is considered
evil, but will give you more ADAM to purchase more plasmids and
upgrades, or save her, which will give you less ADAM, but make
you a more humane character. If you continually take little
sisters away, Lamb will send a big sister after you, whom, I
must say, is nearly impossible to defeat without making a few
trips to the Vita-chamber (to be reborn) unless you have a
colossal amount of money to buy health packs and EVE hypos with. Rapture is falling apart, and you'll notice it, but now that
you&'re a big daddy, leaving the city and entering the vast sea
is not a problem. Not much can be said about these underwater
sections, they are more scenic than anything else and some of
the views of Rapture are simply awe inspiring. There is no
combat, however you will occasionally find a lonely soul
floating around whom you can loot, or a hidden ADAM slug which
will award you with a minimal amount of the drug. Bioshock 2
will last you around 10-12 hours long on normal, tacking on
around another 5 hours on hard. BioShock's Rapture is one of the most original, and gorgeous
settings in gaming. The game runs on the Unreal 3 Engine, and
the city is seeping with some of the best art design in gaming
history. It doesn't give you quite the same effect you got in
the first game; however, one factor you can't forget, though, is
that in the first game Rapture was filled with mystery. It was
this unknown, sub-aquatic utopia ripe for exploration. It would
be wrong to say that the guys at 2K Marin did a poor job, quite
the opposite. Few games can hold a candle to the rich and
detailed atmosphere in the game. Of course Bioshock 2 is filled
with new and diverse environments, but, most players have
already been acquainted with this bizarre setting while playing
BioShock. That's not to say that the BioShock 2 is bland in any
way, shape or form. The new environments, ranging from Ryan
Amusements, Andrew Ryan's self-promoting amusement park, to
Siren Alley, the Rapture Red Light District, assure a more
abundant look at Rapture this time around. Fine pointspecifics
like cracked walls with water gushing out of them, a corpse
surrounded with empty bottles of vodka, or flooded rooms with
paintings, empty EVE hypos or semi-functioning vending machine
floating in them, really bring Rapture to life. The same can be
said about the game's audio quality: whether eavesdropping on a
twisted conversation a splicer is having with himself or hearing
the heavy boots of a big daddy hitting the floor while giving a
disturbing battle cry, it adds an eerie touch. These engrossing
and atmospheric scenarios give the player, when the amazing
detail in Rapture really stands out, a lifelike world to
interact with. When I got my copy of BioShock 2, I really didn't know what to
expect. I wound up getting an excellent game with an emotional
and moving storyline, fun, action-packed gameplay, and some of
the best atmosphere and level design you can wish for in a
video-game. Of course, the game isn't perfect, but with
everything BioShock 2 accomplishes, it's pretty easy to overlook
the minor issues. It's rare that developers put this much work
and care into a videogame and 2K Marin did nothing less than
strive for excellence. I am happy to say that they most
definitely achieved it. Give BioShock 2 a shot, whether you
liked the original or not.