Bioshock 2 is of course the sequel to Bioshock, the game that received 2007 Game of the Year awards from most major gaming review associations, and the game that many believe to be the first true example of video game design as art form.
To qualify: Bioshock was, and is, my favorite video game of all time. The art deco dystopia, the vivid depictions of madness, and downright creepy elements thrown in just for flavor (like walking to the back of a vacant room and turning around to find the room filled with white-painted enemies standing stock-still).
Bioshock 2 returns you to the meritocratic utopia of Rapture, Andrew Ryan’s subaquatic paradise in the North Atlantic. Bioshock 2 takes place 8 years after Bioshock, setting it 9 years after the fall of Rapture.
I won’t rehash the game or its predecessor, suffice it to say that most of the familiar, and memorable features of the game and the setting have been retained. All of the maps are new, with no obvious rehashes of Bioshock level designs.
Some gameplay items have changed, such as simplifying the hacking mini-game and eliminating the U-Invent stations. The research camera has also been improved, allowing you to film yourself dispatching an enemy, and awarding grades for creativity. Most notably, however, is the ability to wield a plasmid and a weapon simultaneously.
The most notable difference is the main character. In Bioshock 2, you play Subject Delta, the first Big Daddy. Subject Delta’s Little Sister was taken during the prologue, before the fall of Rapture, and he re-awakens ten years later to recover her.
Through the audio diaries collected throughout the game, you learn more about the development of Little Sister and Big Daddies, the origins of Subject Delta, the fall of Rapture, and the background of the game’s principle antagonist, Dr. Sofia Lamb.
Dr. Lamb, a psychiatrist imported by Andrew Ryan during Rapture’s final days, has set herself up as the messiah of the splicers. Dr. Lamb is an interesting examination of how extreme anarchist communism and imposed morality might shape the development of Super Science, and she serves as an interesting counter-point to Andrew Ryan’s lassaiz-faire capitalism.
Overall, Bioshock 2 is spectacular, but it is a sequel, and as such, can never match the newness of the original. When I played Bioshock, I kept thinking to myself, I love this game, everything about this is awesome. With 2, I expected awesome, and while I wasn’t disappointed, neither was I surprised. The innovative elements are nice (especially the Little Sister level), and the retained elements are still good, but they aren’t new anymore.
I give Bioshock 2 18 out of 20, a threat with certain weapons, but usually just a really good hit.
To qualify: Bioshock was, and is, my favorite video game of all time. The art deco dystopia, the vivid depictions of madness, and downright creepy elements thrown in just for flavor (like walking to the back of a vacant room and turning around to find the room filled with white-painted enemies standing stock-still).
Bioshock 2 returns you to the meritocratic utopia of Rapture, Andrew Ryan’s subaquatic paradise in the North Atlantic. Bioshock 2 takes place 8 years after Bioshock, setting it 9 years after the fall of Rapture.
I won’t rehash the game or its predecessor, suffice it to say that most of the familiar, and memorable features of the game and the setting have been retained. All of the maps are new, with no obvious rehashes of Bioshock level designs.
Some gameplay items have changed, such as simplifying the hacking mini-game and eliminating the U-Invent stations. The research camera has also been improved, allowing you to film yourself dispatching an enemy, and awarding grades for creativity. Most notably, however, is the ability to wield a plasmid and a weapon simultaneously.
The most notable difference is the main character. In Bioshock 2, you play Subject Delta, the first Big Daddy. Subject Delta’s Little Sister was taken during the prologue, before the fall of Rapture, and he re-awakens ten years later to recover her.
Through the audio diaries collected throughout the game, you learn more about the development of Little Sister and Big Daddies, the origins of Subject Delta, the fall of Rapture, and the background of the game’s principle antagonist, Dr. Sofia Lamb.
Dr. Lamb, a psychiatrist imported by Andrew Ryan during Rapture’s final days, has set herself up as the messiah of the splicers. Dr. Lamb is an interesting examination of how extreme anarchist communism and imposed morality might shape the development of Super Science, and she serves as an interesting counter-point to Andrew Ryan’s lassaiz-faire capitalism.
Overall, Bioshock 2 is spectacular, but it is a sequel, and as such, can never match the newness of the original. When I played Bioshock, I kept thinking to myself, I love this game, everything about this is awesome. With 2, I expected awesome, and while I wasn’t disappointed, neither was I surprised. The innovative elements are nice (especially the Little Sister level), and the retained elements are still good, but they aren’t new anymore.
I give Bioshock 2 18 out of 20, a threat with certain weapons, but usually just a really good hit.