Bioshock 2 is a first person shooter developed by 2k Marin and published by 2k games. The game follows on 10 years after the original. You play as one of the original big daddies. The original game was released in August 2007 for the Xbox 360 and was a sleeper hit.
My First impression of the game were great, it felt allot better than the original to play.... the dual wielding of a plasmid and a weapon seemed the perfect way to go and it made me wonder why 2k never used it for the original.
The game uses the unreal graphics engine, I played the game on the 360 and it looks great slight improvements are made from the original. It’s unbelievable how amazing the water effects are which is crucial for a game set under the sea. You are just taken back when you look out of a window and see a skyscraper and then a few seconds later watch a shark slowly swim past. The art deco style also looks very interesting and makes you really feel like you are in a world that broke down in the fifties. The game is one of the best graphically I have seen on the 360 to date.
The reason Bioshock was one of the greatest games of this generation was because of its story. The story was one of the best in video games to date. But the problem was that the story was so good it made you feel like a second game wasn’t exactly needed. Anyway Bioshock 2 starts with you as project Delta, one of the original Big Daddies being forced to shoot yourself by this games new enemy. Sofia Lamb. With Andrew Ryan dead it leaves room for someone new to run Rapture that someone is Sofia. Ten Years have passed since Ryan’s death and many little sisters have matured to adolescence becoming Big Sisters. Big Sisters use the Adam they collected as children to use the worlds many plasmids. The Big Sisters are there to stop who ever may try to get rid of all of the new generation of little sisters in rapture. They are pretty much Big Daddies but a hell of allot stronger and faster. After being forced to shoot yourself in the head by Lamb you wake up years later brought back to life by your little sister Eleanor. Eleanor is being locked away by Sofia so your aim in the game is to save Eleanor before the bond between you is broken resulting in your death. The story is again pushed forward by audio diaries you find lying around the world of Rapture. The story good but it just feels like an afterthought in the whole world of Rapture therefore you really aren’t pulled in and captivated as much as the first Game in the series.
Although I feel the story is not as good as the original I have to say that the Game plays a hell of allot better. The dual wield just feels more fluent than the original, in you had to keep swapping out between plasmids (abilities that are gained from taking Adam from little sisters) and weapons. Being a big daddy now means you have the suit which comes with its own big ass drill. The drill is now your melee weapon..... The drill doesn’t feel as powerful as the wrench from number 1. This does however make you use more of your other weapons more often. On the way through the game you will meet plenty of slicers. Splicers are citizens of Rapture who have taken adam and are now addicted to the substance only found in little sisters. Bioshock 2 has a new type of splicer that is more powerful than all the others from the originals. With the Splicers now causing a threat to the little sisters they are given protectors in the Big Daddies. Big Daddies are men in diving uniforms that follow the little sister around and protect them from anyone who may want to attack them. In the game you will need adam to progress to the bigger and better plasmids and you do this by either killing or saving the little sisters. Killing them gives you more adam upfront but saving them will get gifts from the saved sisters later. To get the little sisters and therefore the adam you will first have to kill her protector. Then have her follow you and lead you to dead Splicers. You will then have to protect her until she has taken blood from 2 dead splicers. As soon as she puts her syringe in the dead splicers body all of the alive splicers in the area will be alerted and you will have a major battle on your hands. But to help you, you can acquire traps you may set like a mini turret or darts that fly up from the ground when someone steps on them. When she has completed that you may then choose to save or kill her. This part of the game can be a little tedious because in the whole game you will have to do that around 20 times . When you have dealt with all of the little sisters in an area you will then be faced with the toughest opponent in the game. The Big Sister, this is the closest the game gets to a boss battle and these Big Sisters are quite tough. The game is allot more linear than the original and you are unable to go back to old parts of the game once you have completed your mission in that area so make sure you have got all of the sisters and audio diaries before you leave. I was surprised to see that Bioshock 2 came with multiplayer because that is one thing diehard fans never really asked for or wanted after the first game. However I have to say it is very fun to play and I can see me playing it allot more now I have completed the game. The Multiplayer is set before the original game during Raptures Civil War between Ryan and Sinclair, you play as a splicer during that war, you can use all of the weapons from this game and all of the games plasmids. Also every so often a Big Daddy suit will pop up on your map and if you are able to be the first to get to it you play as a big daddy for a short amount of time. The game modes are your typical fps modes with small Bioshock twists. There is also a level system much like Modern Warfare 2’s in place where you have to play longer and level up to unlock the better plasmids and weapons.
All in all I think this game is good and the multiplayer is a good addition but I don’t think it lives up to the original. Bioshock 1 will always be one of my favourite games and I see this as more of a spin off than a true sequel. If you love the first game I recommend this but if you want to see Rapture at its best and haven’t played Bioshock yet I recommend buying number one first as that is where the true Bioshock experience lies. 7/10. Thumbs up..... Just