The first Bioshock really sucked me in. The world of Rapture was like nothing I had experience before and I couldn't help but walk around the world and just soak in the architecture. Returning to Rapture was both very exciting and very scary. Sequels are very hit and miss in my opinion, and more of the same tends to bore me quickly.
The beginning of the game did not suck me in like the first Bioshock. Instead, I had the feeling of "more of the same." The improvements to the game primarily new weapons, tweaked graphics and a new story from a new point of view. I enjoy the lore of Bioshock, but it took about a good four to five hours for me too get hooked into Bioshock. The beginning of the game is pretty simple, straight forward shooter, and if you have played Bioshock before you know how it all works. The tries to change things up with two new enemies that I enjoyed, the female Big Sister and the larger charger which separates himself from your run-of-the-mill splicer by having a much larger body mass.
The graphics, like I stated, were "tweaked." I use this term because Rapture looks pretty much the same as the last time. More detail has been put into Rapture and the environments stay pretty varied. The overall look has been improved, but its also not a large jump.
The soundtrack was one of my favorite parts of the game. The old time music plays throughout your travels, which fits the time-period for the setting. 2K Marin used the music really well during the major battles of the game, making you really feel the music during these tense moments.
The story was interesting and they managed to avoid the terrible ending from the first game. Toward the end of the game there were a few moments that shocked me. I wished these plot twists were included in the earlier parts of the game as that would have hooked me earlier. The story is very loose at the beginning after you get over the fact that your are a Big Daddy, which plays much like not being a Big Dad besides the drill.
I really enjoyed Bioshock 2. I would describe it more like an expansion pack versus a full on sequel. The game took about 12 hours to beat and not much differed from the original. The story was engaging toward the end, the music was superb and I still can not get enough of the world of Rapture. I hope in a few years down the road we can visit Rapture again with some significant changes.