Hello everyone, seeing as how Bioshock Infinite was released last week I felt it necessary to review the previous 2 Bioshock games.
I gave Bioshock 1 a 9 out of 10 and many people across the board has either liked or disliked Bioshock 2. What does the game offer you as a Bioshock fan and as a gamer in general?
Story
Ten years after the events of the original Bioshock you find yourself back in Rapture, but in the helmet of one of the most iconic enemies in gaming, the Big Daddy.
However, this Big Daddy is no ordinary Big Daddy. This Big Daddy is one of the original Big Daddies made during the early years of Rapture, Subject Delta is part of the "Protector Program" a program that would bond a Big Daddy to a particular Little Sister.
Subject Delta was killed in front of his Little Sister Elanor Lamb, the daughter of a huge political figure in Rapture, Sofia Lamb. Ten years later Subject Delta is somehow alive and wakes up in Rapture. Delta sees these images of a girl saying "Father" and notes from this same girl.
Delta is led by Tennenbaum who says that someone is kidnapping girls from all over the globe and taking them to Rapture to turn them into Little Sisters. The nightmare of Rapture is not over and Delta is caught in the middle of it.
The story as a whole is more emotional with more twists and turns than the original but lacks that big twist at the end that the original did. However it does advance the origins of the Big Daddies and the "Protector Program" that Bioshock fans learned about in the original Bioshock. It's interesting to say the least but a story as good as the original it is not.
Presentation
Bioshock 2 looks just as good as the original with a few touch ups here and there, however atmospherically it's same-old same-old.
The game looks great but the atmosphere is not as awe inspiring as the original, you do explore new areas of Rapture that are interesting but you'll feel like you were just here a moment ago. Rapture is simply more decayed and flooded with the ruble of the civil war and water alike.
However when you see the reveal of Rapture again in the early stages of the game, it is still a moment that will bring you that haunting thought
Gameplay
I do have to give the developers credit though, they did not do anything to really hurt the way we played the original BIoshock, in fact they expanded it or smoothed out the edges.
You still do collect Med-Kits and Eve-Hypos, Audio Diaries, ammo, ADAM, Plasmids, Tonics and hack vending machines as well as the network of Rapture security, but the way you collect some of these key items are different and really make the players feel as if they are actually as strong as a Big Daddy.
Combat wise you can now wield both your weapon and a plasmid, combing weapon and plasmid combinations that result in some crazy and epic battles against the Splicers and other new and powerful enemies you will come across in the game.
Aiming down the sights of your gun is much more comfortable and smooth with sights that are clean and give the player an actual sense of accuracy, in the original the problem I had with aiming down the sights and hip-firing was that I felt like I was missing a majority of my shots and was only winning due to....well no better way to say it "Spray and Pray" however in Bioshock 2 it is improved and when you aim down the sights you will feel accurate and when the Splicers are being hit hard by your weapons it will feel well deserved as is very fun when you're using the iconic Drill and Rivet Gun of the Big Daddy.
ADAM collecting is similar to the first Bioshock as you still can Harvest or Rescue the Little Sister but different from the original if you defeat a Big Daddy to get to the Little Sister you can choose to Adopt or Harvest the Little Sister.
Adopting the Little Sister will allow you to find a corpse in the area with Adam, the Little Sister will even help you find these corpses or "Angels" this results in a tiny defense section where you defend the Little Sister from the Splicers. What adds to the experience is the choices and combinations you have to create traps to stop the Splicers from coming close to your Little Sister.
The special ammo and Plasmids in the game can be used for offense and defense, the different special ammo types and Plasmids to be used for defense are varied, I had a lot of fun creating layers upon layers and layers of traps. Proximity Mines, Trap Rivets, Trap Spears, Sentry-bots and Whirlwind traps charged with Incinerate or Electro-Bolt to not only whoosh the Splicers away but to send them away ablaze.
Hacking however is changed, you no longer have to hack by changing the pipe pieces to change the flow. You can either hack by coming up close to the machine or using the new Remote Hack Tool which fires Hack and Auto-Hack darts, you can fire these hack-darts to hack vending machines, cameras, turrets and security bots from a range without exposing yourself to other defense measures or the enemy, you use a a small screen below where you need to time pressing the A(or X button for PS3 users) to hack the machine, you need time your button presses to hit the green areas of the screen or else you will turn on the alarm or short circuit the machine.
Multiplayer
Unfortunately this where I think Bioshock 2 falls flat, the multiplayer to it's credit does have a story. The multiplayer is supposedly set at the time of the Civil War and takes place before Jack's arrival.
The multiplayer has poor hit detection, extreme moments of lag and very long search times to get into one match.
While some do like the multiplayer I do not prefer it,with a game like Bioshock it's one of those games that do not need a competitive multiplayer, a cooperative multiplayer would have a nice addition but a competitive multiplayer to me is not needed to make a good Bioshock game(just look at Infinite)
The Verdict
Bioshock 2 does do justice to the original Bioshock but has a tacked on multiplayer, an atmosphere that is not as interesting as the original but still looks great.
The combat is touched up and more epic while allowing players to be very creative with how they approach the combat and defending your Little Sister.
It's a game that Bioshock fans should pick up to complete the current Bioshock series and to gamers in general, starting with the original Bioshock will make you interesting in playing the original Bioshock to discover why the first Bioshock is the highest rated FPS game made and why Bioshock Infinite was such a hyped game.
Bioshock 2 gets a well deserved 8/10
I gave Bioshock 1 a 9 out of 10 and many people across the board has either liked or disliked Bioshock 2. What does the game offer you as a Bioshock fan and as a gamer in general?
Story
However, this Big Daddy is no ordinary Big Daddy. This Big Daddy is one of the original Big Daddies made during the early years of Rapture, Subject Delta is part of the "Protector Program" a program that would bond a Big Daddy to a particular Little Sister.
Subject Delta was killed in front of his Little Sister Elanor Lamb, the daughter of a huge political figure in Rapture, Sofia Lamb. Ten years later Subject Delta is somehow alive and wakes up in Rapture. Delta sees these images of a girl saying "Father" and notes from this same girl.
Delta is led by Tennenbaum who says that someone is kidnapping girls from all over the globe and taking them to Rapture to turn them into Little Sisters. The nightmare of Rapture is not over and Delta is caught in the middle of it.
The story as a whole is more emotional with more twists and turns than the original but lacks that big twist at the end that the original did. However it does advance the origins of the Big Daddies and the "Protector Program" that Bioshock fans learned about in the original Bioshock. It's interesting to say the least but a story as good as the original it is not.
Presentation
The game looks great but the atmosphere is not as awe inspiring as the original, you do explore new areas of Rapture that are interesting but you'll feel like you were just here a moment ago. Rapture is simply more decayed and flooded with the ruble of the civil war and water alike.
However when you see the reveal of Rapture again in the early stages of the game, it is still a moment that will bring you that haunting thought
 |
| Welcome to Rapture |
Gameplay
You still do collect Med-Kits and Eve-Hypos, Audio Diaries, ammo, ADAM, Plasmids, Tonics and hack vending machines as well as the network of Rapture security, but the way you collect some of these key items are different and really make the players feel as if they are actually as strong as a Big Daddy.
Combat wise you can now wield both your weapon and a plasmid, combing weapon and plasmid combinations that result in some crazy and epic battles against the Splicers and other new and powerful enemies you will come across in the game.
Aiming down the sights of your gun is much more comfortable and smooth with sights that are clean and give the player an actual sense of accuracy, in the original the problem I had with aiming down the sights and hip-firing was that I felt like I was missing a majority of my shots and was only winning due to....well no better way to say it "Spray and Pray" however in Bioshock 2 it is improved and when you aim down the sights you will feel accurate and when the Splicers are being hit hard by your weapons it will feel well deserved as is very fun when you're using the iconic Drill and Rivet Gun of the Big Daddy.
ADAM collecting is similar to the first Bioshock as you still can Harvest or Rescue the Little Sister but different from the original if you defeat a Big Daddy to get to the Little Sister you can choose to Adopt or Harvest the Little Sister.
Adopting the Little Sister will allow you to find a corpse in the area with Adam, the Little Sister will even help you find these corpses or "Angels" this results in a tiny defense section where you defend the Little Sister from the Splicers. What adds to the experience is the choices and combinations you have to create traps to stop the Splicers from coming close to your Little Sister.
The special ammo and Plasmids in the game can be used for offense and defense, the different special ammo types and Plasmids to be used for defense are varied, I had a lot of fun creating layers upon layers and layers of traps. Proximity Mines, Trap Rivets, Trap Spears, Sentry-bots and Whirlwind traps charged with Incinerate or Electro-Bolt to not only whoosh the Splicers away but to send them away ablaze.
Hacking however is changed, you no longer have to hack by changing the pipe pieces to change the flow. You can either hack by coming up close to the machine or using the new Remote Hack Tool which fires Hack and Auto-Hack darts, you can fire these hack-darts to hack vending machines, cameras, turrets and security bots from a range without exposing yourself to other defense measures or the enemy, you use a a small screen below where you need to time pressing the A(or X button for PS3 users) to hack the machine, you need time your button presses to hit the green areas of the screen or else you will turn on the alarm or short circuit the machine.
Multiplayer
Unfortunately this where I think Bioshock 2 falls flat, the multiplayer to it's credit does have a story. The multiplayer is supposedly set at the time of the Civil War and takes place before Jack's arrival.
The multiplayer has poor hit detection, extreme moments of lag and very long search times to get into one match.
While some do like the multiplayer I do not prefer it,with a game like Bioshock it's one of those games that do not need a competitive multiplayer, a cooperative multiplayer would have a nice addition but a competitive multiplayer to me is not needed to make a good Bioshock game(just look at Infinite)
The Verdict
The combat is touched up and more epic while allowing players to be very creative with how they approach the combat and defending your Little Sister.
It's a game that Bioshock fans should pick up to complete the current Bioshock series and to gamers in general, starting with the original Bioshock will make you interesting in playing the original Bioshock to discover why the first Bioshock is the highest rated FPS game made and why Bioshock Infinite was such a hyped game.
Bioshock 2 gets a well deserved 8/10
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