Bioshock 2: Review

Hello again Mr. Bubbles. Did you miss me?

It was summer 2007 when we first plundered the depths into the mysterious, murky nightmare of a world that was Rapture; the city built underwater for the great minds of the 50’s.

It’s now been three years since we escaped and now Bioshock’s successor; Bioshock 2 has surfaced. But the question is, do we want to go back?

Bioshock was a masterpiece, successfully merging aspects of different genres together to form one cohesive game. It played like a first person shooter (FPS) but there was RPG elements thrown into the mix to add depth to the experience. This design choice paid off in spades and culminated in the game we all know and love.

Ten years have passed since the events of the first Bioshock and the city has far from regained its former glory. Since the death of the city’s creator; Andrew Ryan, Rapture has spiralled further into a moss covered, leaking, crumbling madhouse. One woman has stepped up to the plate to take over from Ryan and seized his death as an opportunity. This woman is Sophia Lamb and you will grow to hate her during the game. With a new person essentially controlling the city it’s clear as you play that this is not the same place you struggled through a few years ago. Andrew Ryan favoured the policy that it’s everyman for himself in Rapture and if he wants to become great and lead over everyone else he could do so. Lamb however takes a whole new approach allowing the game to explore how society works in greater depths. Lamb teaches the citizens of Rapture to become one, work as a team and mainly; be a family. This obviously results in greater difficulties for you, as the Splicers will now work together in large packs to take you down.

The biggest turning point for Bioshock 2 is that this time, you get to play as a Big Daddy himself. And not just any Big Daddy at that, you play as the first Big Daddy. This means that you have access to the ultra powerful drill that once upon a time caused you so much pain in the first Bioshock, you also wield the powerful rivet gun and lets not forget the plasmids.

The story of Bioshock 2 follows the Big Daddy also known as subject Delta’s struggle to find his original Little Sister. I’ll say no more than that as the game definitely gets more interesting later on.

It’s hard to not compare Bioshock 2 with it’s predecessor as the games are so alike and the first casted such a big shadow with it’s universal acclaim. If you enjoyed the gameplay from the first then you will love how Biochock 2 plays. Bioshock 2 refines certain elements from the first that were either lacking or non-existent. For example the player can now dual-wield plasmids and a weapon. This is a feature that’s been thrown out there quite a lot but you will be surprised at how much of a godsend it can be during the manic super powered fights that occur in the halls of Rapture.

The game plays largely the same with a couple of cutscenes and the rest of the story told through audio diaries and radio messages from various characters. The major feature this time as you now play as a Big Daddy is the ability to adopt the Little Sisters and carry them around with you as a vehicle for collecting ADAM; the substance that purchases you new powers and abilities. The player can put down the Little Sister next to a glowing body so she can collect the ADAM however, this will attract hordes of Splicers determined to stop her and kill you so they can have the ADAM all to their greedy selves. This is where Bioshock 2 really shines as the multiple methods of playing the game truly come into play here. Do you hack a turret to protect yourself and the Little Sister? Do you lay traps such as fire cyclones around her? Do you electrify a nearby pool of water to stop any Splicers crossing? It’s all up to you. The amount of ways you can go around these sequences and most of the game really adds to the immersion and fun of it all and makes these parts truly fresh every time.

Obviously to gain access to the Little Sisters in the first place the player still needs to battle the guarding Big Daddy, which offers many challenging points in the game as optional bosses. However the Big Daddies are no longer the big bad in Rapture anymore. Enter the Big Sisters. When the player either chooses to rescue a Little Sister or harvest them for maximum ADAM the game randomly chooses whether to throw a Big Sister your way or not. The player will be warned with the sound of a heart-piercing screech and given a matter of seconds to prepare for the battle ahead. The Big Sisters are powerful, agile and fast and they provide a much tougher mini boss battle. Trust me, when you here that screech, it’s time to get moving and be prepared. You don’t want to be caught unawares with one of these.

Bioshock 2 features almost the exact same visuals and design as the first which is by no means a bad thing. Rapture is sculptured to perfection, truly capturing the feel of isolation, death and society gone mad. I was constantly impressed with the level of detail in the environment from the cracked leaking windows to the huge set pieces featuring tall monuments.

Bioshock 2 also features multiplayer as you may already know. What’s surprising is that the multiplayer actually works and can be rather fun at times. There are a variety of modes on offer here from the typical death match free-for-all to capture the flag in the form of capture the Little Sister. These are nothing knew and come to be expected in all multiplayer games now. You can customise what gene tonics you use; powering you up to give you extra health, less damage from fire and so on. You can also assign plasmids and weapons to your character and even change their look with different masks and accessories. The matches themselves are fun, fast paced and tend to get very hectic, very fast. You still have all the options open to you to attack and defend such as hacking turrets to work for you and effecting the environment with your plasmids to your advantage. You can even use a research camera on the dead bodies of other players to gain a damage bonus on them, which can prove very useful. The game randomly spawns a Big Daddy suit in the area and alerts the players, this is where you scramble to that suit as fast as those little legs can carry you cause as soon as your tucked safely in that suit, your sorted. You’ll have access to a rivet gun complete with a heat gauge so be sure not to overheat the thing. You’ll also be a lot stronger than the rest of the players and gives you a great advantage to “pwn all the n00bs cuz you’re the L33T Big Daddy”. The multiplayer mode although fun lacks the strategy of other great multiplayer games and will probably provide a short distraction but eventually you’ll head back to Modern Warfare 2 or whatever multiplayer crack your currently playing.

Bioshock 2 is a great game. It struggles to come into it’s own as it’s constantly shrouded by the shadow of it’s predecessor. However if you enjoyed the first and want to find out what happens in Rapture next then this game will satisfy your desire. It’s still a very fun, action packed game with a more linear experience. The characters are extremely interesting and quirky and the Splicer’s are still as sadistic and royally messed up as they were ten years ago during the first game. The audio is great with a fantastic soundtrack of 50’s gramophone style music that captures the atmosphere of Rapture perfectly.

The game definitely provides a good reason to venture back to the mystery that is Rapture once again.

Review By Cameron Foster