Bioshock 2 review
I’ll admit it. When the first Bioshock game was released I wasn’t going to get it. I’m not sure why exactly. I read all of the rave reviews, heard people say it was brilliant, but for some reason it never actually appealed to me. Eventually a friend of mine pushed me into it and I haven’t looked back since.
Bioshock deserved all of the awards it received and the reviews it got. And after the success of the game, there was always going to be another. But how does the troublesome second game compete with a fantastic original?
Let me make one thing clear before we go any further. Bioshock 2 is a fantastic game. If this was the first game in the series, we’d be raving about it just like we did for the original. But when playing, you do get the slight feeling it’s all be done before.
Your time in Rapture is a new journey with a brand new story. The biggest letdown, if you can call it that, with the original Bioshock game was your time spent as a Big Daddy. It was hard work and that part of the story didn’t quite flow and work as well as the earlier parts had. So when 2K Games announced that the main character and story would revolve around you playing as a Big Daddy, there were some raised eye brows.
But 2K isn’t stupid and they have pulled it off brilliantly. The core concept of the game remains in the form of all your favourite Plasmids and Gene Tonics, with some new ones thrown in as well. You’ll quickly learn which ones are for you and will concentrate on using them and the same can be said for the weapons. You’ll quickly learn which weapons you prefer to use, although on the hardest difficulty you’ll find you will use all weapons available, due to the lack of ammo and fuel for your drill that can be found around the world of Rapture. Being conservative with your ammo and Eve is vitally important.
The view while playing as a Big Daddy is also not restricted. You get to see most of the screen, with only the corners giving away any clue that you are wearing a helmet. The controls are responsive, but at the same time you do still get the feeling you are controlling a big beast.
Again without giving too much away, the core concept of the story is as a Big Daddy and you have a Little Sister to look after. For some reason, yours was taken from you by the evil character in the game – Dr Lamb. All will become clear as to her reasons, but the beginning of the story can be quite confusing. All of the missing pieces and the questions you may have are all answered throughout the story, either from the radio transmissions given to you by the main characters in the game, or by picking up and listening to the hidden radio messages that are once again located throughout Rapture.
Although I did collect these in the first Bioshock, I never really listened to them. The story still made sense and not using them didn’t spoil the game for me. I did manage to find most of the radio messages in Bioshock 2 and listened to every single one of them, which was well over 100. And after sitting down and thinking about the game after completing it, I can see how important these messages actually are.
It wouldn’t have spoilt the game for me if I hadn’t have listened to any of them, however it gives you a further insight into the minds of the people of Rapture, including your Little Sister and Dr Lamb, as well as plugging some of the gaps that can appear in the story. There are also clues that can direct you to hidden stashes, or even give you advice on how to deal with certain individuals a little better.
The story in the original Bioshock was what really made the game. It was gripping and exciting and the different twists and turns really were unexpected and kept you hooked. And again without trying to give too much away, although the storyline doesn’t quite have the dramatic twists and turns the original did, it’s well written and drip feeds you just enough information to make you play and find out what happens next.
Once again you are tasked with rounding up the Little Sisters that are running riot around Rapture with their respective Big Daddy. You’ll of course have to defeat the Big Daddy to get to the Little Sister and it makes for one interesting fight. Heavyweight versus heavyweight!
Once you do manage to get to the Little Sister, there is one new option available to you. You of course still have the option to Harvest the Little Sister, but you can first adopt them and use the Little Sister to collect Adam. Adam is found in the corpses dotted around Rapture and you use Adam to upgrade yourself with Genes or Plasmids. Using your Little Sister to collect Adam will also alert anyone in the area, so expect a battle for it.
Your Little Sister can only collect a certain amount of Adam and so when she’s done, you will then have the option of rescuing her or harvesting her. It’s a question of good versus evil and may play to your morals. Or which achievement you want first.
There’s also a new main enemy you come up against and on hard, she is one hell of an enemy to fight. The purpose of the Big Sister and how she came to be will become clear as you play. But expect to have a fight on your hands when you come up against her and if playing on the hardest setting, expect to die many times. She is hard and you’ll need to use all of your weapons, plasmids and the surroundings to your advantage.
So is Bioshock 2 more of the same, or have Take2 simply used a winning formula to build on the series and take it on a new path? Yes the basics are the same. Build up your Plasmids and become stronger, harvest or rescue the Little Sisters and stop a mad woman. But it’s these basics that make the game.
Is it the game of the year? Possibly not. Graphically there isn’t much in the way of improvement from the first, but it does still look good. It might not quite be as long as the first Bioshock game either. But the new story keeps you gripped at all times due to how well it is written. The introduction of a multiplayer mode also makes Bioshock 2 one of the best games I’ve played since the original was released. It might not be too different from the original, but simply put, you have to add Bioshock 2 to the list of “must have games” in your collection.
