PS3 BioShock 2
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Follow-up to BioShock, 2K Games' critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2007 release, BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter set in the fictional underwater city of Rapture. As in the original game, BioShock 2 features a blend of fast-paced action, exploration and puzzle-solving as players follow varying paths through the overarching storyline based on the decisions that they are forced to make at various points in the game. In addition to a further fleshing out of the franchise's popular storyline, players can look forward to new characters, game mechanics, weapons, locations and a series first, multiplayer game options.
Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster — somehow familiar, yet still quite different from anything ever seen — has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city. It is a Big Sister, new denizens of Rapture who were once one of the forgotten little girls known as Little Sisters, known to inhabit the city's dank halls. No longer a pawn used to harvest ADAM, the dangerously powerful gene-altering lifeblood of Rapture, from the bodies of others and in turn run the risk of being harvested herself, the Big Sister is now the fastest and most powerful thing in Rapture. You, on the other hand are the very first Big Daddy, in fact the prototype, that for some reason has reactivated. You are similar to the Big Daddies familiar from the original BioShock, but also very different in that you possess free will and no memory of the events of the past ten years. The question is, as you travel through the decrepit and beautiful fallen city beneath the waves, hunting for answers and the solution to your own survival, are you really the hunter, or the hunted? Gameplay and Multiplayer In BioShock 2 players will take on the role of the original Big Daddy, not that of game one protagonist, Jack. As a Big Daddy you will have access to all the strengths and weapons of a standard Big Daddy, including the drill and rivet gun. More importantly you also possess free will and the ability to use plasmids and gene tonics — genetic modifications allowed for through ADAM, a stem cell harvested from conquered enemies, or sea slugs outside the Rapture air lock, and powered by the in-game injectable serum known as EVE, which can be found, captured or purchased. Plasmids and gene tonics provide a wide range of aggressive and passive abilities which can be upgraded and arranged for quick use. The ability to use plasmids and tonics gives you a decided edge over other Big Daddies and most other denizens of Rapture, excluding the powerful Big Sisters. In addition, due to their role as a Big Daddy, players will experience a new relation to the Little Sisters. Upon defeating standard Big Daddys you are given the familiar choice as to whether to harvest or adopt them. Harvesting gains you ADAM immediately, but could alter your path through the game, while adopting makes you responsible for Little Sisters, who then accompany you through Rapture, but also provide aid and warning in times of danger. Additional gameplay features include: new plasmids, weapons and the ability to combine these two. The game also features the anticipated multiplayer modes. Several of these are team-based, allowing up to 10 players. Within these players are provided with a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction, and allows you to play as one of several characters pulled from Rapture's history before the events of the first game. Key Features |
Customer Reviews
Little Mermaid 2?....NOT!!!
I loved Bioshock; I became immediately immersed in it and spent well over 20 hours completing it during my first playthrough because there was so much to explore in the game. Bioshock 2 is no different. What a cool game Bioshock 2 is so far. Let me say up front that I haven't finished it, and I don't want to be finished. I have played for over 6 hours and I don't get the impression that I'm remotely close to finishing.
After 6 hours, I'm sure that I could have gotten a lot farther in the game than I am a lot faster, but you can prolong the game by exploring areas that may not be the most direct route to your goal. And I spend a lot of time exploring. These little explorations are usually fruitful, because hidden throughout the expansive game are all kinds of weapons, perks and information about where you've once again suddenly found yourself captive: In the underwater city of Rapture. (Edit 3/1/10: Finished the game and the game is as good as the rest of this review suggests. Spent, I'd say, well over 15 hours playing. Extensive searching kept my ammo and "Eve" full at all times.)
The game begins with a flashback cutscene with you as a Big Daddy protecting a Little Sister apparently just before the events of the first game. The cutscene ends badly for you, but you are suddenly "reactivated" about 10 years later within Andrew Ryan's utopian city of Rapture now under the control of a woman named Sofia Lamb, and Lamb is not happy to see you. Did I say utopian city? Well, that may have been the original idea, but the Rapture you ultimately find yourself in is the antithesis of a utopia and in even worse shape than in the first Bioshock. I believe the term is dystopia. Anyway, a familiar name contacts you and helps guide you, a Big Daddy, to your goals.
The good news is that in Bioshock 2, unlike Bioshock 1, your peripheral vision isn't limited like it was by the Big Daddy helmet. Remember that part in Bioshock 1 where you became the Big Daddy and you had to escort the Little Sister? That was one of the tougher parts on the game, no? Well, it looks like we're in for a lot of that in Bioshock 2.
You are given goals and roadblocks o'plenty to prevent you from easily reaching your goals. The few people (called Splicers) left in Rapture that you run into have all gone (are still) stark raving mad, and they'll ruin your day or the Little Sister's day that you're trying to protect if you let them get too close. And don't trip a security alarm; it'll summon armed drones and more Splicers. At the beginning of the first level you get a quick glimpse of something that looks a lot worse than a Splicer, and it becomes clear that the gene altering that was going on in the first one has been taken to the next level in this one.
At least it's easier to hack everything from security cameras to drones to vending machines to safes in Bioshock 2. Not only can you hack from a distance by firing a "hack dart" at a machine like a gun turret, the hacking itself is a new timed system that is based on stopping a needle that moves back in forth over a color coded grid versus the first game's complete the puzzle before time runs out system.
You get all kinds of weapons and occasional opportunities to upgrade your weapons. You're well equipped. And this time not only do you get the Big Daddy's Rivet Gun, but also his oversize drill. The drill is quite effective so far on Splicers and saves on precious ammo; there's a new melee attack added to your defense system and a melee with the drill equipped is almost as effective as the drill itself. You get the a camera again too to take pictures that allow you to conduct research on your foes to increase the damage you can inflict on them and lessen the damage that they inflict on you (don't worry...all you have to do is take the dang picture; the research is done automatically).
In addition to the corpses strewn throughout the game that can be searched for goodies, so is ammo, money and other knick-knacks that will help you progress. Just be sure to search everything if you want to maximize your strength. And speaking of maximizing your strength, one of the first things you get are, just like the first game, Plasmids...or put another way...special abilities. Telekinesis. Pyrokinesis. And a bunch of other Plasmid "kinesises" are unlocked pending your ability to find or buy them. Try picking something heavy up with your telekinesis and throwing it at your enemy...better yet, plant a few Trap Rivets on that thing before you toss it! You're also granted "tonics" to customize your character with. Stuff like armor, various strengths, first aid boosts, and secondary damage on your enemies from your weapons or from just plain old being attacked. Really cool stuff.
Unlike most games, but just like Bioshock 1, the game lets you save at any time, and when you restart play it starts you at the exact place you last saved...not at the last checkpoint. Nice. Very nice. So right before you get to what you think might be a tough part...save! Cuz if you play "poorly", you can just quit and try again.
Like any game with redundant enemies (think RE4's ganados or Uncharted's pirates), the Splicers become quite annoying, but I suppose that's the idea. And yup, you even need to battle with other Big Daddies again. And as tough as they are, wait until you have to battle your newest foe, the Big Sister. My first battle with one of these didn't go so well. Thank goodness for the save anywhere feature! You have GOT to remember to hit that first aid button before your health runs out. You reload automatically, and your Plasmids will recharge automatically (if you've got some Eve), but you don't heal automatically.
Your goals change all the time. Just when you think you've attained a critical goal...it backfires or you're immediately given another that requires backtracking...and then backtracking again. But rest assured it never gets boring. The eerie atmospheres and creepy environments that Bioshock's creators have put together are more than effective. Some areas are really creepy, and there's nothing worse than not being able to find your way out of those which isn't always easy. But that's the fun! Oh yeah, and now that you're in the Big Daddy suit, you're even required to make it through some underwater (or should I say in the water) adventures.
If you like shooters or survival / horror games...Bioshock 2 is for you. The first game is really cheap here at Amazon, and I'd highly recommend that you play it first for chronology's sake. But chronology is completely unnecessary for Bioshock 2. Come to think of it....play Bioshock 2 first then play Bioshock 1 as a prequel!
Because one thing that Bioshock 2 has that Bioshock 1 doesn't is Multiplayer mode. This is really fun. Ya know how Modern Warfare 2 was really a multiplayer game with a bonus single player campaign? Well, Bioshock 2 is a single player game with a bonus multiplayer mode. Think Modern Warfare 2 combined with World at War Zombie mode combined with, well, Bioshock. I tried Multiplayer last night and in my first sitting got almost all of the Trophies (for anyone that cares about that). I really bought Bioshock 2 for the single player mode. But the addition of Multiplayer only adds to the hours of good times to be had with this game. Multiplayer is an interesting story driven mode where the player takes on the role of a citizen of Rapture before the events of the first Bioshock.
So is there anything bad about Bioshock 2 so far. Well, if I had to come up with something it'd be that the graphics seem to have received no upgrade whatsoever. After games like Uncharted, you'd think that 2K would have made some improvements in this department, but I'm not seeing it. The Splicers look as cartoonish as it gets. And my only other complaint would be the familiarity that Bioshock 2 has with the original. But that's the idea, right? You are "reborn" into Rapture.
I've heard some talk about how Bioshock 2 is a carbon copy of the first game. And that talk is just ridiculous. Again, take my review for what it's worth since I'm only just getting into it. But after 6 hours I'd say that there's no question here...add this to your cart. This is a 5-star game...whether you've played the first already or not.
(P.S.--I know that video game to big screen conversions mostly seem to fail, but have you heard that there's a movie adaptation of Bioshock with the 28 Weeks Later Director at the helm?)
Sophomore slump, but still great.
Let me start off by saying that this game was in a very rough spot when it was being developed. The first Bioshock was and still is one of the greatest games ever made, and seeing as video games are a rare medium where the sequel is almost always better, the bar was set high. I pretty much had my hopes set rather low, as I knew it could never live up to the near-flawless first installment.
So how accurate was I? Its about as good as I thought it would be.
Bioshock 2 is by no means a bad game. Its still Bioshock, you're still in Rapture, and the gameplay is the same with improvements made here and there. But, as my previous statement said, there are things that hold this installment back.
-The Pros-
Even though this isn't the first time we've stepped foot in Rapture - and some of the mystery is gone due to that fact - it is still full of the same great atmosphere and art design that made the original so great. There are still flickering lights, leaky walls and ceilings, art deco goodness, and a general sense of a lost utopia in every area. There is still the same feeling of nervous excitement and slight fear around every corner.
The gameplay is more or less unchanged, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The shooting is still pretty tight, as is the use of plasmids. You have your standard plasmids and gene tonics from the first game, with a few tweaks here and there such as the ability to use plasmids and weapons at the same time.
There are also some small things that I took notice of and really enjoyed:
- Subject Delta (your character) grew on me for some reason. I always found the Big Daddies to be oddly lovable, and this guy is no different.
- The drill arm is a great addition to the weapon selection. I found myself using it even late in the game and upgrading it before upgrading my guns.
- Guarding the Little Sisters wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I hate escort type missions, and thought I would hate this mechanic, but I wound up loving it. You can also just down the other Daddies and return the Sisters to the vents, without doing the ADAM harvesting part. The Little Sisters are also cute and sometimes funny in what they say, and it was a good choice to allow the player to interact with them more this time around.
- (!!SPOILER!!) Later on in the game, you are able to see the world of Rapture as the Little Sisters see it, which is incredibly interesting. During this section, the real decayed Rapture is juxtaposed with the imagined Little Sister-vision Rapture, and it is very powerful when it happens.
- (!!SPOILER!!) The Subject Delta/Eleanor relationship was well told, despite the fact that I have several complaints regarding the story.
- The opening cinematic gives you a very brief glimpse of life in Rapture before its fall. I found it very interesting even though it barely lasts a minute.
- The Cons -
Before I go into the cons, just know that despite everything I say, this game is still good, and still worth playing. When writing reviews, I tend to focus on the negative too much, and the game is not as bad as these cons will make it out to be.
While the fact that the gameplay is unchanged isn't really that bad, it also strikes me as a missed chance to really improve on it. There are really no new weapons or plasmids that strike you as being really "new", as most of them are either unchanged or rehashed versions of other weapons or plasmids from the first game. The fact that you're a Big Daddy also doesn't make that much of a difference. I found my health being depleted rapidly by average splicers, and my blows with weapons or the drill arm not being as effective as they should be. The game tries to write this off as the splicers growing stronger in the ten years since the first game, but it still made a bad impression on me.
Music has seemed to have taken a backseat in this game. The first Bioshock used music to such great effect that I bought the soundtrack. Music is more or less absent in this game. I remember hearing music maybe 4 or 5 times throughout the entire game, compared to the literal dozens of songs heard throughout Rapture in Bioshock 1.
The hacking mechanic being changed is a smaller annoyance I had, as I love the original games hacking minigame a lot more compared to the color/needle game you play in this game.
Something that really confuses me is the graphics. They seem to have gotten worse since Bioshock 1. Low-res textures make several appearances, the water isn't as impressive, and the particle effects are rather pixelated. Graphics aren't really that big of a deal to me, but the obvious downgrade from the first game just confuses me.
The areas explored throughout the game are also relatively lacking. There are no Welcome to Rapture Centers or Fort Frolics in this game.
(SPOILERS ABOUND BELOW)
My absolute biggest complaint about Bioshock 2 is the story. While I wasn't expecting something of Bioshock 1 quality, I was expecting something more than what was presented.
Sofia Lamb, while being a decent antagonist, falls very very short of filling Andrew Ryan's shoes.
Her speeches aren't as fascinating, her motives aren't as clear, and her malevolence isn't as convincing. She tries to be the omniscient voice of Ryan and the villain of Fontaine all at once, and fails.
This is indicative of another problem: the characters. While the characters are still deeper than 95% of characters in other games, the first Bioshock still reigns supreme in this area. Sinclair is a likable character, but pales in comparison to Atlas (Sinclair more or less fills Atlas' role in this game). Grace Holloway plays the role of fallen artist in this game, but never lives up to the mad genius of Sander Cohen. Even the audio logs are lacking due to the characters not being as strong.
The big reveal around the 75% complete mark in this game was also unremarkable. Expect no "Would you kindly?" or "Atlas is Fontaine". I didn't even understand the significance of the twist in this game. I was unaffected by it completely.
There is also no final boss fight, no satisfying explanation for the Big Sisters, and no sense of closure that approaches the first games'.
My last complaint story-wise is about Tenenbaum. Despite being the only character from the first game in this game, she makes one appearance and then COMPLETELY disappears from the game. You aren't even told what becomes of her. This really frustrated me.
Despite all of my complaints, this is still a very solid game and worth playing. Especially if you've played the amazing first game. However, if you're new to this series, I highly recommend playing the first one to see if you like this type of game.
Take me home Mr. B
I loved BioShock 1 so much I actually bought it for both my 360 & PS3, this time around I only will review the PS3 version.
Yes the game installs to the hard drive. Now I personally like games that install to the HDD as they run faster during game play. It's a bit longer than 10 minutes for the initial setup, I didn't time it with a stop watch, but the DualShock had turned off, which it does after 10 minutes.
I waited on ordering this until I saw at least 3 reviews on reputable gaming sites. They had some big shoes to fill after BioShock 1, and so far I think they've done an awesome job. I really enjoy exploring the maps making sure I've covered every inch. Most of the enemies are the same so far, with two new additional Boss type monsters that I've encountered so far.
The graphics and sound effects are great, only a few glitches here and there, but nothing worth even really mentioning. No crashes so far, and I've played at least 12 hours, collecting as many trophies as I can.
I'm very much enjoying this, maybe not as much as the first, only because BioShock was so unique at the time. If you liked BioShock 1 you should love 2. There are many new weapon enhancements, and the great plasmid system is still intact.
I've not yet tried the multiplayer, or really have any desire to, and sometimes wish developers would just forget about it and make a longer single player experience.
This will be one of the few "shooters" that gets 3 or more playthroughs. 95% of shooters I play once and move on, so for me it's that good.
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