Nine-Minute BioShock 2 Gameplay Video Released

[Andy Chalk]

Nine-Minute BioShock 2 Gameplay Video Released

A new nine-minute video walkthrough of BioShock 2 [http://www.somethinginthesea.com/] has been posted, offering a good look at how the crumbling city of Rapture and its denizens come together to make life miserable for a poor Big Daddy.

Narrated by BioShock 2 Creative Director Jordan Thomas, the preview begins with the player waking up in the shoes of the very first Big Daddy while Tenenbaum whispers sweet nothings over the game's ever-present radio. The video demonstrates the player's overwhelming capabilities against rank-and-file splicers and also shows off the process of ADAM gathering and the risks associated with it; naturally, a rather unpleasant encounter with the Big Sister also features prominently.

"[BioShock [http://www.bioshockgame.com/]] offered hard choices to the first-person shooter player," Thomas says in the opening of the video. "So for BioShock 2, we have to trust you with more difficult moral decisions and allow you to shape your own role in the narrative in a way that is new and surprising."

Brief clips from this video have been seen previously but this is the first (as far as I know) preview that begins to piece together the complex relationships between the player, the splicers, the Little Sisters and the Big Sister. It looks great and it's unmistakably a BioShock game but can it capture the magic of the original? Have a look for yourself at IGN [http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14240341/bioshock-2/videos/bioshock2_trl_walk051209c.html].

Thanks to Reaper_2K9 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/reaper_2k9] for the tip.


Permalink

 

[Sir Ollie]

Lets go find a angel Mr Bubbles.

Man that really freaks me out

 

[Cousin_IT]

looks pretty kewl. Though going into the ocean just seemed to reveal how artificial the game engine makes environments look. Fine when your in a purely manmade environment, but that seabed looked like it was made of plastic.

will also be interesting to see how they flesh out a story revolving around u being a sentient big daddy. If the game is shorter then the first one, im not buying it. Buying the first proved a waste of £40 after renting it beforehand.

 

[sunami88]

This is definitely a rental for me. The first one was AMAZING, but after it was over it was just... over.

It also looks like alot more of the same (IMO). I think the little sister in your ear all the time would get quite annoying.

 

[Deathsong17]

Holy shit, I want this game...

 

[similar.squirrel]

Those 'outdoor' environments look fairly awful. I hope this is beta or something.
I thought plants on the seabed were supposed to sway with the currents.

 

[Skeleon]

Hm, looks awesome.
Especially the ocean floor scenes are stunningly beautiful, although many effects seem to be missing. But it is very colourful already and seeing the big buildings from the outside is cool.
I also like that you can adopt little sisters.

Although I have to say, the movement speed seems pretty slow.
Yeah, it fits the Big Daddy you're playing as, but still, it might make travelling painful.
Unless there'll be a plasmid for running or something?

And another thing: Why is it that in games and bad movies, "the first one" is always "the best"? Somehow superior?
To be honest, the first Big Daddy ought to be pretty shitty compared to the others, what with the "procedures not yet fully developed and tested" and such.
I mean, come on, you wouldn't consider the first car superior today, would you?

 

[ThePeaceFrog]

oh, God! They've ruined Bioshock
In what way did the idea of making the player character the one thing you truly feared in the last game seem like a good one? They've just turned you into some invulnerable killing machine and removed any aspect of fear from the game, its just plain lazy.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Well, I really liked it, but... um...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.113231

As I've already stated elsewhere, not everyone who visits this site is a member of the forums. They access our content in a number of ways: the front page, RSS feeds, cross posting from other news sites, and so forth. So really, comments like this are pointless and disrespectful to our very hard working news team. If you see a story of interest in the forum, and find that it's yet to reach our news feed, be proactive and tip off one of our newsies.

 

[KrisKing]

two things ive seen in the vid.

during the seabed bit you can see a man walking past a window, he looks normal, come to think of it he looks like an al bhed from ffx anyway there are actually normal people; which makes the game alot better in my eyes.

another thing is when hes fighting all the splicers, near the end of the attacking you see some crazy clawed mutated spider splicer or something, pretty weird.

cant waitttttt

 

[PayNSprayBandit]

Well, I really liked it, but... um...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.113231

As I've already stated elsewhere, not everyone who visits this site is a member of the forums. They access our content in a number of ways: the front page, RSS feeds, cross posting from other news sites, and so forth. So really, comments like this are pointless and disrespectful to our very hard working news team. If you see a story of interest in the forum, and find that it's yet to reach our news feed, be proactive and tip off one of our newsies.

Well, I apologize.

I hadn't seen your previous comments and didn't mean to insult your team, whom I agree does a great job. This is the first place I come for nerd news, so wasn't intending this as an attack, so much as a question with respect to what, at the time, seemed an anomaly. I now know, as you have just told me, that the news staff consciously reiterates stories to place them in the proper forum. I would never have even thought to tip off your guys, first, because I wouldn't have thought they want to hear from me and second, I don't know what you consider newsworthy. But at any rate, I simply did not understand and sought clarification. I'm generally not a person who posts simply to opine that a topic has been done before.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Hm, looks awesome.
Especially the ocean floor scenes are stunningly beautiful, although many effects seem to be missing. But it is very colourful already and seeing the big buildings from the outside is cool.
I also like that you can adopt little sisters.

Although I have to say, the movement speed seems pretty slow.
Yeah, it fits the Big Daddy you're playing as, but still, it might make travelling painful.
Unless there'll be a plasmid for running or something?

And another thing: Why is it that in games and bad movies, "the first one" is always "the best"? Somehow superior?
To be honest, the first Big Daddy ought to be pretty shitty compared to the others, what with the "procedures not yet fully developed and tested" and such.
I mean, come on, you wouldn't consider the first car superior today, would you?

The way I understand it, the "failure" if the first one (you) in the past made them tone down the way that the Big Daddies are. The normal, non-prototype ones can't use plamsids or think for themselves, after all.

 

[Avatar Roku]

oh, God! They've ruined Bioshock
In what way did the idea of making the player character the one thing you truly feared in the last game seem like a good one? They've just turned you into some invulnerable killing machine and removed any aspect of fear from the game, its just plain lazy.

Calm down. I'm sure they'll balance it (maybe with a lack of Vita chambers), they aren't going to just let you go through without any challenge, they'd be crucified.

 

[Skeleon]

The way I understand it, the "failure" if the first one (you) in the past made them tone down the way that the Big Daddies are. The normal, non-prototype ones can't use plamsids or think for themselves, after all.

Well, yes, that may be the ingame explanation but it's always something like that and it always sounds far-fetched.

Just make him one of the mass-produced Big Daddies, but have Tennenbaum manipulate the fabrication-process to leave some of the human abilities intact (sentience and plasmids for example).
That's no less arbitrary but at least a bit more believable than an "uber-prototype".
I'd imagine the very first Big Daddy died on the operating table or is a mangled cripple who can't walk, much less fight.

 

[Avatar Roku]

The way I understand it, the "failure" if the first one (you) in the past made them tone down the way that the Big Daddies are. The normal, non-prototype ones can't use plamsids or think for themselves, after all.

Well, yes, that may be the ingame explanation but it's always something like that and it always sounds far-fetched.

Just make him one of the mass-produced Big Daddy that Tennenbaum manipulated during fabrication to leave some of the human abilities intact (sentience and plasmids for example).
That's no less arbitrary but at least a bit more believable than an "uber-prototype".
I'd imagine the very first Big Daddy died on the operating table or is a mangled cripple who can't walk, much less fight.

I'm willing to bet there's a reason for making you the first one in the story. At this point, however, it's hard to judge.

 

[curlycrouton]

I do hope this has the same fantastic plot as the first Bioshock, and the same deep connotations, or I'll be sorely dissapointed.

 

[silentsentinel]

Those 'outdoor' environments look fairly awful. I hope this is beta or something.
I thought plants on the seabed were supposed to sway with the currents.

Awful? Sure, some effects were missing, but I thought it was quite nice...

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

looks pretty kewl. Though going into the ocean just seemed to reveal how artificial the game engine makes environments look. Fine when your in a purely manmade environment, but that seabed looked like it was made of plastic.

This, pretty much.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I do hope this has the same fantastic plot as the first Bioshock, and the same deep connotations, or I'll be sorely dissapointed.

That's just something we'll have to wait and see about, I guess. From what little I've heard from Game Informer, it sounds pretty good, but we'll see if it and the presentation actually are.

 

[Usagi_dono]

Perhaps he was the first fully functionin big daddy, and he was functioning a bit to good?