BioShock 2
Introduction
BioShock 2 is an FPS/RPG, and the second instalment in 2K Games? BioShock series. In this game, however, the developers wrote a new role for the player - a Big Daddy. Whereas in the first game, my review of which is located here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock], players were given control of a man named Jack, who unexpectedly wound up in underwater Rapture after his plane crashed into the ocean. That was in 1960. Now, the year is 1968. Eight years since the events of the first. A Big Daddy wakes up in the ruins of Rapture, with no explanation of how he got there or why he is still alive. This new role completely changes the way Rapture will be explored. Being a mere squishy mortal in the first game, combat was something to be avoided, but as a walking tank, things get a little easier.
Story
Back in 1958, the year of the original riots that doomed Rapture, a Big Daddy was making his rounds with his Little Sister. She was attacked by a gang of Splicers, and on defending her, he?s hit with a Hypnotise plasmid. Under its influence, the Little Sister?s mother Sofia Lamb forces him to kill himself. Eleanor Lamb, the Little Sister, however, refuses to accept Sofia as her solitary parent, and finds a way to revive the Big Daddy, named simply ?Subject Delta?, and tries her hardest to bring him to her.
The aim of the game is simple. Get to Fontaine Futuristics. Find Eleanor Lamb.
The reason for all of this is no simple emotional one. When a Big Daddy is built, they have a certain chemical bond with their Little Sister. This was originally designed to stop the Big Daddies wandering off out into the ocean and abandoning their Sisters, and to stop solitary Big Daddies trotting about Rapture starting fights with bouncers outside clubs. That would be messy.
With Delta at one end of Rapture and Eleanor at the other, it wouldn?t have been long before the results of the bond occurred, which would either send Delta into a fatal coma or drive him insane.
Now, with the help of various enemies of Sofia Lamb, Delta makes his way to the prison to rescue his Little Sister.
The story is nowhere near as immersive or in-depth as the first game?s, but it?s still an enjoyable drive.
Gameplay
While not a major overhaul from the first game, BioShock 2 still possesses a lot of new features, and new ways to fight.
In the first game, you?d spend a lot of time scavenging ammunition and generally avoiding direct combat, for fear of having your soft, squishy flesh punctured. Now, while in the shape of the armoured Subject Delta, direct combat is definitely more appealing, especially with the lovely noise of the signature Big Daddy drill. There is little more satisfying than the sound of that drill when you ram it into another Daddy?s face.
On the note of Big Daddies, the Little Sister moral choices appear again in this game. Upon killing a Big Daddy, Eleanor telepathically alters the Little Sister, giving you the option to either Adopt or Harvest her. Harvesting her is the same as it is in the first game. Kill the Little Sister, take all the ADAM. Adopting, however, is both useful and frustrating, in my opinion. The Little Sister climbs atop your shoulders, and points you in the direction of a ADAM-filled corpse. You let her off to collect ADAM, and Sofia Lamb starts spouting trash talk through the city-wide PA system. This attracts the attention of Splicers, who come sprinting from out of nowhere and start beating on the little girl. She cannot die, but while she?s being attacked, she can?t harvest ADAM, and Splicers will keep coming until the ADAM is all harvested. Each Little Sister can harvest up to two corpses, and then she?ll point you to the nearest Vent. When you reach the Vent, you?re given the choice a second time, only rather than Adopting, you can now Rescue her, giving you a small amount of ADAM, but keeping the Sister alive. As before, Rescued Little Sisters will leave you presents throughout the story, making up for the ADAM you miss out on by not Harvesting them.
Other than these small features that made BioShock unique, the sequel plays pretty much like any other FPS. The audio diaries make a return, usually detailing Eleanor?s story or anything concerning her.
Although the game takes place in Rapture?s cramped corridors and dingy rooms, it no longer feels claustrophobic. Perhaps it?s because you now fill the corridors on your own, dwarfing the aggressive Splicers and easily outmatching the average Big Daddy.
Vita-Chambers make a return in this instalment, only now there is an option, and an attached achievement, to have them turned off, so death returns you to the main menu, thus allowing you to implement your own challenge.
Another returning feature is the Plasmid, only now, instead of switching between your Plasmids and your weaponry, you can use both simultaneously, since Subject Delta can hold any weapon in his right hand, leaving his left hand free to use whatever Plasmid he possesses. Upgrading the Plasmids still works in an identical fashion, except now, in order to take advantage of the new effects, you have to charge the Plasmid for a short time, which, in my opinion, ruins the flow of combat, since rather than firing your Plasmid and finishing an enemy off, it can take up to five seconds to use the Plasmid, while you stand there uselessly, getting beaten up by a cheeky Splicer.
But these are minor flaws. The new Plasmid system works far more fluidly than the old, and I did find I had far more ammunition at all times, since I relied heavily on the One-Two combo - Electro Bolt followed up by a Rivet Gun headshot or a melee attack. Of course, this only worked when there was one or two Splicers, any more and they?d quickly overwhelm you.
The last feature to undergo a change is the Hacking system. Now, instead of a plumbing minigame, the machine presents you with a simple reflex test. Stop the arrow in the green area to Hack the machine. If you stop it in the blue area, the machine gains a unique special bonus - vending machines give away free items, security bots get more attack power, etc, and if you stop it in the red area, an alarm is triggered, sending a multitude of flying security bots after you. Stopping it in an uncoloured area just gives you a quick shock, and you?re free to keep trying. Since I was never very good at the plumbing minigame, I?m quite glad of this change, though I have only one problem with it.
It doesn?t pause the game. More realistic, I know, but Hacking security turrets started to seriously take the piss. The Electro Bolt doesn?t disable turrets as long as I?d like, so by the time I reached the final reflex-test, it had reactivated and was emptying its magazines into my gut. And then, distracted, I?d accidentally hit the red zone and trigger an alarm. Succeeding the Hack a second time would disable the alarm, but with my gut full of lead and the back of my head being pummelled by several other guns, the whole thing just went to pot.
In case you want to avoid this whole mess, the game does provide you with Hack Darts. These are darts you can fire from cover to Hack machines from a distance, meaning the whole security turret issue could have been avoided.
In truth, the only real problem with the game is that you might as well not be a Big Daddy. It seemed to be the whole selling point, but nobody is afraid of you, and you?re far from invincible?you just have more armour and bigger weapons than the average plane-crash passenger. Still, fights against other Big Daddies still felt epic, as opposed to just plain frightening, and if you didn?t get a rush from taking on a Bouncer with your drill, you need to rethink your taste in videogames.
Setting
Rapture returns as the single location for the game?s events, only you take a different route through the city than Jack did in the first game. Now, in the Big Daddy suit, you can take detours outside the city, and even find those magical sea slugs that contain ADAM for yourself. Since Jack went from the bathyspheres straight up to Andrew Ryan?s office, he managed to avoid the lower-class areas of the city.
Delta takes an entirely different route. Rather than entering the city, he wakes up within its great walls, and takes a more leisurely stroll toward the Persephone prison blocks. Unfortunately, this part of the city was far less impressive than Jack?s route, since there were no really visually dramatic effects, such as Hephaestus? volcanic vents staining the ocean orange.
And to those who, like myself, spent ages trying to spot the whale we could all hear singing, BioShock 2 decided to add a couple of sharks swimming around the base of the city. Unfortunately, the sharks just didn?t fit right?they added too much life to a city that was meant to be past its best.
In terms of story and setting, BioShock 2 falls at the last hurdle, failing to keep up with its predecessor. However, in terms of gameplay, it flows much more easily, and is just more fun to play through, especially with its added variety in opponents.
The actual review stops here. Now I analyse enemies and weaponry, as I did for the first game. If you?d like to discover my opinion on BioShock 2, simply skip the weapons and monsters, and read the summary.
Inhabitants
For the sake of time and effort, I?ll only cover the enemies introduced in this game. For the list of enemies encountered in the original BioShock, click here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock].
Rumbler
The Big Daddies make a return in BioShock 2, only now the Bouncer and the Rosie are accompanied by the newest breed - the Rumbler. They seemed to have all but replaced the Rosie as the most common Big Daddy, and they wander Rapture?s halls carrying a grenade launcher atop their shoulder, and when threatened, they pull mini-turrets from Ryan knows where, and throw them down for some covering fire. The easiest way to take down a Rumbler is to hit him in close-quarters combat. His grenade launcher is entirely ineffective at close range, and the mini-turrets are little more than an annoyance.
Amusingly enough, I encountered two of these big guys in a room together, each with a Little Sister. I took advantage of the new Hypnotise Plasmid, and let them beat each other into submission.
Alpha Series
The Alpha Series is the prototype Big Daddy - of which Subject Delta was one of the first. They are quick, agile and strong, but not nearly as armoured as the other, newer models. They are automatically aggressive on sight, and never possess a Little Sister. Sometimes, during an ADAM-harvesting session, an Alpha Series will join the Splicers on the attack.
There is also evidence of Plasmid usage among the Alpha Series, since every now and then they suffer some kind of elemental overload. They scream and release an explosion of electricity, fire or ice. They?re armed with Gatling guns, shotguns or grenade launchers, making them effective at both mid and close ranges, since when Delta gets too close, they fight back fiercely, going as far as to head butt him, leaving him stunned momentarily.
Interestingly enough, Drill Dashing during a head butt appears to throw the Alpha somewhere off into the distance. At least, I think that?s what happened.
The most important thing about the Alpha Series is that they still retain a good amount of their mental capacity, except for the fact they?ve been driven completely insane by one thing or another.
Big Sister
What happens when a Little Sister hits puberty? Ten years after Rapture?s fall, the first generation of Little Sisters has grown up, and they no longer need Daddy to protect them. Scavenging armour from around Rapture, and strapping their syringes to their wrists, they won?t even wait for you to die before harvesting ADAM from your face. Big Sisters are quick, mean and tough, and easily enough to give a Big Daddy a run for his money. Fortunately, they only appear on special occasions - such as specific points in the story, or when all the Little Sisters have been dealt with in a single area.
In short - NOT TO BE MESSED WITH.
Brute Splicer
Possibly the only threatening Splicer there ever was. During my playthrough of BioShock 2, I was even more afraid of Brute Splicers than I was of Big Daddies. Brutes are far more aggressive, stronger, and seemingly smarter than the armoured Daddies. They?re big, hulking monstrosities, reminiscent of the Tank from the Left 4 Dead series, though I?d never go as far as to say they were direct copies of said zombie.
Weaponry
Drill
Subject Delta is a prototype Big Daddy, and as such he was built before the distinction between Bouncer and Rosie was made. He possesses a drill that folds over his right hand, and deals some very serious melee damage. Unfortunately, it also eats fuel like a *****, so I used it only for special occasions - for example a Bouncer fight.
Rivet Gun
Referring back to the prototype Big Daddy idea, Delta also finds a Rivet Gun on his travels. Unlike the Pistol from the first game, the Rivet Gun is useful in pretty much any situation. Its base ammunition is the ordinary rivet, used by Rosies both to seal leaks in Rapture, and to plug faces. An Electro Bolt swiftly followed up by a headshot with a rivet is usually enough to take down the average Splicer, and for the tougher enemies, you can switch to the heavy rivets. Normal rivets are found everywhere in Rapture, but heavy rivets are not quite as commonplace. I tended to save my heavy rivets for either Alpha Series, which are vulnerable both to anti-armour and headshots, or Big Sisters, because I hate them and they need to die.
The third type of ammunition is for the more strategically minded. The trap rivet operates in similar fashion to the proximity mine. If you fire a trap rivet into a wall, a thin red laser will extend to about three feet away from the rivet, and should an enemy break that beam, they?ll be hit with shrapnel from the ensuing explosion. Unfortunately, trap rivets need to be replaced every time a Splicer breaks one, so in the event of a large scale invasion, the trap rivet can only protect you from the first two or three Splicers.
Machine Gun
Unlike the first BioShock?s machine gun, this one is a big Gatling weapon, firing high-speed .50 calibre shots as its base ammunition, I would say this is the second most versatile weapon, the first being the Rivet Gun, since the average .50 calibre round can take out a large group of Splicers, and for special occasions, you can switch to either the anti-personnel or anti-armour rounds. Nothing special or complicated involved here, just a big machine gun.
Shotgun
I don?t think there?s much in the way of difference concerning the first game?s shotgun and this one?s. They may well be identical, save for the new types of ammunition. Delta, being a Big Daddy, holds it in one hand, and either blows Splicers? heads off with the shells, or beats them about the face with the butt of the gun.
The base ammunition is the standard 00 Buck, same as in the first game. Lethal at close range, not quite so effective at mid or long.
Then, for some reason, there?s the solid slug. I found this ammo type to be incredibly rare, and I doubt I fired any more than five during the course of the game. According to the BioShock wikia, the solid slug is designed to pierce multiple enemies. I never used it as such. It was mostly my last-resort ammo concerning Big Sisters. It made a damn fine noise when it hit their heads.
The other ammunition type is the phosphorous buck. You shoot the enemy. The phosphorous shells attach themselves to said enemy, and after a few seconds, they burst, igniting the target. Does a surprising amount of damage too, though I rarely used it on anything smaller than a Rumbler or a Big Sister.
Spear Gun
Similar to the Crossbow from the first game, but far more entertaining. Anybody who built the Railway Gun in Fallout 3 will know exactly what I?m talking about when I say pinning enemies to walls is the shit.
Standard ammunition for the Spear Gun is predictably the spear. Long distance, decent piercing damage, and it hangs people up like Satanic post-it notes.
Then, for heavy-duty work, there?s the rocket spear. Whoever had the idea of sticking afterburners on the back of spears was out of his mind, but is nevertheless a bloody genius. The rocket spear is launched like a normal spear, but when it sticks itself in a target, the afterburner kicks in and sets fire to anything nearby, and then explodes, killing anything nearby. It?s pretty bad-ass.
Then there?s the less awesome trap spear. Identical to the trap bolt from the first game in the way that it just sets up a tripwire. Bit dull, compared to the rocket spear.
Launcher
During the first game, I found myself relying on the grenade launcher when it came to Big Daddy fights. In this one, the launcher just sat in my back pocket and was practically unused. It comes with the standard frag grenade, which predictably explode?I raise you the question - what shooter does not come with frag grenades?
And then we have the proximity mines. And these ones don?t detonate when the player steps into its radius, which I think is pretty neat. Helps with luring Brutes or Bouncers into the radius.
Finally, the heat-seeking rocket. Rare ammunition?never found much of it. Never used it, either, except during the Omega battle, and that was just for the sheer hell of it. Locks onto targets, and pursues them. I think. Problem is, I?m very good at reflex accuracy, as in, give me an hour to shoot someone, I?ll miss. Give me a split second chance, and I?ll nail the hit. Rapture?s inhabitants allow for only the latter, so my shots hit the target regardless of any lock-ons or homing missiles or whatever?so all I got was a fancy frag grenade.
Hack Tool
It?s not a weapon, and I won?t even pretend it?s trying to be one. Most likely my least used of all the items in the game?simply because I am not used to hacking from a distance. The standard ammunition is the basic hack dart. Fire it at a machine, you hack the machine. Simple.
For those machines you simply can?t be bothered to hack, there?s the auto-hack dart. Firing this into a machine automatically hacks it, saving you the time and effort.
Then, the only object with offensive capabilities. The mini-turret. Now, the game does a poor job of telling you that the Hack Tool fires mini-turrets. I found myself stooping over the bodies of dead Rumblers wondering why I couldn?t collect the mini-turrets, since I apparently held too many. I at first tried to stuff them in the Launcher?that didn?t go too well. I don?t want to talk about it.
It was only at one of the mandatory hack-dart uses in the story than I discovered the elusive third Hack Tool ammo type. The mini-turret. Excellent for setting up a defensive perimeter around a Harvesting Little Sister, but not very good at holding it. They?re fragile, but the machine gun is at least useful for some covering fire. Typically enough, the only time they were useful was when the Rumblers started using them to clear rooms in their Enrage-induced fits.
Research Camera
And the final item to make a return is the Research Camera?only during the whole Rapture civil war, somebody had been doing some tinkering, for it now records video. Usage is simple enough - aim it at an enemy, and hit the record button. Then you?ll switch to your last used weapon, and the camera will record you soundly thrashing the target. Soon as it?s dead, you receive your research points, and each stage of research nets a different reward. Typically, the first reward is a damage upgrade. The second will boost another stat, the third is another damage upgrade, and the fourth is a new gene tonic.
I?m not sure which I prefer. During the first game, taking a picture with multiple enemies earned you bonus points. In this case, however, to earn research points from multiple enemies at the same time, you?d have to single out each target, and restart the camera every time you score a kill.
Sucks really.
Plasmids
Scout
Rather disappointingly, this is the only original Plasmid created for BioShock 2, the rest being repeats of the Plasmids contained in the first game. Scout allows you to take control of a ?Ghost? version of yourself. Your physical body remains where it is, and is vulnerable to attack, while you can move about invisibly, using Plasmids and hacking machines safely.
Hypnotise
Not a new Plasmid, per se, simply a new version of the old. Rather than being used solely to bring a Big Daddy under control, the base version of Hypnotise behaves identically to Enrage, sending the target into an unstoppable rage. Unstoppable unless they get shot, that is. The second level allows you to Befriend Splicers, and the third allows you to make an ally out of anybody.
Technically, this is just a merging of the Hypnotise Big Daddy and Enrage Plasmids from the first game, so nothing really that exciting.
Any questions about the original game?s Plasmids are to be answered here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock].
That is the third time I?ve referenced my BioShock review, and I do apologise.
If you went away to watch TV during the lecture about weapons and Plasmids, you can come back now.
BioShock 2 is my favourite of the two games. The first game may have had me eager to uncover more of the story, but my curiosity was swiftly beaten out of me by the stupidly angry enemies?so it was a refreshing change to return in the suit of a Big Daddy, and to teach those bloody Splicers a lesson with a big-ass drill. Fights can get intense, and I could get fully immersed in the violence without the worry of ammunition conservation and all that other crap that sucked the fun out of underwater brawling. Fights with Splicers are fast paced and amusing, and a fight with a Big Daddy goes from a carefully planned out strategic battle to an epic bar brawl. With drills.
So in total honesty, I would happily recommend this instalment in the series. In fact, if you?re in the United Kingdom, GAME stores are offering a discount on BioShock 2 if you buy it with Fallout: New Vegas. I would advise taking them up on the offer, and perhaps reviving the failing multiplayer, so I can at least give it a go.
Sometimes I wonder if I should add a scoring system at the end of my reviews, but a scoring system just goes out of hand. Starts off as a simple number between 1 and 10. Then people decide that?s not sophisticated enough, and stick decimal places on there. And they?re so damn unreliable. 8 is now average, 9 is okay, and 10 is ?fair good?. Anything below that, you might as well not bother.
So, I think I will stay away from numerical scoring systems. Not for any artistic reason?nothing about complex opinions?they?re just more trouble than they?re worth.
Introduction
BioShock 2 is an FPS/RPG, and the second instalment in 2K Games? BioShock series. In this game, however, the developers wrote a new role for the player - a Big Daddy. Whereas in the first game, my review of which is located here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock], players were given control of a man named Jack, who unexpectedly wound up in underwater Rapture after his plane crashed into the ocean. That was in 1960. Now, the year is 1968. Eight years since the events of the first. A Big Daddy wakes up in the ruins of Rapture, with no explanation of how he got there or why he is still alive. This new role completely changes the way Rapture will be explored. Being a mere squishy mortal in the first game, combat was something to be avoided, but as a walking tank, things get a little easier.
Story
Back in 1958, the year of the original riots that doomed Rapture, a Big Daddy was making his rounds with his Little Sister. She was attacked by a gang of Splicers, and on defending her, he?s hit with a Hypnotise plasmid. Under its influence, the Little Sister?s mother Sofia Lamb forces him to kill himself. Eleanor Lamb, the Little Sister, however, refuses to accept Sofia as her solitary parent, and finds a way to revive the Big Daddy, named simply ?Subject Delta?, and tries her hardest to bring him to her.
The aim of the game is simple. Get to Fontaine Futuristics. Find Eleanor Lamb.
The reason for all of this is no simple emotional one. When a Big Daddy is built, they have a certain chemical bond with their Little Sister. This was originally designed to stop the Big Daddies wandering off out into the ocean and abandoning their Sisters, and to stop solitary Big Daddies trotting about Rapture starting fights with bouncers outside clubs. That would be messy.
With Delta at one end of Rapture and Eleanor at the other, it wouldn?t have been long before the results of the bond occurred, which would either send Delta into a fatal coma or drive him insane.
Now, with the help of various enemies of Sofia Lamb, Delta makes his way to the prison to rescue his Little Sister.
The story is nowhere near as immersive or in-depth as the first game?s, but it?s still an enjoyable drive.
Gameplay
While not a major overhaul from the first game, BioShock 2 still possesses a lot of new features, and new ways to fight.
In the first game, you?d spend a lot of time scavenging ammunition and generally avoiding direct combat, for fear of having your soft, squishy flesh punctured. Now, while in the shape of the armoured Subject Delta, direct combat is definitely more appealing, especially with the lovely noise of the signature Big Daddy drill. There is little more satisfying than the sound of that drill when you ram it into another Daddy?s face.
On the note of Big Daddies, the Little Sister moral choices appear again in this game. Upon killing a Big Daddy, Eleanor telepathically alters the Little Sister, giving you the option to either Adopt or Harvest her. Harvesting her is the same as it is in the first game. Kill the Little Sister, take all the ADAM. Adopting, however, is both useful and frustrating, in my opinion. The Little Sister climbs atop your shoulders, and points you in the direction of a ADAM-filled corpse. You let her off to collect ADAM, and Sofia Lamb starts spouting trash talk through the city-wide PA system. This attracts the attention of Splicers, who come sprinting from out of nowhere and start beating on the little girl. She cannot die, but while she?s being attacked, she can?t harvest ADAM, and Splicers will keep coming until the ADAM is all harvested. Each Little Sister can harvest up to two corpses, and then she?ll point you to the nearest Vent. When you reach the Vent, you?re given the choice a second time, only rather than Adopting, you can now Rescue her, giving you a small amount of ADAM, but keeping the Sister alive. As before, Rescued Little Sisters will leave you presents throughout the story, making up for the ADAM you miss out on by not Harvesting them.
Other than these small features that made BioShock unique, the sequel plays pretty much like any other FPS. The audio diaries make a return, usually detailing Eleanor?s story or anything concerning her.
Although the game takes place in Rapture?s cramped corridors and dingy rooms, it no longer feels claustrophobic. Perhaps it?s because you now fill the corridors on your own, dwarfing the aggressive Splicers and easily outmatching the average Big Daddy.
Vita-Chambers make a return in this instalment, only now there is an option, and an attached achievement, to have them turned off, so death returns you to the main menu, thus allowing you to implement your own challenge.
Another returning feature is the Plasmid, only now, instead of switching between your Plasmids and your weaponry, you can use both simultaneously, since Subject Delta can hold any weapon in his right hand, leaving his left hand free to use whatever Plasmid he possesses. Upgrading the Plasmids still works in an identical fashion, except now, in order to take advantage of the new effects, you have to charge the Plasmid for a short time, which, in my opinion, ruins the flow of combat, since rather than firing your Plasmid and finishing an enemy off, it can take up to five seconds to use the Plasmid, while you stand there uselessly, getting beaten up by a cheeky Splicer.
But these are minor flaws. The new Plasmid system works far more fluidly than the old, and I did find I had far more ammunition at all times, since I relied heavily on the One-Two combo - Electro Bolt followed up by a Rivet Gun headshot or a melee attack. Of course, this only worked when there was one or two Splicers, any more and they?d quickly overwhelm you.
The last feature to undergo a change is the Hacking system. Now, instead of a plumbing minigame, the machine presents you with a simple reflex test. Stop the arrow in the green area to Hack the machine. If you stop it in the blue area, the machine gains a unique special bonus - vending machines give away free items, security bots get more attack power, etc, and if you stop it in the red area, an alarm is triggered, sending a multitude of flying security bots after you. Stopping it in an uncoloured area just gives you a quick shock, and you?re free to keep trying. Since I was never very good at the plumbing minigame, I?m quite glad of this change, though I have only one problem with it.
It doesn?t pause the game. More realistic, I know, but Hacking security turrets started to seriously take the piss. The Electro Bolt doesn?t disable turrets as long as I?d like, so by the time I reached the final reflex-test, it had reactivated and was emptying its magazines into my gut. And then, distracted, I?d accidentally hit the red zone and trigger an alarm. Succeeding the Hack a second time would disable the alarm, but with my gut full of lead and the back of my head being pummelled by several other guns, the whole thing just went to pot.
In case you want to avoid this whole mess, the game does provide you with Hack Darts. These are darts you can fire from cover to Hack machines from a distance, meaning the whole security turret issue could have been avoided.
In truth, the only real problem with the game is that you might as well not be a Big Daddy. It seemed to be the whole selling point, but nobody is afraid of you, and you?re far from invincible?you just have more armour and bigger weapons than the average plane-crash passenger. Still, fights against other Big Daddies still felt epic, as opposed to just plain frightening, and if you didn?t get a rush from taking on a Bouncer with your drill, you need to rethink your taste in videogames.
Setting
Rapture returns as the single location for the game?s events, only you take a different route through the city than Jack did in the first game. Now, in the Big Daddy suit, you can take detours outside the city, and even find those magical sea slugs that contain ADAM for yourself. Since Jack went from the bathyspheres straight up to Andrew Ryan?s office, he managed to avoid the lower-class areas of the city.
Delta takes an entirely different route. Rather than entering the city, he wakes up within its great walls, and takes a more leisurely stroll toward the Persephone prison blocks. Unfortunately, this part of the city was far less impressive than Jack?s route, since there were no really visually dramatic effects, such as Hephaestus? volcanic vents staining the ocean orange.
And to those who, like myself, spent ages trying to spot the whale we could all hear singing, BioShock 2 decided to add a couple of sharks swimming around the base of the city. Unfortunately, the sharks just didn?t fit right?they added too much life to a city that was meant to be past its best.
In terms of story and setting, BioShock 2 falls at the last hurdle, failing to keep up with its predecessor. However, in terms of gameplay, it flows much more easily, and is just more fun to play through, especially with its added variety in opponents.
The actual review stops here. Now I analyse enemies and weaponry, as I did for the first game. If you?d like to discover my opinion on BioShock 2, simply skip the weapons and monsters, and read the summary.
Inhabitants
For the sake of time and effort, I?ll only cover the enemies introduced in this game. For the list of enemies encountered in the original BioShock, click here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock].
Rumbler
The Big Daddies make a return in BioShock 2, only now the Bouncer and the Rosie are accompanied by the newest breed - the Rumbler. They seemed to have all but replaced the Rosie as the most common Big Daddy, and they wander Rapture?s halls carrying a grenade launcher atop their shoulder, and when threatened, they pull mini-turrets from Ryan knows where, and throw them down for some covering fire. The easiest way to take down a Rumbler is to hit him in close-quarters combat. His grenade launcher is entirely ineffective at close range, and the mini-turrets are little more than an annoyance.
Amusingly enough, I encountered two of these big guys in a room together, each with a Little Sister. I took advantage of the new Hypnotise Plasmid, and let them beat each other into submission.
Alpha Series
The Alpha Series is the prototype Big Daddy - of which Subject Delta was one of the first. They are quick, agile and strong, but not nearly as armoured as the other, newer models. They are automatically aggressive on sight, and never possess a Little Sister. Sometimes, during an ADAM-harvesting session, an Alpha Series will join the Splicers on the attack.
There is also evidence of Plasmid usage among the Alpha Series, since every now and then they suffer some kind of elemental overload. They scream and release an explosion of electricity, fire or ice. They?re armed with Gatling guns, shotguns or grenade launchers, making them effective at both mid and close ranges, since when Delta gets too close, they fight back fiercely, going as far as to head butt him, leaving him stunned momentarily.
Interestingly enough, Drill Dashing during a head butt appears to throw the Alpha somewhere off into the distance. At least, I think that?s what happened.
The most important thing about the Alpha Series is that they still retain a good amount of their mental capacity, except for the fact they?ve been driven completely insane by one thing or another.
Big Sister
What happens when a Little Sister hits puberty? Ten years after Rapture?s fall, the first generation of Little Sisters has grown up, and they no longer need Daddy to protect them. Scavenging armour from around Rapture, and strapping their syringes to their wrists, they won?t even wait for you to die before harvesting ADAM from your face. Big Sisters are quick, mean and tough, and easily enough to give a Big Daddy a run for his money. Fortunately, they only appear on special occasions - such as specific points in the story, or when all the Little Sisters have been dealt with in a single area.
In short - NOT TO BE MESSED WITH.
Brute Splicer
Possibly the only threatening Splicer there ever was. During my playthrough of BioShock 2, I was even more afraid of Brute Splicers than I was of Big Daddies. Brutes are far more aggressive, stronger, and seemingly smarter than the armoured Daddies. They?re big, hulking monstrosities, reminiscent of the Tank from the Left 4 Dead series, though I?d never go as far as to say they were direct copies of said zombie.
Weaponry
Drill
Subject Delta is a prototype Big Daddy, and as such he was built before the distinction between Bouncer and Rosie was made. He possesses a drill that folds over his right hand, and deals some very serious melee damage. Unfortunately, it also eats fuel like a *****, so I used it only for special occasions - for example a Bouncer fight.
Rivet Gun
Referring back to the prototype Big Daddy idea, Delta also finds a Rivet Gun on his travels. Unlike the Pistol from the first game, the Rivet Gun is useful in pretty much any situation. Its base ammunition is the ordinary rivet, used by Rosies both to seal leaks in Rapture, and to plug faces. An Electro Bolt swiftly followed up by a headshot with a rivet is usually enough to take down the average Splicer, and for the tougher enemies, you can switch to the heavy rivets. Normal rivets are found everywhere in Rapture, but heavy rivets are not quite as commonplace. I tended to save my heavy rivets for either Alpha Series, which are vulnerable both to anti-armour and headshots, or Big Sisters, because I hate them and they need to die.
The third type of ammunition is for the more strategically minded. The trap rivet operates in similar fashion to the proximity mine. If you fire a trap rivet into a wall, a thin red laser will extend to about three feet away from the rivet, and should an enemy break that beam, they?ll be hit with shrapnel from the ensuing explosion. Unfortunately, trap rivets need to be replaced every time a Splicer breaks one, so in the event of a large scale invasion, the trap rivet can only protect you from the first two or three Splicers.
Machine Gun
Unlike the first BioShock?s machine gun, this one is a big Gatling weapon, firing high-speed .50 calibre shots as its base ammunition, I would say this is the second most versatile weapon, the first being the Rivet Gun, since the average .50 calibre round can take out a large group of Splicers, and for special occasions, you can switch to either the anti-personnel or anti-armour rounds. Nothing special or complicated involved here, just a big machine gun.
Shotgun
I don?t think there?s much in the way of difference concerning the first game?s shotgun and this one?s. They may well be identical, save for the new types of ammunition. Delta, being a Big Daddy, holds it in one hand, and either blows Splicers? heads off with the shells, or beats them about the face with the butt of the gun.
The base ammunition is the standard 00 Buck, same as in the first game. Lethal at close range, not quite so effective at mid or long.
Then, for some reason, there?s the solid slug. I found this ammo type to be incredibly rare, and I doubt I fired any more than five during the course of the game. According to the BioShock wikia, the solid slug is designed to pierce multiple enemies. I never used it as such. It was mostly my last-resort ammo concerning Big Sisters. It made a damn fine noise when it hit their heads.
The other ammunition type is the phosphorous buck. You shoot the enemy. The phosphorous shells attach themselves to said enemy, and after a few seconds, they burst, igniting the target. Does a surprising amount of damage too, though I rarely used it on anything smaller than a Rumbler or a Big Sister.
Spear Gun
Similar to the Crossbow from the first game, but far more entertaining. Anybody who built the Railway Gun in Fallout 3 will know exactly what I?m talking about when I say pinning enemies to walls is the shit.
Standard ammunition for the Spear Gun is predictably the spear. Long distance, decent piercing damage, and it hangs people up like Satanic post-it notes.
Then, for heavy-duty work, there?s the rocket spear. Whoever had the idea of sticking afterburners on the back of spears was out of his mind, but is nevertheless a bloody genius. The rocket spear is launched like a normal spear, but when it sticks itself in a target, the afterburner kicks in and sets fire to anything nearby, and then explodes, killing anything nearby. It?s pretty bad-ass.
Then there?s the less awesome trap spear. Identical to the trap bolt from the first game in the way that it just sets up a tripwire. Bit dull, compared to the rocket spear.
Launcher
During the first game, I found myself relying on the grenade launcher when it came to Big Daddy fights. In this one, the launcher just sat in my back pocket and was practically unused. It comes with the standard frag grenade, which predictably explode?I raise you the question - what shooter does not come with frag grenades?
And then we have the proximity mines. And these ones don?t detonate when the player steps into its radius, which I think is pretty neat. Helps with luring Brutes or Bouncers into the radius.
Finally, the heat-seeking rocket. Rare ammunition?never found much of it. Never used it, either, except during the Omega battle, and that was just for the sheer hell of it. Locks onto targets, and pursues them. I think. Problem is, I?m very good at reflex accuracy, as in, give me an hour to shoot someone, I?ll miss. Give me a split second chance, and I?ll nail the hit. Rapture?s inhabitants allow for only the latter, so my shots hit the target regardless of any lock-ons or homing missiles or whatever?so all I got was a fancy frag grenade.
Hack Tool
It?s not a weapon, and I won?t even pretend it?s trying to be one. Most likely my least used of all the items in the game?simply because I am not used to hacking from a distance. The standard ammunition is the basic hack dart. Fire it at a machine, you hack the machine. Simple.
For those machines you simply can?t be bothered to hack, there?s the auto-hack dart. Firing this into a machine automatically hacks it, saving you the time and effort.
Then, the only object with offensive capabilities. The mini-turret. Now, the game does a poor job of telling you that the Hack Tool fires mini-turrets. I found myself stooping over the bodies of dead Rumblers wondering why I couldn?t collect the mini-turrets, since I apparently held too many. I at first tried to stuff them in the Launcher?that didn?t go too well. I don?t want to talk about it.
It was only at one of the mandatory hack-dart uses in the story than I discovered the elusive third Hack Tool ammo type. The mini-turret. Excellent for setting up a defensive perimeter around a Harvesting Little Sister, but not very good at holding it. They?re fragile, but the machine gun is at least useful for some covering fire. Typically enough, the only time they were useful was when the Rumblers started using them to clear rooms in their Enrage-induced fits.
Research Camera
And the final item to make a return is the Research Camera?only during the whole Rapture civil war, somebody had been doing some tinkering, for it now records video. Usage is simple enough - aim it at an enemy, and hit the record button. Then you?ll switch to your last used weapon, and the camera will record you soundly thrashing the target. Soon as it?s dead, you receive your research points, and each stage of research nets a different reward. Typically, the first reward is a damage upgrade. The second will boost another stat, the third is another damage upgrade, and the fourth is a new gene tonic.
I?m not sure which I prefer. During the first game, taking a picture with multiple enemies earned you bonus points. In this case, however, to earn research points from multiple enemies at the same time, you?d have to single out each target, and restart the camera every time you score a kill.
Sucks really.
Plasmids
Scout
Rather disappointingly, this is the only original Plasmid created for BioShock 2, the rest being repeats of the Plasmids contained in the first game. Scout allows you to take control of a ?Ghost? version of yourself. Your physical body remains where it is, and is vulnerable to attack, while you can move about invisibly, using Plasmids and hacking machines safely.
Hypnotise
Not a new Plasmid, per se, simply a new version of the old. Rather than being used solely to bring a Big Daddy under control, the base version of Hypnotise behaves identically to Enrage, sending the target into an unstoppable rage. Unstoppable unless they get shot, that is. The second level allows you to Befriend Splicers, and the third allows you to make an ally out of anybody.
Technically, this is just a merging of the Hypnotise Big Daddy and Enrage Plasmids from the first game, so nothing really that exciting.
Any questions about the original game?s Plasmids are to be answered here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.239674-Nerds-Eye-View-BioShock].
That is the third time I?ve referenced my BioShock review, and I do apologise.
If you went away to watch TV during the lecture about weapons and Plasmids, you can come back now.
BioShock 2 is my favourite of the two games. The first game may have had me eager to uncover more of the story, but my curiosity was swiftly beaten out of me by the stupidly angry enemies?so it was a refreshing change to return in the suit of a Big Daddy, and to teach those bloody Splicers a lesson with a big-ass drill. Fights can get intense, and I could get fully immersed in the violence without the worry of ammunition conservation and all that other crap that sucked the fun out of underwater brawling. Fights with Splicers are fast paced and amusing, and a fight with a Big Daddy goes from a carefully planned out strategic battle to an epic bar brawl. With drills.
So in total honesty, I would happily recommend this instalment in the series. In fact, if you?re in the United Kingdom, GAME stores are offering a discount on BioShock 2 if you buy it with Fallout: New Vegas. I would advise taking them up on the offer, and perhaps reviving the failing multiplayer, so I can at least give it a go.
Sometimes I wonder if I should add a scoring system at the end of my reviews, but a scoring system just goes out of hand. Starts off as a simple number between 1 and 10. Then people decide that?s not sophisticated enough, and stick decimal places on there. And they?re so damn unreliable. 8 is now average, 9 is okay, and 10 is ?fair good?. Anything below that, you might as well not bother.
So, I think I will stay away from numerical scoring systems. Not for any artistic reason?nothing about complex opinions?they?re just more trouble than they?re worth.
