Review: BioShock 2

TriggerUnhappy

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Mar 4, 2009
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Good review, though I noted one thing:
Russ Pitts said:
One of the most intriguing changes, worth noting here, is the option to turn off the "Vita-Chamber," the device that instantly reincarnates your character after death which was the source of some considerable ire from hardcore players of the original game
Actually, you were able to turn off the Vita-Chambers in the first game, for it was necessary to get the Brass Balls achievement. Still, great review once again, and I'm probably going to pick the game up in a couple of weeks.
 

Suskie

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Nov 9, 2009
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I wasn't an enormous fan of the first game so I'll take all of this praise with mountains upon mountains of salt, but good review nonetheless. Two of my roommates will be getting this game so I'll be able to try it out for myself.
 

Legion

Were it so easy
Oct 2, 2008
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It does seem to be what all the reviews are saying "Only real flaw is how similar it is", although to me, that isn't much of a problem as the locations, weapons, enemies and story will be new, and that's all that needs changing for me (as long as the story is good that is).

wouldyoukindly99 said:
Good review, but is the voice acting really that much worse? That clip of Augustus Sinclair didn't seem all that bad to me, he may not be as eloquent as Andrew Ryan, but it didn't seem all that bad.
In all honesty, how could they possibly beat the voice acting for Ryan/Atlas anyway? It's almost certain to feel worse in comparison.

TriggerUnhappy said:
Actually, you were able to turn off the Vita-Chambers in the first game, for it was necessary to get the Brass Balls achievement. Still, great review once again, and I'm probably going to pick the game up in a couple of weeks.
Actually you didn't, you simply have to not use one. I saved the game and just reloaded when I died to get it as I wasn't aware of being able to turn it off.

oranger said:
honestly, this doesn't sound so great...in fact, this sounds like a prettied up vanilla shooter.
and bioshock one was a wee bit shallow to begin with, gameplay-wise.
How can game-play be shallow?

What's a deeper sport, football or baseball? It makes no sense.
 

oranger

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May 27, 2008
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gameplay being shallow...it means the difference between few or many choices being available.
one might say that blake stone was shallower than deus ex gameplay-wise, or that chocolate iced cream has less depth of flavour than neopolitan iced cream.
 

Generic_Dave

Prelate Invigilator
Jul 15, 2009
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Could you not turn off the vita-chambers in the original...I distinctly remember killing myself (and failing) trying to "Choose the Impossible" with them off.
 

paketep

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Jul 14, 2008
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More of the same single player + half-assed multi with no dedis and no LAN = no sale

Why did they bother to implement multi if they were going to release this BS?. They only have to retouch the Unreal Engine, the multi code is already there, FFS!
 

A Weary Exile

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Aug 24, 2009
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Machines said:
...In all honesty, how could they possibly beat the voice acting for Ryan/Atlas anyway? It's almost certain to feel worse in comparison.
Very, very true. I think I'm going to go watch some of Andrew Ryan's speechs to get me psyched for the sequel, I can't wait to get this. :D
 

ProfessorLayton

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Nov 6, 2008
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If it was anything like the first game, that's great. The fact that its biggest flaw is that it is so similar to the first one, then that makes it great. I can't wait to pick up my special edition tomorrow!
 

Frank_Sinatra_

Digs Giant Robots
Dec 30, 2008
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Tonimata said:
Is it just me, or did Russ use the words "original game" a bit too much?
But hey, if it's just more Bioshock, God knows it can't be bad.
I'll say it's a bad thing considering how I hated Bioshock.
Okay... Hate is too strong of a word, but I thought it wasn't that great... Then again I played Bioshock after swallowing down some Fallout 3 amazing juice.
 

JSR

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Nov 17, 2009
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Unfortently after playing bioshock 2 i have finished it within 8 hours i didn't die once and i played it on hard. And i have unlocked most of the achivements from it....so id say you should really consider purchasing bioshock 2 because if it was twice aslong it would of being worth it but unfortently it hasent being.
 

[Cold-Shoulder]

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Jun 5, 2009
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Good review as usual.
I can't wait to pick up the game but I doubt it can match its predecessor story wise. :(
[small] Hopefully I'll be proven wrong[/small]
 

bladeofdarkness

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Aug 6, 2009
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is it just me
or does anyone else feel like the phrase "area defense" is a euphemism for "escort mission" ?
 

Andronicus

Terror Australis
Mar 25, 2009
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I still don't know if I'll bother picking this up. If it's more of the same then, while the same is good, I don't think it constitutes shelling out AU$100+ for it. I liked Bioshock one, but I guess I really didn't like it that much. I'm a lot more interested in the locations you get to visit than anything else, but I might as well just check the wiki.

Maybe after a year or so, once it's come down in price a bit, I'll reconsider it.
 

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
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bladeofdarkness said:
is it just me
or does anyone else feel like the phrase "area defense" is a euphemism for "escort mission" ?
Sort of, but you don't have to defend her per say, it simply takes longer for her to finish collecting if she gets hit.
 

thenamelessloser

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Jan 15, 2010
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Slycne said:
bladeofdarkness said:
is it just me
or does anyone else feel like the phrase "area defense" is a euphemism for "escort mission" ?
Sort of, but you don't have to defend her per say, it simply takes longer for her to finish collecting if she gets hit.
That is all the defense missions are? I don't exactly remember the specifics but the escort missions near the end were the only part of Bioshock 1 which I didn't like...

Also, to all the people complaining about Bioshock's gameplay, how many FPS single player games are actually better? The only games I can think were Deus Ex games, System Shock 2(which I unfortunately haven't played but maybe if I played it I would feel the same way that some of the people that criticize Bioshock for being "shallow.") and Thief games...
 

Slycne

Tank Ninja
Feb 19, 2006
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thenamelessloser said:
Slycne said:
bladeofdarkness said:
is it just me
or does anyone else feel like the phrase "area defense" is a euphemism for "escort mission" ?
Sort of, but you don't have to defend her per say, it simply takes longer for her to finish collecting if she gets hit.
That is all the defense missions are? I don't exactly remember the specifics but the escort missions near the end were the only part of Bioshock 1 which I didn't like...
Yes, it's just a slight change that makes it not as punishing. Doing a poor job of defending simply makes the fight last longer and there by increases your chances of dying, but you are not going to fail because one guy slipped past you.
 

Angrywyvern

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Sep 30, 2008
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One of the most intriguing changes, worth noting here, is the option to turn off the "Vita-Chamber," the device that instantly reincarnates your character after death which was the source of some considerable ire from hardcore players of the original game[/quote]

I thought you could turn off vita chambers in the last game. I specifically remember it being an option in the menus. Maybe it's just because I have it on PC on steam, whereas you may have played it on the Xbox.
 

Patroclus

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Sep 28, 2009
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I think I would enjoy playing that sometime. But I missed out on the first one, unfortunately. Do you recommend playing through the first Bioshock before the sequel? Or do you think that would somewhat spoil the experience of Bioshock 2 for me?
 

Crimson_Dragoon

Biologist Supreme
Jul 29, 2009
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Liked the first one and am glad to hear the second is just as good.

On a related tangent, am I the only one that noticed they included a score (4 out of 5 stars) at the bottom. That's new for their reviews and I'm not sure I like it. I always respected the Escapist for not putting in an arbitrary score (which people will just argue over).