Take Two Disappointed With BioShock 2

[Twilight.falls]

I found Bioshock 2 to be satisfactory in comparison to the original. Gameplay was fun, but story was lacking. I just didn't feel the same way as I did with the first.

 

[Cowabungaa]

See, that was another problem I had with the game. First game was all about how and why ayn rand was a dipshit. Then the second game honors her philosophy? Please.

Bioshock 2 was clearly made by people who had close to zero understanding of what made the first game amazing. Mindless executives regurgitating barely understood market data to hundreds of codemonkeys who had no real say in any matter.

You can almost see the original developers refusing to make a sequel, and some brainless executive going "OH YEA? WELL WE DON'T NEED U!" to the facepalms of all within earshot.

I wouldn't say so, BioShock 2 just takes the other extreme presented in Ryan's work which is obviously just as awful. It doesn't glorify Ryan's love for the ego either, as it's all about a mindless slave redeeming himself through love and compassion, if you get the good ending at least. I never noticed Ryan preaching compassion.

But I do agree that it seems that they weren't very aware of that, but the only way to be sure is to ask the developers.

 

[Grampy_bone]

What would be really cool is if they made Bioshock 3 take place in the future, this time with a new Rapture built somewhere even more extreme--like in space! And in addition to bio-organic technology there would be cybernetics, and there could be mutants, and evil robots, and a rogue AI or something, with some RPG elements and weapon upgrades and everything. Man, a game like that would be rad.

 

[Woodsey]

If I was new to the internet I might dare ask, "am I the only who thought Bioshock 2 was better than 1?".

I'm ambivalent about it. I think large late design changes were made to Bioshock in the last year of development, again because of stupid console-tards, developers need to dumb down to meet that market.

You're gonna get chucked off of here pretty quickly if you come out with shit like that.

 

[Xocrates]

If I was new to the internet I might dare ask, "am I the only who thought Bioshock 2 was better than 1?".

My take on it was that while Bioshock was the better experience, Bioshock 2 was the better game. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if in the long run Bioshock 2 ended up more fondly remembered than the first (though I seriously doubt it).

The thing is that bioshock 2 was a) completely unnecessary, and b) less memorable.

Otherwise it played better, it was better paced (seriously though, the first game dragged like hell), it was more consistent in its quality, had a way more satisfying conclusion, and the plot was more mature (though no less silly, and admittedly with worse characters and overall less memorable).

I can understand why people say the game shouldn't exist, but I really don't see why people were disappointed by it.

 

[Woodsey]

What the fuck are midichlorians, and why do we give a shit? There's something called suspension of disbelief that most of us are capable of using.

Uh, it's always the midichlorians with you people.

They were there to show just how powerful Anakin was and his force potential, because if you'll notice he never actually fulfills that potential once he gets cooked alive at gas mark 4.

They're also there because they explain his "lack" of a father (who is strongly implied to be Darth Plageuis) in Ep. 3.

They're not there to explain the force they're just a way of showing Anakin's potential power, because you're never gonna see him actually reach it.

If I was new to the internet I might dare ask, "am I the only who thought Bioshock 2 was better than 1?".

My take on it was that while Bioshock was the better experience, Bioshock 2 was the better game. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if in the long run Bioshock 2 ended up more fondly remembered than the first (though I seriously doubt it).

The thing is that bioshock 2 was a) completely unnecessary, and b) less memorable.

Otherwise it played better, it was better paced (seriously though, the first game dragged like hell), it was more consistent in its quality, had a way more satisfying conclusion, and the plot was more mature (though no less silly, and admittedly with worse characters and overall less memorable).

I can understand why people say the game shouldn't exist, but I really don't see why people were disappointed by it.

I could kiss you for that comment - no one ever mentions the bloody awful pacing of the first. NEVER!

 

[Swarley]

Bioshock 2's story was really it's only weak point, at least in my mind. Though my mind has blotted out the multiplayer, damn that was awful. Gameplay wise it was excellent, especially with the ability to use plasmids with your guns, rather than having to switch. Hell, I enjoyed the Little Sister escort missions, which is unusual given my distaste for escorts of any type.

If I was new to the internet I might dare ask, "am I the only who thought Bioshock 2 was better than 1?".

I'm ambivalent about it. I think large late design changes were made to Bioshock in the last year of development, again because of stupid console-tards, developers need to dumb down to meet that market.

You're gonna get chucked off of here pretty quickly if you come out with shit like that.

Just hit the report and ignore it like everyone else seems to, hopefully the mods will remove him.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

I wouldn't say so, BioShock 2 just takes the other extreme presented in Ryan's work which is obviously just as awful. It doesn't glorify Ryan's love for the ego either, as it's all about a mindless slave redeeming himself through love and compassion, if you get the good ending at least. I never noticed Ryan preaching compassion.

But I do agree that it seems that they weren't very aware of that, but the only way to be sure is to ask the developers.

Conversely, its easy to argue the core philosophy behind bioshock2 was something along the lines of the new world order wanting people to exist only as livestock who's only value being what s/he accomplishes within the narrow constraints of what society dictates as acceptable. Then a relic of older times determines his own criteria for existence. Which is a nice flowery cliffnote version of how ayn rand's philosophy came into existence.

And thats really as far as one can go into bioshock2 before it starts dividing by zero, as the writers really didn't have much clue of what the first game or they were saying.

I could kiss you for that comment - no one ever mentions the bloody awful pacing of the first. NEVER!

I never had a problem with the pacing of bioshock. It felt more like it was going for realism, while bioshock 2 wanted to be an arcade rail shooter.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Bioshock 3 takes place...IN A SKY CITY! Built by Ryan Andrew!

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I liked the hacking system, how you could have the plasmid/weapon out at the same time, and the research system more it 2, but the game crashed literally about 30 times while playing the entire campaign. That was a bit distracting from how good/bad the game was...

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Well, it could do a Zelda, for all we know. Same gameplay and shit, but in newer locations with newer stories in different time periods assuming the role of different characters. We got the chance to play as a normal dude in the first one, and we got the chance to play as a Big Daddy (albeit a more advanced Big Daddy), so who knows what they'll pull on us for the third game.

Maybe letting us play as a Splicer? Or a prequel to the first game when Rapture was in its prime, until that fateful day when it all went to shit? Or maybe an entirely different Rapture altogether? We'll wait and see. I thought Bioshock 2 was what it was supposed to be, an upgrade in terms of gameplay, but in terms of plot, well, it is pretty fucking hard to come up with something that can rival the original Bioshock in terms of story.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Conversely, its easy to argue the core philosophy behind bioshock2 was something along the lines of the new world order wanting people to exist only as livestock who's only value being what s/he accomplishes within the narrow constraints of what society dictates as acceptable. Then a relic of older times determines his own criteria for existence. Which is a nice flowery cliffnote version of how ayn rand's philosophy came into existence.

And thats really as far as one can go into bioshock2 before it starts dividing by zero, as the writers really didn't have much clue of what the first game or they were saying.

BioShock's 2 story is easily explainable by reading The Fountainhead, which is basically Rand's rant (see what I did there?) against collectivist philosophies. BioShock 2 is a grotesque version of that. However, it does not incorporate Rand's usual glorification of the ego, which is also present in The Fountainhead.

Bioshock 3 takes place...IN A SKY CITY! Built by Ryan Andrew!

Why is no one thinking of a prequel?! Don't you guys want to see Rapture before the fall? The vast majority of Rapture's history is not used in both games, I think that's a shame.

Rapture is in the same league as Silent Hill, in that it should be treated as a character, not a location. It grows, it can change. Rapture is what needed to be expanded on, not the lore of their own Mr Scary, the Big Daddies. What BioShock 2 failed to do was expand on Rapture itself, instead expanding the mythos and hence ruining what was so fascinating about the first game. Rapture was what horrified me, not the Splicers, not the Little Sisters, Rapture. Similarly, it was Silent Hill that made me crap myself, not Pyramid Head or the glistening products of James' sexually frustrated mind.

I agree 100%, and that's exactly why I want to see the kind of prequel I described earlier: to see the city in it's full glory, only to see it descend into madness and perversion during the game, to see Rapture's ideals twist and destroy it's inhabitants.

 

[micky]

if it leaves rapture it shouldn't even be called bioshock

 

[Cynical skeptic]

BioShock's 2 story is easily explainable by reading The Fountainhead, which is basically Rand's rant (see what I did there?) against collectivist philosophies. BioShock 2 is a grotesque version of that. However, it does not incorporate Rand's usual glorification of the ego, which is also present in The Fountainhead.

How can you say that? You play as a creature stripped of ego, who develops his own for his own reasons in defiance of everything that created him.

Sure, you've got "help me obiwan kenobi ur mah only hope" popping up through steam powered telepathy every so often, but thats just one of the many ways the game contradicts itself.

 

[mattaui]

The worst thing that can happen to a lot of good stories, no matter what the medium, is that a sequel be made. Sequels are great for when there's actually more of a story to tell, and even prequels don't make any sense half the time, because what made the story a good story hasn't happened yet. This just screamed derivative money grab, and that's exactly what it was.

 

[Shycte]

Bioshock 3 takes place...IN A SKY CITY! Built by Ryan Andrew!

DAM DAM DA DAM

Explains alot.

 

[ImprovizoR]

I would rather have a new innovative game than another Bioshock. I loved Bioshock 1, liked Bioshock 2, but I wouldn't play Bioshock 3. I would however play a mystery adventure game set in Rapture City before the events which led to it's demise.

 

[Cowabungaa]

How can you say that? You play as a creature stripped of ego, who develops his own for his own reasons in defiance of everything that created him.

Sure, you've got "help me obiwan kenobi ur mah only hope" popping up through steam powered telepathy every so often, but thats just one of the many ways the game contradicts itself.

Hmmm good point, I forgot about that and just focussed on him basically giving his life for the sake of his daughter. A kind of self-sacrifice I think Rand would never approve of.

 

[Grubnar]

What would be really cool is if they made Bioshock 3 take place in the future, this time with a new Rapture built somewhere even more extreme--like in space! And in addition to bio-organic technology there would be cybernetics, and there could be mutants, and evil robots, and a rogue AI or something, with some RPG elements and weapon upgrades and everything. Man, a game like that would be rad.

Yes, we could call it BioShock 3 ... or maybe come up with a different name for this different setting, like ... I dunno, SystemShock?

Or in short, I see what you did there