Bioshock 2
And yes, here is me hoping the reviewing craze of this game has numbed down a little so I don?t appear as just another dude doing the same thing. If you haven?t played or seen or heard anything of the first game this review will probably be confusing to you, however, if you think you?ve read every mildly interesting perspective on this game, then don't waste your time here, would you kindly.
Setting
Being the successor to the revelation that was the first game, not only was there a ton of expectations but an equal amount of hype, and possibly pressure on the hapless crew of 2K Games.
The player is once again invited to delve ever deeper into the madness and wonder that is Rapture, as a Big Daddy. The city, curiously enough hasn?t eaten itself 10 years after the events of the first game. This is mostly able, due to Sophia Lamb?s influence on the city, which after Andrew Ryan?s and Fountaine?s deaths (in the course of events of the first game), has taken the reins of power all to herself and has begun a somewhat avid search for Utopia and the kind of citizen the Utopian should be. The results of this search are interesting of not gruesome and absurd at the same time.
Story time
The story is mostly based on the characters found within the world of Rapture rather than actual events. Mostly it revolves around the bond the Big Daddies and the Little Sisters share, such being the case of Subject Delta and Eleanor. Now Delta is one of the first ?volunteers? of the Big Daddy Project and the first successfully bonded subject to a Little Sister. The bond between him and Eleanor was to be an eternal one and in the event of straying too far from her, his heart would simply give out. Delta is robbed of his charge, of little Eleanor, after being forced to shoot himself, this happens right in the intro sequence which is seen from the Delta?s perspective and is quite intense to behold.
Delta mysteriously wakes up 10 years after having pushed a bullet through his skull and the player?s duty is to help Delta in his single-minded quest to reunite with his beloved Eleanor as pushes his way through whatever Sophia Lamb throws his way, be it: ambushing Splicers, neurotic Big-sisters or other Alpha Series.
Speaking of Sophia Lamb, she is now the ruler of Rapture, and has created a certain kind of communist system where everyone is adopted into The Family, her visual trademark being blue butterflies, these and other slogans being easily seen throughout the city. She is also the mother of Eleanor and as the game progresses the player finds more and more about the set of circumstances which lead to her daughter being turned into an Adam sipping creature.
As in the first game, you are acquainted with several important characters, some being there to sneer at you and give you troubles and others to help you on your way. Tenenbaum also makes an appearance but sadly, it?s more of a cameo than anything else and you?ve no idea what the hell happened to her later in the game.
The characters are mostly annoying however, while I loved Sinclair?s way of speaking it became tiring after a while and listening to him felt like a chore. The only thing stopping me from bashing Grace Holloway to death was my Good Samaritan game-face since I wanted a happy ending and Sophia Lamb has the most annoying voice and tone in existence. I also had troubles at times feeling any empathy for Delta since he expressed his feelings mostly through low groans and moans, his altered voice box may have something to do with that but that's just an excuse.
Graphic fluidity
The game pretty much looks like its predecessor , the color palette has the same vibrant colors and the same dark tones. The flamboyant decorations of the more vivid areas such as Siren Alley or Ryan Amusements starkly contrast the wrecked and flooded ones such as Dionysius Park. The ocean?s influence on Rapture is more apparent than before mostly because aquatic flora has had time to form sneaking among the ever-multiplying creaks and cracks of the undersea haven . Fluid dynamics are pretty much the same as before, ice melts the same way and droplets of water look the same sliding down your screen.
Yes, water, this game has a lot of it, so much that it even invites to take a stroll (or a swim)every now and then, while it does this rather abruptly, the underwater sequences are refreshing and visually pleasant and give the player a breather from the raving lunacy withheld inside the city.
Cruisin' through da hood
The old character models are pretty much the same, the new ones stay true to the visual style of the game: the Brute splicers with their overinflated upper bodies give you an idea right away of what they can do, you get to see a Rumbler first-hand defending a sister, lobbing mini-turrets and rockets everywhere, the Alpha series are pretty much carbon copies of the player and mirror his agility and weapons, and the Big Sisters, well, they gracefully leap about and threaten every inch of your body suit with plasmids, oversized syringes and ear-raping screeches.
Sound
Overall the score , has a more serious vibe to it. Dark ambiental tunes follow your every step through the decaying halls of rapture, and bring a certain sense of drama and loss especially in the more dramatic scenes. Thankfully it maintains a sense of familiarity from the Bioshock. One of the most memorable songs can be heard when taking the first stroll on the ocean floor of Rapture. Oh and on another note it?s really neat to hear water splashing against Delta?s helmet and making metallic noises.
Daddy-play
This is where the game shines, 2K took the original formula and improved it quite well actually. Since you?re this huge, hulking, moaning mutant you can easily carry whatever weapons you may find into one hand, leaving the other free to zap enemies with plasmids. The plasmids have evolved and open some new ways of using them, for example the Cyclone Trap which can be imbued with any other plasmids you posess.
The weapons work pretty much the same way as the ones in the first game, but with a different look and a more distinctive Big Daddy-look so to say. The machine gun is now a zomg minigun, the shotgun is a now sawed-off shotgun and you have a drill! Unfortunately the drill burns out more fuel than 3 Hummers put together even with the upgrade but it is nonetheless effective. The other novelty in this aspect is the hack gun which makes hacking so much easier and the hacking itself is reduced to pseudo-quick time events which go faster than fixing pipes.
You can now carry only 5 first-aid kits and 5 eve-hypos but that matters little since there?s enough candy bars and canned enough to feed several starving nations in this game.
There?s also the infamous adopting system where you whack a Big Daddy over the head, take his Little Sis and proceed to gathering ADAM from corpses, this is easily done though as there?s enough special ammo and plasmids to secure a perimeter well enough that you won?t even have to fire at any splicer.
No, no more candy for you young lady.
This recipe is maintained throughout the game with some possible exceptions such as the Unstable Teleport Plasmid event and that one time where you get to see the world of rapture through the eyes of a Little Sister which is quite a beatific experience and brings a nice change to everything you see up to that point.
Verdict
Bioshock 2 is a good game and while compared to its predecessor it may seem lame it puts up a good fight and can be considered a worthy successor to its older brother. I?d highly recommend this game, whether you decide to buy it or rent or steal it from a friend, you really should play this game.
9.2 for me.
And yes, here is me hoping the reviewing craze of this game has numbed down a little so I don?t appear as just another dude doing the same thing. If you haven?t played or seen or heard anything of the first game this review will probably be confusing to you, however, if you think you?ve read every mildly interesting perspective on this game, then don't waste your time here, would you kindly.
Setting
Being the successor to the revelation that was the first game, not only was there a ton of expectations but an equal amount of hype, and possibly pressure on the hapless crew of 2K Games.
The player is once again invited to delve ever deeper into the madness and wonder that is Rapture, as a Big Daddy. The city, curiously enough hasn?t eaten itself 10 years after the events of the first game. This is mostly able, due to Sophia Lamb?s influence on the city, which after Andrew Ryan?s and Fountaine?s deaths (in the course of events of the first game), has taken the reins of power all to herself and has begun a somewhat avid search for Utopia and the kind of citizen the Utopian should be. The results of this search are interesting of not gruesome and absurd at the same time.
Story time
The story is mostly based on the characters found within the world of Rapture rather than actual events. Mostly it revolves around the bond the Big Daddies and the Little Sisters share, such being the case of Subject Delta and Eleanor. Now Delta is one of the first ?volunteers? of the Big Daddy Project and the first successfully bonded subject to a Little Sister. The bond between him and Eleanor was to be an eternal one and in the event of straying too far from her, his heart would simply give out. Delta is robbed of his charge, of little Eleanor, after being forced to shoot himself, this happens right in the intro sequence which is seen from the Delta?s perspective and is quite intense to behold.
Delta mysteriously wakes up 10 years after having pushed a bullet through his skull and the player?s duty is to help Delta in his single-minded quest to reunite with his beloved Eleanor as pushes his way through whatever Sophia Lamb throws his way, be it: ambushing Splicers, neurotic Big-sisters or other Alpha Series.
Speaking of Sophia Lamb, she is now the ruler of Rapture, and has created a certain kind of communist system where everyone is adopted into The Family, her visual trademark being blue butterflies, these and other slogans being easily seen throughout the city. She is also the mother of Eleanor and as the game progresses the player finds more and more about the set of circumstances which lead to her daughter being turned into an Adam sipping creature.
As in the first game, you are acquainted with several important characters, some being there to sneer at you and give you troubles and others to help you on your way. Tenenbaum also makes an appearance but sadly, it?s more of a cameo than anything else and you?ve no idea what the hell happened to her later in the game.
The characters are mostly annoying however, while I loved Sinclair?s way of speaking it became tiring after a while and listening to him felt like a chore. The only thing stopping me from bashing Grace Holloway to death was my Good Samaritan game-face since I wanted a happy ending and Sophia Lamb has the most annoying voice and tone in existence. I also had troubles at times feeling any empathy for Delta since he expressed his feelings mostly through low groans and moans, his altered voice box may have something to do with that but that's just an excuse.
Graphic fluidity
The game pretty much looks like its predecessor , the color palette has the same vibrant colors and the same dark tones. The flamboyant decorations of the more vivid areas such as Siren Alley or Ryan Amusements starkly contrast the wrecked and flooded ones such as Dionysius Park. The ocean?s influence on Rapture is more apparent than before mostly because aquatic flora has had time to form sneaking among the ever-multiplying creaks and cracks of the undersea haven . Fluid dynamics are pretty much the same as before, ice melts the same way and droplets of water look the same sliding down your screen.
Yes, water, this game has a lot of it, so much that it even invites to take a stroll (or a swim)every now and then, while it does this rather abruptly, the underwater sequences are refreshing and visually pleasant and give the player a breather from the raving lunacy withheld inside the city.
Cruisin' through da hood
The old character models are pretty much the same, the new ones stay true to the visual style of the game: the Brute splicers with their overinflated upper bodies give you an idea right away of what they can do, you get to see a Rumbler first-hand defending a sister, lobbing mini-turrets and rockets everywhere, the Alpha series are pretty much carbon copies of the player and mirror his agility and weapons, and the Big Sisters, well, they gracefully leap about and threaten every inch of your body suit with plasmids, oversized syringes and ear-raping screeches.
Sound
Overall the score , has a more serious vibe to it. Dark ambiental tunes follow your every step through the decaying halls of rapture, and bring a certain sense of drama and loss especially in the more dramatic scenes. Thankfully it maintains a sense of familiarity from the Bioshock. One of the most memorable songs can be heard when taking the first stroll on the ocean floor of Rapture. Oh and on another note it?s really neat to hear water splashing against Delta?s helmet and making metallic noises.
Daddy-play
This is where the game shines, 2K took the original formula and improved it quite well actually. Since you?re this huge, hulking, moaning mutant you can easily carry whatever weapons you may find into one hand, leaving the other free to zap enemies with plasmids. The plasmids have evolved and open some new ways of using them, for example the Cyclone Trap which can be imbued with any other plasmids you posess.
The weapons work pretty much the same way as the ones in the first game, but with a different look and a more distinctive Big Daddy-look so to say. The machine gun is now a zomg minigun, the shotgun is a now sawed-off shotgun and you have a drill! Unfortunately the drill burns out more fuel than 3 Hummers put together even with the upgrade but it is nonetheless effective. The other novelty in this aspect is the hack gun which makes hacking so much easier and the hacking itself is reduced to pseudo-quick time events which go faster than fixing pipes.
You can now carry only 5 first-aid kits and 5 eve-hypos but that matters little since there?s enough candy bars and canned enough to feed several starving nations in this game.
There?s also the infamous adopting system where you whack a Big Daddy over the head, take his Little Sis and proceed to gathering ADAM from corpses, this is easily done though as there?s enough special ammo and plasmids to secure a perimeter well enough that you won?t even have to fire at any splicer.
No, no more candy for you young lady.
This recipe is maintained throughout the game with some possible exceptions such as the Unstable Teleport Plasmid event and that one time where you get to see the world of rapture through the eyes of a Little Sister which is quite a beatific experience and brings a nice change to everything you see up to that point.
Verdict
Bioshock 2 is a good game and while compared to its predecessor it may seem lame it puts up a good fight and can be considered a worthy successor to its older brother. I?d highly recommend this game, whether you decide to buy it or rent or steal it from a friend, you really should play this game.
9.2 for me.
