Zero Punctuation: BioShock 2

[Kaleid]

Short take, not as good as the first one but still enjoyable enough. But...

Complaints:
Like the first one it feels like a lite version of SS2, this is my main gripe with both games
No audio occlusion. C'mon even Thief 1 has this, which was a released back in 1998.
It's too OTT actiony, holding the players hands with tips and tricks even though I turned off as much as I could.
Nothing quite as memorable as Sander Cohen and "W.Y.K?".
The camera research friggin sucks. And it doesn't make any sense to automatically receive upgrades after research.
No quick buttons to switch to camera and to previously used weapon.
The scripted feel of the game, like when the little sisters gather Adam or when alarms are set on..
How exactly can remote hacking failure result into player damage?
Add player leaning and walking, even with the lurker plasmid stealth is pretty non-existent
OTT animations especially on with the plasmids
Why won't the AI after at least a bit of time having passed shoot the cameras?

Plusses:
Still a unique setting which I like. Steam punk. And yeah, it's first person.
Even though I complained about the OTT action the big sisters fights can awesomely intense.
Game doesn't seem to remember mouse settings, even after quick load it loses its setting
The music is still very good, as well as is a lot of the voice work.
The levels are often surprisingly open..
New hacking is better
It's still fun to set this and that on fire
Little sister comments can be hilarious, but there should be more of them

 

[EliteFreq]

I do love Bioshock 2, but I agree partly with what you said. I over-look all the possible plot-holes simply because it's a fun game. It's got a the same, immense atmosphere as before but with almost completely different locations. I love the new weapons, hacking and the adjustments made to plasmids and tonics because it changes how you prepare for everything, everything works the same yet differently. While I think the story is lacking in comparison to the original, I also think that Bioshock 2 is more fun.

 

[1337mokro]

Well first of Yahtzee this big daddy doesn't have fluorescent lights, his helmet just sort a looks like bomberman's head.

But besides that I liked some of the few changes (Mini games are better, Big Sisters add an extra hurdle to overcome besides the Big Daddy and Plasmids can now charge up for beam attacks, Flame ON!) but don't think I'm praising Bioshock 2, god no this was one of the few reviews I almost completely agreed with.

Bioshock 2 is bad in comparison to it's predecessor. Allot of things simply don't make sense (I also noticed the eating through the helmet thing), are uninteresting or are never explained.

Bioshock 2 would have been allot better if you didn't start AS a Big Daddy Prototype but as the original test subject: Jonny. 2-3 days ahead of him turning in a big Daddy, you could have seen Rapture all sparkling and new, seen it's downfall, partake in the revolts or go rob some banks and THAN have fought Crazy Psychiatrist woman. Would have made the first half of the game enjoyable.

Besides that Rapture all leaky doesn't have the same feel as it first did. It was a new world seen from an outsiders view, here we play a BD which is one of Raptures inhabitant which takes a bit away from the atmosphere and awe. Like I already said seeing the Fall of Rapture would have helped to usher back in that feeling of awe.

I found about 6 audiotapes going on about Jonny Topside (You, the player before turning into BD) a lone sailor who managed to get to Rapture using only a submarine and a pile of Luck and basically turned into Raptures hero, it's beacon from the surface shining hope.

Now that is a good hero character, he is daring, charismatic, has a VOICE and personality we would all be willing to get behind.

But maybe they saved that for Bioshock 3. But still if I hadn't run into a 25$ Bioshock 2 copy I would have probably let it slip for AC2 and many other games draining my wallet.

 

[Acton Hank]

Hated Bioshit 1 so I won't be giving this a chance.
I don't see what everyone else sees in the story.
It's very cliche, even by gaming standards.

 

[PrototypeC]

What if, for Silent Hill 3, we let them play as Red Pyramid? No no, it's the prototype Red Pyramid, forced to find his identity in an uncaring world, but with a heart of gold. Eh? EH?

 

[1337mokro]

What if, for Silent Hill 3, we let them play as Red Pyramid? No no, it's the prototype Red Pyramid, forced to find his identity in an uncaring world, but with a heart of gold. Eh? EH?

Sounds interesting but you mean SH6, they already did 3-5 .

 

[PrototypeC]

Hated Bioshit 1 so I won't be giving this a chance.
I don't see what everyone else sees in the story.
It's very cliche, even by gaming standards.

But your name is Chris Redfield? Somehow I doubt your good taste in story.

 

[Virtual_Dom]

"Half life sequel where you get to play as a gun turret" best line of the video, keep it up yahtzee.

Also one thing that pissed me off about bioshock 1 was that enemies strangely got increases in health and needed 7 shotgun blasts to the face to go down or 2 whole MG magazines to die

Is that still present here in bioshock 2?

 

[Shockolate]

Amusing review. I knew Yahtzee would trash it, and was not disappointed.

Unfortunately, while he is entitled to his opinion, I disagree with it. I enjoyed the living hell out of Bioshock 2, and already have played it through twice. I got pretty good value out of my purchase, I think.

Some refined gameplay mechanics? Check
Some new gameplay mechanics to 'freshen up' things? Check
New locations that remain asthetically faithful to the original? Check
New plot, that stays thematically faithful to the original? Check
Same high production values as the original? Check
...and I could go on.

Now, obviously some ret-conning is going to have to happen, because the first game left little in the way of flexibilty for continuation, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Yahtzee made it out to be.

A perfect example of how Yahtzee is completely off-base on some of these points? There's a series of audio logs that specifically explain why the prototype Big Daddy (the player) is so much more powerful than what ended up as the "production" Big Daddy, namely:

Spoiler

that the prototype was too powerful and uncontrollable, killing orderlies and throwing off the mental conditioning Ryan and Lamb (who you discover were originally working together to create the Big Daddies, much like Tenenbaum pioneered the Little Sisters) were developing to compliment Suchong's physical upgrades. They dumbed the final version of the Big Daddies down so they could be more easily controlled. (and also took away the ability for them to use plasmids)

The point is: the info was there if you cared to look for it. Clearly, Yahtzee doesn't have time to actually thoroughly play a game; instead, he has to rip right through them as fast as possible looking for elements he can excoriate, rather than provide a legitimate, in-depth review.

Which is exactly why I consider his 'reviews' to not be informational, but simple entertainment.

Another great example was what he said about the Big Sister attacking you after you deal with the little sisters. It's not WHAT you do with the sisters, it's the fact that you're doing ANYTHING with them, seeing as Lamb basically controls Rapture now and you are screwing with her plans. The big sisters, like most "spliocers" and big daddies, are under her control, and sicks them on you whenever she pleases (which coincidentally is whenever you deal with the little sisters).

 

[PrototypeC]

What if, for Silent Hill 3, we let them play as Red Pyramid? No no, it's the prototype Red Pyramid, forced to find his identity in an uncaring world, but with a heart of gold. Eh? EH?

Sounds interesting but you mean SH6, they already did 3-5 .

I'm chanelling some imaginary dipshit after the success of Silent Hill 2, circa 2002. And please tell me you're kidding about it being interesting!

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Kaleid]

Never really had any interest in either Bioshocks. As Yahtzee said in his previous Bioshock review: "It's not LIKE System Shock 2 it IS System Shock 2."

Story yes, but gameplay no. Bioshock is the special olympics equivalent of SS2.

 

[Mirroga]

I loved fighting the big sisters but that's just me.
I played on normal mode and was still owning the bitches....why is there an achievment for killing one without dying?

Yes, it was fun, but it was way to easy, IMO they could have made it rarer and harder for you to fight them.

And what?
I DIDN'T GET NO FUCKING ACHIEVEMENT!

I should have gotten it like 40 times over!

I think the achievement was defeating a Big Sister w/out getting damaged.

 

[Lord Thodin]

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad that someone else agrees with me that the Bioshock sequel is cAHrap. The entire time Yahtzee was pointing out the flaws of this game, I was screaming "YES!"

 

[Mirroga]

Well first of Yahtzee this big daddy doesn't have fluorescent lights, his helmet just sort a looks like bomberman's head.

But besides that I liked some of the few changes (Mini games are better, Big Sisters add an extra hurdle to overcome besides the Big Daddy and Plasmids can now charge up for beam attacks, Flame ON!) but don't think I'm praising Bioshock 2, god no this was one of the few reviews I almost completely agreed with.

Bioshock 2 is bad in comparison to it's predecessor. Allot of things simply don't make sense (I also noticed the eating through the helmet thing), are uninteresting or are never explained.

Bioshock 2 would have been allot better if you didn't start AS a Big Daddy Prototype but as the original test subject: Jonny. 2-3 days ahead of him turning in a big Daddy, you could have seen Rapture all sparkling and new, seen it's downfall, partake in the revolts or go rob some banks and THAN have fought Crazy Psychiatrist woman. Would have made the first half of the game enjoyable.

Besides that Rapture all leaky doesn't have the same feel as it first did. It was a new world seen from an outsiders view, here we play a BD which is one of Raptures inhabitant which takes a bit away from the atmosphere and awe. Like I already said seeing the Fall of Rapture would have helped to usher back in that feeling of awe.

I found about 6 audiotapes going on about Jonny Topside (You, the player before turning into BD) a lone sailor who managed to get to Rapture using only a submarine and a pile of Luck and basically turned into Raptures hero, it's beacon from the surface shining hope.

Now that is a good hero character, he is daring, charismatic, has a VOICE and personality we would all be willing to get behind.

But maybe they saved that for Bioshock 3. But still if I hadn't run into a 25$ Bioshock 2 copy I would have probably let it slip for AC2 and many other games draining my wallet.

THIS! It would've been so nice if they simply started you as Johnny trying to get into Rapture without a bathysphere, then being jailed and experimented on. Time lapse ensues and you are plunged into mystery. They forgot the pacing which would've made the story more intriguing.

 

[Blanks]

Okay, that's fine... but was it fun?

 

[Johann Goethe]

Amusing review. I knew Yahtzee would trash it, and was not disappointed.

Unfortunately, while he is entitled to his opinion, I disagree with it. I enjoyed the living hell out of Bioshock 2, and already have played it through twice. I got pretty good value out of my purchase, I think.

Some refined gameplay mechanics? Check
Some new gameplay mechanics to 'freshen up' things? Check
New locations that remain asthetically faithful to the original? Check
New plot, that stays thematically faithful to the original? Check
Same high production values as the original? Check
...and I could go on.

Now, obviously some ret-conning is going to have to happen, because the first game left little in the way of flexibilty for continuation, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Yahtzee made it out to be.

A perfect example of how Yahtzee is completely off-base on some of these points? There's a series of audio logs that specifically explain why the prototype Big Daddy (the player) is so much more powerful than what ended up as the "production" Big Daddy, namely:

Spoiler

that the prototype was too powerful and uncontrollable, killing orderlies and throwing off the mental conditioning Ryan and Lamb (who you discover were originally working together to create the Big Daddies, much like Tenenbaum pioneered the Little Sisters) were developing to compliment Suchong's physical upgrades. They dumbed the final version of the Big Daddies down so they could be more easily controlled. (and also took away the ability for them to use plasmids)

The point is: the info was there if you cared to look for it. Clearly, Yahtzee doesn't have time to actually thoroughly play a game; instead, he has to rip right through them as fast as possible looking for elements he can excoriate, rather than provide a legitimate, in-depth review.

Which is exactly why I consider his 'reviews' to not be informational, but simple entertainment.

Let's conveniently ignore the fact that Yahtzee is a busy man with his fingers in several pies, including a TV show, a bar, and a novel, on top of playing games for Zero Punctuation in the first place. I do agree with you, that the information was there, but all that really matters is him actually getting to the end of the game in time for the review. It would have made more sense to play as Subject Delta if it was a prequel, as his sudden revival felt stretched.

Spoiler

I thought Vita-Chambers only worked for certain people?

Plus, I'd like to actually explore Rapture rather than just stomp about a bit of seabed for a bit.

 

[Mirroga]

Adding to my posts above, I would've loved a Bioshock prequel wherein you are a gentleman enjoying splendor in Rapture before its downfall. Then you are simply sucked in and forced to partake in the revolts and civil wars.

I want a Bioshock prequel simply to know all the events that turned Rapture upside down. The people are only minor or supporting characters in Bioshock. The main character of Bioshock to me is Rapture.

 

[Feylynn]

I think I would pay for BioShock 2 and stop regretting my purchase of BioShock 1 if I could play as a Vending Machine in BioShock 3. They would need to go more then 9 yards over the top though. Like make it a moderately humanoid VendBot with a trench coat, fedora, and smoking habit.
They should also give you a convertible, that you get to drive outside of rapture, along the bottom of the ocean.

I think counter intuitively to them being so similar, it's the people that didn't like 1 that liked 2. Perhaps it's the completely opposite enemy vision?

 

[ImprovizoR]

The ending cracked me up. Didn't see that coming...vending machine