Zero Punctuation: BioShock 2

[FlipC]

But he didn't review the multiplayer aspect!!

Heh Heh just kidding.

Having played and finished the sequel, and collected all the audio diaries along the way, I was surprised by ZP's review until I realised that he seems to have played this as a shooter.

If you do that than yes the defence missions are a pain, yes some aspects of your actions make no sense, yes the actions of the Big Sisters are bizarre.

But as has been pointed out here there's a reason you're more powerful, there's a reason why the Big Sisters will attack you regardless of whether you rescue or harvest a Little Sister. Oh yes they didn't explain the telepathy bad developers; but we're quite happy to let you skip out on explaining how I'm shooting fire from my hand.

I don't know about anyone else, but I liked being a Big Daddy in the first game. What I didn't like was this was firmly glued to a fracking escort mission. Other than the first semi-tutorial section you didn't have to do a single defence mission.

Is there a truth in that it's just a rehash of the old game... yes, but how is that any different from pretty much every sequel?

 

[beetrain]

Is stuff like telepathy and filling one person's brain with several others really that far fetched after we've accepted a magical hand that shoots bees?

 

[Azaraxzealot]

ehhh.... maybe i was REALLY bad with the plasmids, but I didn't think they were cheap in the first game, plus, what does "broken" even mean when referring to stuff in games?

 

[gmanyo]

I actually expected this game to be good for some reason. I'm actually getting really tired of sequels, remakes, and things based on other things. Especially in movies. Seriously, Hollywood needs to die, or at least get a facelift. Every movie is a copy pasted version of another movie.

On the positive side, SHSM is out TODAY in Australia. Can we have a review sometime soon?

 

[Vault Citizen]

One thing I've heard of this game and agree with was that the voice acting for this game was noticeably inferior to that of the first game, does anyone know why that is?

 

[Kagim]

Thing is after i finished Bioshock two i went back and played bioshock one. Thats when you realize the improvements made. The game play itself is a massive upgrade. Dual Wielding plasmids and weapons makes plasmids actually feel useful. Missions are more about getting to point a to b and feel less like doing chores for asshole number one and number two.

For some reason watching his review makes me wonder if he actually played the game fully. Or if he maybe missed the integral story records.

The link between Delta and Elenore is forged through the big daddy little sister bonding. In a game where adam can give you telekinesis single person telepathy isn't a reach. Not ot mention this is touched on in the first game.

The whole blending of the minds failed miserably with Alex the great. Look what he turned into. Essentially Yahtzee was right, you would become a huge grotesque creature.

As well it explains why every big daddy isn't a delta unit. Mostly due to the fact that alpha and delta models had a tendency to go ape shit or into a coma if there little sisters died.

You can't really complain about the big sister attacks. Although i don't know what happens if you kill the little sister when you return the last little sister a big sister always appears. So if the last fight depleted you health and ammo piles go stock up before dropping her off. As well pick your vent well. Vents are placed in very nice locals. One being a freezer with four cameras and three turrets.

I don't think Delta was created with the potential for plasmids and multi weapons. I think that came from having his dna mixed with other people's while the little sisters collected him. I think it made him smarter and more self aware. Clearly plasmids are new to him seeing as how he spases out when he gets thunderbolt. As well Big Daddies weren't slow lumbering creature in the first game. I think the bouncers and rosies proved that the second you pissed them off. You can't tell me some of them weren't using sports boost tonics.

I actually found Adam more important in this game. In BS1 the first level thunderbolt indiscriminately killed people in water. As well with fire and oil slicks. I only used Adam for life and eve upgrades along with hacking tonics. I found the armor shells and research upgrades so i ended the game, on hard mode as well, with a ton of Adam left over in the first game. I rarely used plasmids the first game because often times switching from gun to plasmid meant death. In the second game i felt more inclined to explore with my options. Try out tonics and mix up my plasmid/gun attacks. I felt less pressured to use hacker tonics because you didn't have to layer them on to reduce the chance of hacks being rigged.

The story. Yeah I'll agree it is weaker. The sense of abject fear is gone. Though I find it replaced with more of a sense of challenge. I wouldn't call the little sister things escort quests because you have control over locations and have an infinite amount of time to prepare for it. I enjoyed checking out the sources of Adam and deciding where the most strategic place to set her down would be. "This place has fewer entrances but the high roof could mean spider slicers. This place is an enclosed structure but six or seven doors." If your to lazy to do all that you can just walk them back to a vent right after picking them up. Or kill them on the spot.

I know lots of people want to say this game was generally easier. The first game was incredibly easy at the end two. You went from scrounging for ammo making every shot count to pissing away shotgun rounds because you were surrounded by lock boxes full of them in both games.

The game is by no means a massive achievement in gaming, but it is incredibly fun. That's the thing though. Bioshock one was a brand new thing. Bioshock two is a sequel to a brand new thing. Why can't games just be fun anymore without having to be massive leaps in gaming theory. Storyline counts yes, but a game can't stand on a story alone. BS1 has glaring game mechanic flaws while BS2 has a mild sauce of a story with the exception to the endings which were beautifully done. (My girlfriend cried at the end of both the first and second game)


Yes. I just Reviewed Bioshock 2.

... Sorry...

 

[tklivory]

Terry Pratchett reference. Yahtzee has now fulfilled his purpose on Earth.

/that is all

 

[psyks]

And another thing that annoys me about these reviews is the presumptions he makes. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that the man is paranoid to the point of imagining the only reason people make "_____ 2" is to make money yet gives NO evidence for this conspiracy theory. He basically states as objective truth that Bioshock 2 was just an investment as was every other Terry Pratchett diskworld after the first one. Talk about Hypocrisy.

 

[Mandalore_15]

Can't believe Yahtzee mentioned Tranmere Rovers, I live just up the road from their grounds. XD

 

[Skratt]

I picked the first one up for $5 on steam and loved the shit out of it so I suppose waiting around for the 2nd game to do the same isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Dr. Danger]

I've played through the game three times so I can easily say that I enjoyed it. Even if it did feel short and a lot less colourful.

But I don't think playing Prototype daddy was a good idea. The fun of the Big Daddys was that we hardly understood them but now they've practically spelled their major selling point out for us. Where do we go from here? I, personally, would have liked playing as a splicer or another Jack figure who got an unfortunate ticket to Rapture. Bioshock 1 was the most interesting because you felt like you - were - the main character. Which is why it had more of a nail biting atmosphere. I just don't feel like I'm Subject Delta, you know?

 

[TheUnbeholden]

What are you talking. The point of companies is to make money. its always about money, anyone who says otherwise is ignorant. And considering how many souless games there are now a days, that focus on graphics rather then on uniqueness in design, or any bringing anything new to games, the heart isn't put into games anymore. Sure one magical golden gem comes along, but those are few and far between. Games industry is now a main stream money making corporate world now... dam corporations are going to take over everything soon.. as they are the ones with the most money.

 

[Kagim]

What are you talking. The point of companies is to make money. its always about money, anyone who says otherwise is ignorant. And considering how many souless games there are now a days, that focus on graphics rather then on uniqueness in design, or any bringing anything new to games, the heart isn't put into games anymore. Sure one magical golden gem comes along, but those are few and far between. Games industry is now a main stream money making corporate world now... dam corporations are going to take over everything soon.. as they are the ones with the most money.

Since when is it bad for a company to make money. Not every game is going to be a massive achievement but that doesn't mean it can't be fun.

You will find more games are fun if you don't sit reading every review and singular item about it. Don't be so stuck up.

 

[mptothedc]

Bioshock 3 as a vending machine... I'm copyrighting your idea...

 

[Flamingpenguin]

Man, this is unfortunately how I feel. When I beat the game all I could think about was how this one's combat wasa little better, but the story was totally...crap. #1 was an amazing, thoughtful, well put togethor and generally fun game for me, but this one... well I was too hung up on what the hell happened to Tenenbaum, who disappears after 10 minutes of gameplay. They even included that in the trailer... I was so excited too...

If you played the first game for the gameplay, but went back because of the story, this really isn't gonna do it for you.
But if you like killing splicers, it'll do fine.

 

[hariman]

Well, yeah.

But it's fun. Yahtzee's got to accentuate the negative for his reviews, so he doesn't mention that the moral choice system is improved. (OK, so the endings are likely Mother Teresa and Baby eating, but the choices are the new addition.) You can also, you know, PREPARE for battles with big sisters and for harvesting adam.

You can use plasmids and guns at the same time. The drill and the drill charge are loads of fun. The research camera is vastly improved. New enemies, new big daddies and one hell of a WHAM sequence at the end of the game.

Of all the sequels this year, I recommend this one. It's fun. And the story isn't a load of shit like Modern Warfare 2's was.

 

[Josh Martin]

very funny, game is better than you say it is though.

 

[Doodlebox]

Half Life: Gun Turret sounds pretty good.
It's like a rail shooter, but you don't move. And can get knocked over.

 

[lysiaboy]

it's a really good game, but really freaky. F you, big sisters, F YOU !

 

[RCFlight13]

Aha! But you see I had seen the video. By combining an Atari 2600 and a squirrel I was able to travel in time, see the full video and return to leave me feedback! Actually no but I did see the video before I commented.