Welcome back to Rapture
By: Christopher Studds
Issue date: 3/8/10 Section: Entertainment
Making an acceptable sequel to the incredible original "BioShock" was a task I had long deemed impossible for 2K. Although, upon the arrival of the latest installment, they proved themselves to be up to the challenge, and did a spectacular job.
There are some weak storyboard ties to the first one, but overall, it is a different game altogether, as the main character, Jack and Andrew Ryan are both out of the picture. You pick up ten years after the last one as a Delta Series Big Daddy with a dangerous special attachment to a specific Little Sister. You would think being a Big Daddy would ruin some of the mystique, but as it turns out, it just adds to it, and gives the original idea more depth.
The city has been seized by a power-driven psychiatrist named Sophia Lamb who seems to have been a vicious enemy of Andrew Ryan in past years, and whose daughters just so happens to be the Little Sister you have to find and reunite with.
The levels are every bit as beautiful, the other Big Daddies you have to face off are every bit as relentless and terrible to take down, the Splicers are every bit as insane, and just as always, everything still runs on the ever-valuable Adam. And, although there are a lot of similarities to the first, a few of the rough spots and problems have been filed down and fixed. They've gotten rid of the useless Invent Machines, traded out the half-baked hacking sequences and replaced them with more useful ones, and given you the opportunity to walk around the bottom of the ocean outside of Rapture using Delta's deep sea diving suit.
There are new and improved plasmid upgrades including the ability to launch a stream of fire or electricity to take out large hordes, or levitate active enemies and hurl them at one another. New ammunition types are abundant, including spears, new shotgun rounds, trap rivets, and mini-turrets. You can hack things from far away with new hacking darts, and Big Daddies have been upgraded with rocket launchers and other weapons as well.
Moral choices become much more intense as you get the choice, not only once, but many times to either help the Little Sisters, having them fetch the precious Adam for you, or sacrifice them for massive amounts of it. And unlike the original "Bioshock", the decisions you make really affect the later game play, and much of the end of the story. Let's just say it doesn't just change the final movie.
Finally, they implemented a bland multiplayer system to it too. Unimpressive and boring as compared to the other multiplayer games out there, but was a good effort on their part to bring in a wider audience, and maybe in the future will be refined and eventually perfected.
After considering everything that it has to offer, "Bioshock 2" gets a 9 out of 10 in my book, as it is a very top-quality game. The smooth game play and new options and weapons make up for it not being quite the original epic masterpiece as the first.
There are some weak storyboard ties to the first one, but overall, it is a different game altogether, as the main character, Jack and Andrew Ryan are both out of the picture. You pick up ten years after the last one as a Delta Series Big Daddy with a dangerous special attachment to a specific Little Sister. You would think being a Big Daddy would ruin some of the mystique, but as it turns out, it just adds to it, and gives the original idea more depth.
The city has been seized by a power-driven psychiatrist named Sophia Lamb who seems to have been a vicious enemy of Andrew Ryan in past years, and whose daughters just so happens to be the Little Sister you have to find and reunite with.
The levels are every bit as beautiful, the other Big Daddies you have to face off are every bit as relentless and terrible to take down, the Splicers are every bit as insane, and just as always, everything still runs on the ever-valuable Adam. And, although there are a lot of similarities to the first, a few of the rough spots and problems have been filed down and fixed. They've gotten rid of the useless Invent Machines, traded out the half-baked hacking sequences and replaced them with more useful ones, and given you the opportunity to walk around the bottom of the ocean outside of Rapture using Delta's deep sea diving suit.
There are new and improved plasmid upgrades including the ability to launch a stream of fire or electricity to take out large hordes, or levitate active enemies and hurl them at one another. New ammunition types are abundant, including spears, new shotgun rounds, trap rivets, and mini-turrets. You can hack things from far away with new hacking darts, and Big Daddies have been upgraded with rocket launchers and other weapons as well.
Moral choices become much more intense as you get the choice, not only once, but many times to either help the Little Sisters, having them fetch the precious Adam for you, or sacrifice them for massive amounts of it. And unlike the original "Bioshock", the decisions you make really affect the later game play, and much of the end of the story. Let's just say it doesn't just change the final movie.
Finally, they implemented a bland multiplayer system to it too. Unimpressive and boring as compared to the other multiplayer games out there, but was a good effort on their part to bring in a wider audience, and maybe in the future will be refined and eventually perfected.
After considering everything that it has to offer, "Bioshock 2" gets a 9 out of 10 in my book, as it is a very top-quality game. The smooth game play and new options and weapons make up for it not being quite the original epic masterpiece as the first.