Paradox Designs

Bioshock is perhaps one of my favorite gaming series. The story is deep, the characters are interesting, and the locale is irresistible. Combine this with the excellent shooter gameplay, and its no wonder why I keep coming back to this game. Bioshock2 is a very good successor to the first game, and only leaves you wanting more.

Return to Rapture

Bioshock 2 takes you back into Rapture, 10 years after the events of the first game. This should place it in the late 1960s, early 1970s. However, the underwater dystopia hasn’t seen much physical change since then. Instead of being a plane crash survivor, you are a big daddy, or should I say THE Big daddy, the first successful one. I wont reveal anything that could be considered a spoiler, but know this: the character you play as is far more important than he may seem at first, much like the first game. Although this game lacks any significant twist, like that of the first game, the plot is still wonderfully intricate.

Controls, Mechanics, and other elements of base gameplay

Bioshock 2 changes little from the original game in controls, or most other shooters. The biggest change to the controls was the ability to dual wield, to use plasmids and weapons at the same time. In the beginning this doesn’t prove too useful, but as you progress through the game, and your plasmids level up, it becomes quite powerful. Due to the nature of dual-wielding, to use an EVE hypo, you have to open a radial menu, and tap the X button (or Square). Simple enough, but a change I noticed early on.

Diaries

Perhaps my favorite part of the game, finding diaries. The first game’s diaries provided a deep look into rapture, far more than most other games could ever accomplish, and Bioshock 2 improves on this principle. Diaries now feature more than a handful of voices, and often make references to the first game, or the situation in which the character is currently in. If one was to never have played the first game, one could still get a fairly good impression of it via the diaries in the second. Also improved is the method of triggering diaries. Holding A will, at any time, trigger the last diary one picked up, even if the prompt is not visible. So if you are listening to a diary, and get interrupted by game dialog, you can restart the diary quite easily.

Vending Machines

Most of the vending machines from the first game are back. The only ones I couldn’t find were the U-INVENT machines. But the vending machines have lost their charm. They no longer yell at you to “Save at the Circus of Values,” much to my disappointment. Lots of the little human touches, like this, are absent from the game. While they don’t detract from the gameplay, they are sorely missed.

Hacking

Hacking is perhaps the most dramatic change from the first game. Where in the first game you had to cozy up to a target to hack it, Bioshock 2 lets you shoot “hack darts” at machines from afar. Autohack darts hack a machine instantly, regular hack darts initiate a hack sequence. And this is where it changes completely. The hacking mechanism of the first game was, for all purposes, pipe dream. The hacking mechanism of Bioshock2 bears the most resemblance to a carnival game. Your goal is to stop a needle in a green or blue section. Stop in a white section and you get hurt. Stop in a red section and an alarm is triggered. Stop in the blue section, and you get a bonus upon completion of the hack. Gameplay is not paused during a hack, so you need to seek cover from the turret while you hack it. The bonuses obtained from hacking something in the blue range from more damage (hacked security systems), free health kits (hacked med stations), to free ammo or items (hacked vending machines). A plasmid obtained later into the game lets you get an instant completion of a hack whenever you land in a blue zone, which proves to be quite useful.

Weapons

All the basic weapons from the first game, with the exception of the thrower make an appearance in Bioshock 2. While their names may change, the principle behind them does not. Spear guns shoot spears, crossbows shoot bolts, both hurt enemies a lot, and both let you pick up your ammo after you shoot it. The drill inherits most of the upgrades the wrench received, such as freezing enemies, taking enemy health, and so forth. The only exception I can see to the parallels of the two games is that the Rivet gun replaces the pistol, and is a much better replacement. Upgrades let you fire rivets that light targets on fire, and the trap rivets are deviously wonderful creations. I found myself using the rivet gun all the way from the beginning of the game to the end.

The weapons feel similar in power, although the drill is truly devastating, particularly the lunges. I found that, in terms of fighting a Big Daddy, the drill was the best weapon to use.

Plasmids

Most of the plasmids from the original game make a comeback in Bioshock 2. New plasmids include Scout, which lets you detach yourself from you body and move ahead, invisibly. When scouting, you are limited to usage of plasmids, and in later stages, hacks. I personally didn’t use it that often. Other plasmids, such as Winter Blast, Incinerate, and Electro-bolt are back, but with significant upgrades. All plasmids now have 3 modes. Normal, charged, and held. Normal mode duplicates the functionality of a plasmid from the first game. You fire it, and it works for a short period of time. Charging up a plasmid has different effects, from chaining lightning between enemies to making an enemy fight on your side for a while. Holding, usually available only with the 3^rd level upgrade, lets you shoot a continuous stream of some plasmids, while offering alternative attacks for others. The continuous streams are likely the reason why the chemical thrower was dropped from the game, as the plasmids have taken up this ability now. The new plasmid upgrades, combined with the ability to truly dual-wield, makes them much more useful than in the first game.

Enemies

The old splicers are back, along with new friends. Leadhead splicers have inherited the explosive ability of the nitro splicers, and thuggish splicers seem mostly the same. The most frequently encountered new splicer is the Brutish splicer, who resembles the Tank from Left4Dead. But the splicers are joined by other enemies. Throughout the game, you will run into the usual Big Daddies, as well as the occasional Big Sister. Big Daddies usually have a little sister with them, and by killing them, you can choose what to do with her. Big Sisters come about when you save a few little sisters, and will fight you till you kill them. To say that it resembles the vita-chamber oriented grind of the first game is an understatement. If you manage to kill a big sister without dying¹, you get an Achievement for your troubles.
New enemies also include the Alpha Big Daddies. They do not carry sisters, and are easier to kill than regular Big Daddies, but should not be ignored, as they can attack you from behind.

Little Sisters

In the first game, the interaction between the player and the little sisters was very simple. Kill the Big Daddy, and choose to save or harvest the sister. Simple, right?

Bioshock 2 significantly complicates things. When you kill a Big Daddy, you are presented with the option to Adopt or Harvest a little sister. Harvesting works the same as in the first game, so I wont go into any details about it. Adopting, however, completely changes up the gameplay. When you adopt a sister, she hops on your back, and you then have the option to harvest bodies of their adam. Holding X will draw an in-game tracer (Much like the navigator in Deadspace) that leads you to a body. When you find the body, you set down the sister, and let her start gathering adam. While she is gathering, you have to defend her. Easier said than done. Each sister can gather 2 bodies worth of adam, at which time she will then demand you take her to a vent. When you take her to a vent, you are presented with 2 more options, to save or to harvest. Same dilemma as the first game. Save enough, and you get a present. It doesn’t matter what you choose, the Big sister will hunt you down anyway, and all that is impacted is the ending.

Story

Bioshock 2′s story is simpler than the first game, and shorter. Instead of trying to figure out what Rapture is, your primary goal is to figure out what YOU are, and how you got to be. There is no significant plot twist like in the first game, but the plot still proves rewarding. The ending of the game is better, and the plot brings you into contact with far more characters throughout the game. Still, the lack of complexity is frustrating. If you pay no attention to the diaries, the game progresses in a fairly linear pattern. Gone is the free-roam feeling of the first game. This isn’t saying it is a bad game, just different.

Graphics

This is where K2 really let itself go. While the first Bioshock was impressive, Bioshock 2 does nothing to advance the tech. The game looks much the same as the first in many places. Textures load quite slowly, even when the game is played from the harddrive, and there is sometimes noticeable texture fade-in. It would have been nice if K2 had licenced the improvements EPIC made to the Unreal engine for Gears of War 2, and used them for Bioshock, but since the game makes up for graphic issues in other areas, it doesn’t really matter

Multiplayer

Multiplayer in Bioshock 2 is disappointing. Instead of going for a balanced multiplayer FPS, K2 took the approach seen in other games, such as Call of Duty, in which a player can win the game based off of what they have unlocked. This trend of rank based gaming is worrying. Why cant we have the simple return to games like quake, where everyone was equal at the start of the map, and it was your performance in the game itself that dictated a winner?

As it currently stands, the more experienced player will have more weapons, better plasmids, and a higher chance of winning. Combine this with the Big Daddy suit pickup in the game, and you get a game that does not resemble anything balanced, rather a massive, unfun, irritating experience that drives you to other games. Playing Bioshock2 public multiplayer is like poking a beehive. You are gonna get stung, and there really is no reason to do so.

This piece does a better job explaining Multiplayer than I ever could hope to

Closing

Bioshock 2 is a very entertaining game. I am about to start my second play-through, this time in an attempt to gain as many achievements as I can. The game is clearly a success, but less of a success than its predecessor. Rapture is such an intriguing environment, and Bioshock 2 explores very little of Rapture. The addition of out-side scenes is promising, but they serve only as passing areas between levels, not as anything more complicated. The areas of the game feel less human than they did in the first game. There is no area like the market, no area that invokes such an obvious sense of humanity. Combine this with the shortness of the game, the low quality of the multiplayer, and the lack of graphic upgrades, and one may think that Bioshock 2 is going to be a failure of a game. But it is not. Bioshock 2 does something quite rare in the entertainment industry; it creates an emotional bond with its players, and through said bond, the player undergoes catharsis. I found myself tearing up at the end of the game, something quite rare for ANY medium, books included. The ability for K2 to elicit such responses is what makes the game successful, and as long as they can keep doing it, I will keep buying sequels.

So if you have money to spend, go out and buy Bioshock 2, you will not be disappointed.

Finally, one thing: Where is a bioshock book? Why aren’t they mining this series like other series? Bioshock has a universe that is deeper than 99% of other games, and this universe truly needs to be explored.

1. I recommend using Rocket Spears [↩]