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BioShock 2 Review

More great characters, improved combat and great presentation define BioShock 2. Welcome back to Rapture.

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BioShock 2 successfully proves that there is more to the original game than the introduction and exploration of the underwater city of Rapture. The game improves the combat and changes some of the mechanics to make the actual playing parts more enjoyable. There are clever touches related to presentation even though the graphics engine looks near identical to its predecessor. In the sequel you play as an Alpha series Big Daddy known as ‘Subject Delta’ who is looking for his daughter. Although not quite as armoured as the standard Big Daddies you can now use Plasmids and weapons simultaneously. You will continue your journey through Rapture in many new locations against some different foes alongside the standard Splicers. There are even more voice recordings than the original, bringing out more back-story from previous events. The antagonist in the sequel is the psychologist Sofia Lamb, but there are other interesting characters that provide a similar role to Cohen from the first game. One of the key features of the original was the presentation of the underwater city and the sequel maintains this high standard.

BioShock 2
Sofia Lamb welcomes you back to Rapture by trying to kill you many times

BioShock 2 handles the story and game presentation very well, and in some ways refines the experience. There are more set sequences where something surprising, but not scary, will unfold in front of you. This might be a Big Daddy walking slowly in front of you behind glass in the ocean. Or perhaps a Splicer will run to the corner to attract your attention while he later sets up a cleverly scripted ambush. Little details like this make the game really enjoyable to play through because you aren’t sure what new sequence they will throw at you. All of this presentation is certainly highlighted by the great voice work from a large cast. Sofia Lamb is the most memorable and not only is she voiced wonderfully (Fenella Woolgar) but her dialogue is intriguing. I remember stopping in many places after acquiring a voice recording to listen to it without interruption. Graphically the game maintains much of the same visual appeal as the original which is certainly not a bad looking game. Audio has its share of problems with sounds cutting out and music remaining in a loop, but most of the time it sets the mood nicely without distracting.

The original BioShock had a great premise and an amazing setting but it had some mixed combat. At times the action was fun but sometimes the combat felt like an obstacle. It certainly seemed to rarely play out as good as it could have been with all the plasmids and gadgets at your disposal. BioShock 2 makes the combat feel more natural and faster than the original. Hacking is now real time and, although much simpler, you must do it while under pressure. You can fire a hack dart at a moving sentry bot or camera mounted on the wall. This is a great when Splicers occupy a room with security allowing you to cause some real chaos while they are oblivious to your presence. Unfortunately the sentry bots you acquire will block you in tiny rooms and doorways making navigation unnecessarily frustrating. Ally bots and Splicers make up for this somewhat by being a bit smarter during combat, they take more forward position when you are under attack. In general the AI seems more complete and combined with their great lines it makes the action more involving.

BioShock 2
Excuse me Sir, may I please borrow that Little Sister

You’ll be dual wielding a weapon and a Plasmid and can very quickly change weapons during combat. Considering you’ll be facing more enemies, or at least more enemies over a shorter period of time, this makes the action faster. Most of this concentrated action happens during segments where you defend a Little Sister. For you see as a Big Daddy you can now use Little Sisters to harvest Adam for you. You again must defeat their diving suited friends before you can take her for your own devices. You can engage the Big Daddies at any time but it’s best to be prepared and know the area layout before you try to acquire a Little Sister. Once acquired, she will rest on your shoulder and occasionally make comments about battles or other events. She does not say much, which perhaps helps her from getting annoying, but I would have really liked to see some more non-situational comments. When the Little Sister leads you to a body you can commence the gathering process which requires a more defensive approach.

Once a Little Sister is dropped near a special pre-placed body in a level you will need to guard her from a whole lot of Splicers. You will be able to set up defences using some of the trap weaponry, hack security to protect different approaches or even acquire the services of a rogue Splicer using a Plasmid. Unfortunately Splicers can get stuck on the sides of walls in some levels wasting the eve you just used on them. Once the gathering starts you must hold off while she gathers the Adam. As the game progresses the type of Splicers attacking you changes, making it more difficult. Knowing when you are going to get attacked, but not necessarily from which direction, works well for the combat. You can explore the area and indentify puddles of water for electricity or oil spills for fire plasmids. Essentially you prepare yourself for an onslaught using your resources and the level layout. It’s important to stock up on health and ammo before these bigger battles, and make sure you are ready for different scenarios. These battles are difficult and perhaps the hardest of the game aside from battles against Big Daddies and Big Sisters.

BioShock 2
My crazy friend in the diving suit will do all the talking with his rivet gun

Big Sisters are very powerful and nimble versions of Big Daddies. They can use powers like Telekinesis to throw things at you and climb high in the multi-tiered levels. There are not as many Big Sisters in the game as Big Daddies and they tend to come at set points, but again you don’t know where they will come from as it depends on where you are in the level. You will know very clearly when she is coming by the blinding shriek, giving you a little time to prepare if you aren’t cowering in fear. These battles will quite quickly drain your health packs as you continue to use them when you health drops and screen flashes red. Not being ready when they attack might spell disaster so it’s always good to be prepared.

Big Daddies are of course quite difficult, similar to the first game, with a high health and good offensive skills themselves. Since they aren’t as nimble as Big Sisters you can use the large open levels to your advantage, climbing to the next tier to give yourself protection against them charging at you. Vita chambers return and I only used them a few times because I forgot to save, you can of course turn them off but they didn’t bother me as much as the first game. Later in the game a different type of Big Daddy will become almost a regular foe, making the game a little more challenging but never too hard because of your improved skill set.

BioShock 2
I don't want to set the world on fire, just my multiplayer enemies

There seems to have been potential for the multiplayer to succeed, with different characters making interesting remarks during matches. The football player will make a running play of the situation when he carries a Little Sister. Other characters and the Little Sister herself inject some charm into the games that does make it feel part of the BioShock universe. The levels are interesting if a little confusing and being the Big Daddy means you can get easy kills for a little while but will be prime target. It’s nice to revisit some locations from BioShock that are slightly different due to the multiplayer representing the fall of Rapture. For me the multiplayer was never that enjoyable, occasionally I’d chuckle when I smacked somebody over the head with a melee weapon. Sometimes the plasmid and weapon combinations do work fairly well in combat. Granted the multiplayer did grow on me after I levelled up a few times, but sadly it seems a bit restricted with the peer 2 peer system.

Games for Windows Live means you’ll be dealing with achievements and a somewhat sloppy matchmaking system. Occasionally I’d get into a game fairly quickly and other times I’d be staring at a blank screen waiting for several minutes before trying another gamemode. I needed to alt-tab out of the game to stop myself warping around and often lost connection during map load. The lobby system is fairly basic but you can use text chat and customise your character and loadouts similar to Modern Warfare 2 between matches.

Grenade launchers seem to be used far too often in games and it felt like explosion after explosion and you unlock it at level 6. Players will warp sometimes making it difficult to be sure if you managed to kill them with an attack in heavy traffic. Having five players per side does provide enough action when they direct the spawn points and the maps can be quite small and open. Strangely enough the free-for-all mode seems the slowest and having enemies spawn behind you is not fun. I would have preferred a slower paced multiplayer game with less grenade launcher spam, but it isn’t horrible. The inclusion of multiplayer hasn’t damaged the great single player experience which still has a great narrative.

BioShock 2
Death by fire is not cool

The story of BioShock 2 holds up well, I think the dialogue and characters is as good as the original if not better. The ending is not quite as amazing but at the same time the end fight sequence is leagues better than the boss battle in BioShock. The single player experience is as long as the first game and there are fewer but more open levels with multiple tiers. The only backtracking you really should do is for password doors holding goodies or gathering Adam using Little Sisters. Rogue Splicers do respawn in main areas so you can’t be too careful revisiting cleared sections.

If you were bored of Rapture by the end of the last game then there is really nothing more for you here. For me Rapture was still a great place to visit, and it’s more fun to actually play this time. There are some great sections in the game, and the conversations between Splicers are as good as they have ever been. Single player is still the main focus of the series with fairly average multiplayer. The game isn’t quite as bug free as it could have been, hopefully most of the issues will be patched up. BioShock 2 breathes some life back into the underwater city of Rapture and does more than enough to stand on its own.

Our ratings for BioShock 2 on PC out of 100 (Ratings FAQ)
Presentation
84
Graphically starting to age but includes great presentation of set scenes, interesting audio tapes. Complemented by the damaged vistas of Rapture.
Gameplay
86
Improves the basic mechanics when the action gets heavy, combat feels more natural and the game gives you more time to prepare creating better battles.
Single Player
86
Impressive dialogue, intriguing characters each wonderfully voiced to break up the journey. Good themes presented carefully and a slow build-up toward a good end sequence.
Multiplayer
69
Largely forgettable and won't keep you playing too long, includes a perk system and a sloppy matchmaking system with disconnects. Good characterisation underneath the exterior and capture the Little Sister mode isn't too bad.
Performance
(Show PC Specs)
CPU: AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3.2GHz
GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
PC Specs

80
The engine runs pretty well but has its fair share of problems associated with keybinds, audio loops and cutouts, Splicers getting stuck, bots blocking you, plasmids not working and weird physics. Mouse sensitivity is insanely high on default.
Overall
83
BioShock 2 is a solid return of the series marked by a campaign that is well presented and more fun to play than the original. Some bugs and average multiplayer prevent it reaching great heights.
Comments
BioShock 2
BioShock 2 box art Platform:
PC
Our Review of BioShock 2
83%
Great
The Verdict:
Game Ranking
BioShock 2 is ranked #282 out of 1957 total reviewed games. It is ranked #28 out of 103 games reviewed in 2010.
282. BioShock 2
283. Torchlight
PC
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Screenshots

BioShock 2
29 images added Feb 19, 2010 05:55
Videos
BioShock 2 - Siren Alley
Posted: Oct 26, 2009 17:28
Bioshock 2 TV Trailer
Posted: Jan 7, 2010 08:38
Bioshock 2 - Launch trailer
Posted: Feb 3, 2010 02:19
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