BioShock 2 Review

00:00:10.540when Bioshock 2 was first announced it

00:00:13.059had a few things working against it it

00:00:15.250was being built by a different developer

00:00:17.0502k Marin though it included members from

00:00:19.750the team that worked on the original the

00:00:21.759game tossed out the protagonist for

00:00:23.439Bioshock replacing him with the Big

00:00:25.360Daddy Andrew Ryan was obviously out of

00:00:27.820the picture and it wasn't clear any

00:00:29.529personality as strong as his could step

00:00:31.779in to fill the void also we learned the

00:00:34.270sequel would include a multiplayer

00:00:35.590component now that it's all finally done

00:00:37.899has it been worth the wait

00:00:39.250I'm happy to say that Bioshock 2

00:00:41.770delivers in all areas it should and

00:00:43.720makes improvements over the original in

00:00:45.850a number of ways as good sequels tend to

00:00:48.100do the story this time around takes

00:00:50.680place 10 years after that of the

00:00:52.540original and as it turns out is more

00:00:54.670focused and tightly woven than what we

00:00:56.890saw before

00:00:57.690overall the underwater city of Rapture

00:01:00.010isn't as mysterious as it once was since

00:01:03.070we've been there before but that's

00:01:04.930balanced by a clearer vision of story

00:01:06.970delivery and more meaningful ball

00:01:09.130decision

00:01:20.409it seems nobody bothered to patch up

00:01:22.759rapture much in the time between games

00:01:24.799since it still is leaky as ever while

00:01:27.830the game isn't as graphically impressive

00:01:29.149as its predecessor it's still one of the

00:01:31.610best looking games around thanks to its

00:01:33.320fantastic art style and use of visuals

00:01:35.539to enhance theme and tone you'll get to

00:01:38.149see some new bits of rapture too along

00:01:40.369with some eerily serene underwater

00:01:42.110sequences sound design is also

00:01:44.179first-rate with moody music and a great

00:01:46.640array of sound effects like the

00:01:47.960shrieking of splicers and the unsettling

00:01:51.950innocence of the little sisters all set

00:01:57.080on a solid foundation of writing to

00:01:58.759drive the story audio logs are still

00:02:01.069scattered around the city and if you

00:02:02.990want to hear everything that's going on

00:02:04.520you can search for them to get a lot of

00:02:06.319detail as you play or if you don't care

00:02:09.229there's still a great story here if you

00:02:11.450want to skip all that and charge

00:02:12.890directly through to the end

00:02:22.599one of the more obvious changes in the

00:02:24.980sequel is that you're now playing as a

00:02:26.450Big Daddy

00:02:27.170instead of looking in as an outsider at

00:02:29.689these guys in the little sisters they

00:02:31.129protect your now actually part of the

00:02:33.409pair which colors your interactions with

00:02:35.480the girls in a different light this

00:02:38.060shift in player role is built into the

00:02:40.099gameplay mechanics as well no longer do

00:02:42.739you just harvest or save that you can

00:02:44.870now adopt the girls and carry them on

00:02:46.609your shoulder giving you a lot more

00:02:48.290exposure to one of gaming strangest

00:02:50.090relationships Daddy was sleeping for

00:02:53.120such a long time it also ties into how

00:02:55.730Bioshock 2 builds on the element of L

00:02:57.980choice explored in the first game and

00:02:59.719implements it throughout to a more

00:03:01.730satisfying an interesting degree this

00:03:04.189dynamic reinforces the father-daughter

00:03:06.230relationship effectively and as a bonus

00:03:08.659provides for some entertaining defense

00:03:10.579sequences as you protect the girls while

00:03:12.799they harvest from corpses you're in the

00:03:16.549sequel you'll find gameplay progress as

00:03:18.409much as it did before but with a bunch

00:03:20.510of tweaks that make for a smoother play

00:03:22.430experience you can have both weapons and

00:03:25.729plasmids ready at once

00:03:27.229for instance the upgrades you get at

00:03:29.299power to the people stations have a more

00:03:30.979dramatic effect on weapon performance

00:03:32.780like every hit from a rivet gun having a

00:03:35.090chance to set an enemy on fire which is

00:03:37.189pretty cool

00:03:37.790plasmid use has been made more

00:03:39.439interesting - as your powers will change

00:03:41.540as they're upgraded you'll go from

00:03:43.250shocking single enemies to unleashing a

00:03:45.229lightning storm from your hands and

00:03:47.060along with a bunch of tonics that can be

00:03:48.650equipped for passive bonuses Bioshock 2

00:03:51.049gives you a great sense of progression

00:03:52.280and empowerment as you progress through

00:03:54.139the environments and let's not forget

00:03:56.599the multiplayer built by Digital

00:03:58.400Extremes

00:03:58.939while it may be easy for many to

00:04:00.979disregard this mode since the original

00:04:02.840did not have an online component it

00:04:05.000turns out that what's offered here can

00:04:06.769be pretty fun I don't see it rocketing

00:04:09.049to the top of the popularity charts but

00:04:11.359the simple interplay between plasmids

00:04:13.219and weapons a modern warfare style

00:04:15.379progression structure and a variety of

00:04:17.449game modes and narrative elements make

00:04:19.519this mode worth checking out and who

00:04:21.349knows maybe you'll get hooked

00:04:31.020sodid - cameron Digital Extremes and

00:04:33.940everyone else involved succeed with

00:04:35.620Bioshock 2 most definitely it may not

00:04:38.470have the same aw inspiring sense of

00:04:40.450mystery as the first title but by

00:04:42.280improving the gameplay and giving more

00:04:44.020focus to the story there's a lot of

00:04:46.030entertainment to be had here and

00:04:47.350surprises in store for those who decide

00:04:49.180to return to one of the best video game

00:04:51.250settings around for the full written

00:04:54.760review head over to IGN calm