BioShock 2 Review PS3 9.5/10
THE GOOD: STORYLINE, HACKING, NEW ENEMIES, WATER EFFECTS
THE BAD: DRILL WEAPON
THRILLS: PLENTY OF JUMP OUT OF YOUR SEAT SCARES
From the moment players step into the gigantic sized shoes of Subject Delta, BioShock 2’s main character, they will feel the gargantuan, hulking power of a Big Daddy. Every step and jump made in the game is followed by a rumble in your controller and a powerful crushing sound in your speakers, all from your characters enormous weight.
In BioShock 2, players play as a monstrous figure who dons a deep sea diving suit, hence the weighty feeling. Delta’s purpose is to protect Rapture’s Little Sisters, genetically modified girls who wander around the underwater dystopia in search of corpses from which to gather Adam, BioShock’s wonder drug.
Picking up ten years after the original BioShock, we can see that much has changed in Rapture. With Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine no longer in power, Sofia Lamb, BioShock 2’s new antagonist, has risen to power.
Building on the original, closed story of BioShock was an epic endeavor, and 2K, BioShock’s developer, managed to make the return to Rapture one that all fans of the original should partake in.
The developers managed to excellently balance new content with that from the original, and as such, veterans from the original BioShock will find many throwbacks to their first time in Rapture. On that note however, it was slightly disappointing to see no traces or references of Jack, the original BioShock’s main character.
Some of the new content I was happy to see were the new enemy types, including a brand new type of Big Daddy and the Big Sister, an entirely new, mysterious enemy.
The original BioShock was praised for its moral choices and consequences that it let players make, and BioShock 2 expands on that as well. Not only are Little Sisters at your discretion, as they were in the first game, but so too are a few of Rapture’s civilians who play major roles in the story, and depending on what course of action you choose, the story can play out in different ways.
One of the major improvements over the first game is BioShock 2’s method of hacking. The player can hack different technological items throughout the game, with rewards such as lower costs at vending machines or even security cameras watching for enemies instead of you.
In the original game, a “pipe dream” like mini-game would appear whenever a hack was attempted. For many, this was a turn off and got repetitive very fast. In BioShock 2, however, “pipe dream” hacking is replaced with a simple rhythmic game which goes much smoother and faster, and is a vast improvement over the original.
One big draw of playing as a Big Daddy in BioShock 2 is the ability to use their melee weapon, the drill. It is a shame then that when it comes to using it in combat it is less than the prime choice. Unless players are solely taking on one enemy at a time, the drill will do nothing more than occupy one enemy while the others shoot at you. Another of my gripes with the drill weapon is its constant use of fuel. Just as guns require ammo, the drill requires fuel, but burns through it at an alarming rate. The drill here feels like a major missed opportunity.
Another of the improvements that BioShock 2 introduces lies in the ability for players to use both their plasmids and guns at the same time, and is reminiscent of when Halo introduced dual wielding. After using this method, it’s hard to imagine going back to the original BioShock and having to switch back and forth between guns and plasmids every time.
Overall, BioShock 2 is a near perfect follow up to the original. I strongly encourage everyone who has been through Rapture the first time to take the plunge and join Delta in one of 2010’s best games so far, BioShock 2. I give BioShock 2 a 9.5 out of 10.
