Sequels are a very hard thing to get right, whatever entertainment industry you’re in – especially if your first effort is considered a masterpiece. BioShock 2 had this problem in spades but did the second instalment in the series live up to the high expectations or sink to the bottom of the sea like a Big Daddy?
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Founded in 2005, 2K Games develops and publishes interactive entertainment for console systems and is probably best known for all of its sporting titles. But in 2008 the company released a title that would revolutionize the first-person shooter genre: BioShock (review coming soon). With it’s unique concept and original story, it sold massive numbers and got much critical acclaim so 2K decided to get to work straight away on a sequel. In 2010 BioShock 2 was released to an equally positive response.
The sequel initially seemed a lot scarier than its predecessor when I first started playing, with the first few minutes of gameplay being a lonely walk around Rapture while sudden loud noises kept me on my toes. This was very well done and it kept my eyes glued to the screen wondering when the first enemy would pounce. Another element that grabbed me straight away was the feel of the game; it looked exactly like the original BioShock but with a slightly darker edge, and this creepy atmosphere suits the series perfectly.
This isn’t going to end well…
BioShock 2′s plot is sure to keep players hooked all the way through to the end. It starts in 1958 in a populated and thriving Rapture, before things take a turn for the worst: protagonist Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, gets attacked and is forced to commit suicide by clinical psychiatrist Sofia Lamb using mind control. He then wakes up in 1968, eight years after the events of the original game, with no recollection of the past decade. Forced to search the city high and low to relocate his Little Sister, Eleanor, Lamb decides she wants the Big Daddy terminated for good and sends out her spliced-up followers and newly-created Big Sisters to put a stop to Delta’s mission.
Unfortunately gameplay can be a tad frustrating at times on two key elements. The first is Delta’s movement; although very realistic, in that a large man in what is essentially a heavy diver suit would move slowly, it doesn’t make for a pleasant experience at times and can hinder you during encounters with large groups of splicers. An upgrade to your speed can be bought at a Gatherer’s Garden vending machine but you still seem much slower then virtually everyone else in the game.
Even up close, weapons are inaccurate.
The second less-than-stellar part of the gameplay is the weapons. Some of them can either be slow – like the drill, attacks with which enemies are easily able to dodge – or they go wildly off track while shooting thus wasting valuable bullets. One saving grace to combat however is the powers you pick up along the way as they’re quick, accurate and responsive. You soon collect the basics of Electrify, Telekinesis and Inferno, and to be honest I didn’t stray too far from these; the last is my particular favourite, with baddies going down looking like giant fireballs. The new Security Command ability enables players to summon a security bot whenever they want, and I found that this really helped to draw attention away from myself in battles against other Big Daddies and Big Sisters.
During the title you get thrown a gameplay twist as you take control of a Little Sister for a while. This really gives you an insight into how these small children see the world – for example, in my playthrough dead people were seen as harmless angels and splicers as normal city residents just going about their everyday business. Rapture through the eyes of a Little Sister generally looks like a pleasant, safe place to live and this gives you an idea of what the city may have looked like before its collapse. This was one of the most interesting and memorable sections of the game for me.
The overall look of Bioshock 2 is flawless, with Rapture looking even more decrepit and run-down than before. This sets the scene perfectly throughout the game and really adds to the survival-horror element; you’re definitely aware that the underwater city is a dangerous place to walk around. Characters’ facial expressions have greatly improved since the first BioShock as well, with it being much easier to read people’s emotions and expressions. This comes in handy when deciding if someone is being genuine enough for you not to kill them.
The voice-acting in this title is stellar, especially when it comes to Sofia Lamb; she never shouts or raises her voice, but the evil in her mind still comes across perfectly. As you walk around the city, faint noises in the background keep you on your toes and wondering if a swarm of splicers or worse is going to jump out at you at any moment. One noise that players will dread all the way through the title is that of a Big Sister approaching, and the sound alone is enough to get your heart racing. These enemies take quite a while to kill so when you hear the terrifying screech of one getting close, it’ll send you into a panic collecting first-aid kits and bullets before she arrives.
Uh-oh, it’s a Big Sister – I’d run if I was you.
Replayability is massive in BioShock 2 and alternative endings mean the decisions you make in the game could result in a good or a bad situation. Do you decide to save all the Little Sisters or harvest them, kill all the main characters or let them live? There’s even an alternate ending if you both kill and save a percentage, so depending on how you play and how moralistic you’re feeling that day you may never get the same ending twice.
Final thoughts on BioShock 2 are mostly good ones. I really enjoyed playing this game and will definitely be going back to it at some point in the future. It had a story that kept me hooked, characters I cared about, and a scary city that I enjoyed exploring. Even though BioShock Infinite, the next in series, takes place in the clouds I can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever return to Rapture one day and help save it one more time.
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