Reviews - BioShock 2

There has been a lot of venom spat at Bioshock 2 in response to taking up the mantle of its predecessor. Bioshock was original and new, a revelation in plot based FSP's, may questioned if we needed to dive back into the underwater dystopia of Rapture.
I, personally, had nothing but praise for the original (as my review will show) but after a play through I see nothing lacking in the sequel whatsoever. The plot is just as immersive, if not more so with Sofia Lamb offering not only a fictional but thematic equal to that of Andrew Ryan.
There is not the iconic confrontational scene, the revelatory plot twist but the idea of good and bad, the dichotomy of choice within the games original is played out much further as you take on the role of vengeful Big Daddy subject Delta.
Your relationship with the little sisters is the true differing factor, the ability to adopt puts you in very different big metal shoes.
For me the story and characters were far more in depth, giving players the ability to find out about the true downfall of Rapture and its various characters, gave a complete picture of the ailing city. The twist from independent industrialism (which failed under the reign on Andrew Ryan) to the crutch of psychological socialism is an amazing plot to watch play out, even vicariously and after the fact.
Rapture itself is still as gloriously strewn down the river of decay as it was in the previous game, I would have liked to revisit some of the previously seen areas of the city but the use of the Atlantic Expressway and the underwater 'spacewalks' were an intriguing method of transporting the player across the vast city environment.
With the addition of bigger, badder, better splicers and the frightening Big Sisters the combat landscape is a useable battleground for defending your newly adopted little sisters and poses more than enough challenge to hardened games.
All in all Bioshock 2 gives us a greater sense of the world of Rapture, which is never a bad thing.

exciting

EASILY a GOTY contender!

At first I was disappointed. Windows Live integration was mandatory and it was a pain to set up (and involved lost game progress too).

Plus at first I didn't see too much new. There were a lot of splicers, and I mean A LOT. New weapons and some new scenery and graphics and that stuff, but Rapture was mostly the same as it ever was.

However, as I reached the later half of the game, I started to find some very nice things in this game. I was surprised with some very creative new characters and plot twists. It was fun and immersive. I enjoyed the ending. That's what earned my respect.

Great FPS.
Great characters, story, interesting enemies and special abilities.
Looks beautiful.

Awesome game!

While it's certainly not as good as it's mentor, BioShock 2 still delivers.

The atmosphere is still foreboding and dark and the story, once again, is thought provoking and eon's better then that of what you would find in other FPS's such as Call of Duty or third person shooters such as Gears of War.
The gameplay is still fun and using combo's on hordes of marauding enemies never get's old, it's just shorter and doesn't really feel any different then the first game, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but those looking for anything different may be let down, but those looking for the same will not be disappointed :)

Free DLC, a decent multiplayer (which is abjectly ignored just out of ignorance), and a well tuned singleplayer. This game survived a Johan Hex-esc edit and a whole story rewrite, and still people criticize it?

The game has its own unique feel, especially in multiplayer, that can't be emulated elsewhere. The objectives in each mode may be familiar, but everything else has a distinctly Bioshock aspect to it.

The combat is an improvement over first BioShock, but the game falls down in terms of storyline and gameplay.

not bad, but not as good as bioshock.