Bioshock, spiritual successor to System Shock 2, was released in 2007 to much acclaim. Now, a few years later, Bioshock sees itself a sequel and gamers picking themselves up a copy see a return to the underwater city of rapture ten years later. Whether or not this is a welcome return will depend mainly on what you’re looking to get out of the game.
Bioshock 2 is the return to Rapture, the underwater city created by Andrew Ryan, a man who clearly believed that it was every man for himself. Since his death the city has been taken over by Dr Lamb, a psychologist who’s philosophy is very much the opposite, believing that we are stronger in unity than we are apart.
The story sets you in opposition to the female Doctor by placing you in the large, heavy shoes of a prototype Big Daddy who’s Little Sister has been taken from him. This is depicted in a dramatic and well done introductory cut scene, which will have you ready to take revenge.
Those returning to the series will know that the Big Daddy’s were a force to be reckoned with, ominous enemies only out to protect the terrifying, mysterious little girls who wandered beside them. As one of these lumbering entities the story progresses as you search for your Little Sister and a way out of the underwater nightmare. If you’re a nitpicker when it comes to storyline you might have some issues as, while holding some interesting themes and concepts, such as the creation of the Big Daddys, there is an underlying feeling that, not only have we seen it all before, but some of the original has been changed just for the purpose of this story. For example, Raptures current leader, the mysterious Dr Lamb, is never mentioned in the original Bioshock yet according to the story she has always been a vital component in Rapture.
The atmosphere of Bioshock 2 is created in much the same way as the first, with the same eerie scenery and sounds. If you have visited Rapture before, however, then that experience will seem that bit too familiar and you may not be as taken with it the second time around. While the first game’s introduction built up tension and scares there are not as many frights to be had in the second instalment.
The atmosphere is supported by up-to-date graphics and sound. While neither are anything that that will be heralded as too impressive the game clearly stands with other games of this generation and is, as with the first game, more about what is achieved with them then simply how they look and sound.
If you’re a fan of the original you may find that the atmosphere is also lost by your new character. Whilst in the first game you were an everyday man, straight from a plane crash and lost in a bizarre and frightening world, you are now a Big Daddy, a force to be reckoned with, who in the first game you found yourself afraid to cross paths with. This is a character who belongs to Rapture in the first place, losing that sense of somewhere new and frightening to explore, and also means enemies will feel as though they shouldn’t really challenge you. This is seen in the Multiplayer, where becoming a Big Daddy is a temporary bonus where you have a high amount of health and give out a high amount damage.
The game is well designed and the environments are believable. From a haunted carousel to a dark, metallic laboratory, each new level provides you with an interesting place to travel through and search around. While some areas do seem familiar to others, you never really feel like you’ve seen it all before and you’ll be drawn into the underwater metropolis.
Outside the levels you occasional walk through a much unseen area of Rapture, that is the outside. Here you can look up at the city which gives you a real feel for where you are trapped. These areas do, however, feel a little too linear and it would have been nice to be able explore the outside of the city, if only for a little while.
The gameplay of Bioshock 2 remains unchanged from the first with the exception that you can now dual wield both weapons and plasmids. Plasmids serve you as an elemental attack, such as electricity or fire, and these work very well within the concept of the game. Those looking for a run and gun style gameplay will be disappointed as Bioshock 2 lends itself better to slower pace of play trying to show off more story and atmosphere then actual gunplay.
Unchanged from the original is the difficulty setting. Bioshock 2 is, like the first, an easy game to play. Even on hard you will not have much difficulty fighting your way to the end. The inclusion of Vita-Chambers, in game respawn points which don’t penalise you for dying, means that death doesn’t feel very final and the actual challenge in the game is almost completely removed. On the easier settings enemies will take off practically no health and you’ll feel unopposed working your way through the underwater city.
Like the first game you will be seen to gather Adam, a type of genetic material that acts as a currency for you buying new powers and upgrades to wield. This hunt for Adam will see you either befriending or harvesting the Little Sisters you were sworn to protect. The players here are faced by a moral dilemma, save the Little Sisters and receive less Adam, or harvest them which, whilst killing them, will provide more Adam to spend. One option never really feels like its outweighing the other though as both options provide relatively similar amounts of Adam by the end of the game.
If the player chooses to befriend a Little Sister they will temporarily become their Big Daddy, and the gameplay fundamentally changes. From here you will faced with a survivor type affair where you face off against hordes of enemies in an attempt to protect your Adam gathering Little Sister. For these you can set traps, hack turrets, or just gun your way through and, whilst breaking up the pace and offering a different style of gameplay, by the end of the game they prove to be tedious and you’ll probably be doing them more as a means to an end.
It would be unfair to mention Bioshock 2’s gameplay without mentioning the multiplayer which is surprisingly good. Learning from the Modern Warfare 2 style advancement system, in which the ranks and experience of the player unlock more weapons and challenges, Bioshock provides quite a fast and arcade style shooter which contrasts the single player’s slower, more methodical approach.
The multiplayer serves to be an addicting and fun experience, if not relatively deep, and many hours could easily fly by playing the few game modes that it gives you. However, at the bottom of it the multiplayer does feel a little tacked on, as though to monetize the current market of online games and this will be disagreeable of many original fans who felt the game didn’t need this added experience. Still, nothing beats becoming the slow moving Big Daddy and killing off your opponents with a few shots as they team up against you.
As a sequel you would be expecting the game to make some improvements but the game seems to make relatively few. Though a slight graphics and sound boost is to be expected the game play is unchanged and the story can feel a little tacked on. It feels fair to compare Bioshock 2 to its predecessor, in which it would could well score lower marks, but when judged on its own the game is an enjoyable play through.
If you’re approaching the game as a fan of the original then you will either welcome this return or wish you hadn’t set foot there a second time. The story can either provide you with more detail of a place you truly connected with or it can demean the image it first created. The game play will either be that which you loved from the first game or needless repetition of the same old mechanics. If you haven’t played the first, however, and are not inclined to pick it up before the sequel, then you are probably due to have more fun than those playing in constant comparison.
In conclusion there is an enjoyable experience to be had with Bioshock 2. The main story doesn’t last long and aside from the multiplayer and achievement points there is little real replay value, but you’re sure to have fun whilst your there. All in all it depends how you go into the game and what you’re expecting to earn from the experience.
Authors comments: Bioshock 2 is about as sequel-ly as a game will probably get. It makes no real improvements to the first game and, in some light, appears to be a tad unnecessary. I did, however, find it enjoyable to play and it wasn’t really until I replayed the first game that I noticed just how unatmospheric and unimproved it was. Needless to say, I would recommend Bioshock over Bioshock 2 and would suggest going into the sequel with uncritical eyes.
