“Bioshock 2” does exactly what a sequel should do: innovate. Everything has been improved and expanded upon. There are more enemy types, more guns and more special abilities. The game’s designers added in a multiplayer element and even a new protagonist. This time through you get to play as a Big Daddy, the ever-imposing character on the cover of the game.
By Andrew Adams
Contributor
“Bioshock 2” does exactly what a sequel should do: innovate. Everything has been improved and expanded upon. There are more enemy types, more guns and more special abilities. The game’s designers added in a multiplayer element and even a new protagonist. This time through you get to play as a Big Daddy, the ever-imposing character on the cover of the game.
The game’s biggest strength comes from its originality. “Bioshock 2” takes place 10 years after the original in the world of Rapture, an underwater city designed by the antagonist of the original “Bioshock,” Andrew Ryan. The city has an odd but effective mixing of futuristic technologies with a nostalgic 1950s atmosphere. This is enhanced by audio logs of the citizens of Rapture found throughout the game, which gives the character more background information. What really brings this world to life though, is the amazing graphics. It would be hard to find many games that look better than “Bioshock 2.”
Aside from the setting, the game play is also incredibly unique and satisfying. There are a variety of guns, including a standard machine gun, a spear gun and a gun used to hack machines. Each type of weapon also comes with three different types of ammo with various effects, such as shooting traps or better for use against armored enemies.
Also included in your arsenal are gene tonics and plasmids. Gene tonics give your character upgrades, such as making you faster or making your attacks freeze people. Plasmids genetically enhance your character to do any number of superhuman things such as hypnotizing foes, releasing a swarm of bees from your arm or shooting lightning.
In the original “Bioshock” you had to switch between guns and plasmids, but in “Bioshock 2” you can freely use both of them at the same time.
Coupled with the fact that every gun and plasmid can be upgraded to be even more devastating, there is always something to look forward to as you progress through the game.
While this game is incredibly fun, it is not without faults. Each level of the game has a boss type character that you must find your way to, but each of these characters are not really important in the grand scheme of things. The main story is quite compelling, but individual levels seem to have no real significance to anything besides working your way to the end of the game. The other big drawback is since you play as Big Daddy, the game loses a sense of fear and tension. I could not help but feel that everything should be afraid of me, instead of the other way around.
Overall, I would highly recommend this to any person who likes first-person shooters. “Bioshock 2” has been improved from the first game, so fans of the original will love this sequel. This game offers fast-paced, completely unique action set in the amazing world of Rapture. It is hard not to love it.