Bioshock 2: Review

Well… It was doomed from the start really.

Bioshock was an original FPS for a number of reasons. As a seasoned PC player I’ve fought through innumerable warehouses, I’ve padded through a thousand dank corridors and I’ve seen space stations, old temples and bombed-out cities by the score. Bioshock gave us a whole new landscape to shoot through. While it can be argued that yes, there were dank corridors, there were explosive barrels and there were several other mainstays of typical FPS scenery, they were all transformed by the setting Bioshock gave us. This was new.

This was Rapture.

Underlying this, inescapable and eternal, was the storyline. The two were the same, not some incidental addition. Like Half-Life 2’s City 17, the storyline dripped from each leaking rivet, each creaking neon sign. The first time you saw the series’ iconic duo, Big Daddy and Little Sister, you shivered. The first time ‘How Much Is That Doggy in the Window’ blared from a battered jukebox as Splicers howled and giggled… you had to suppress a sense of horror and awe.

Bioshock 2 doesn’t have that sense of new.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In Bioshock 2, you are one of the Big Daddys from the original, a prototype from the beginnings of Rapture allowed access to the weapons and plasmids (the quasi-magical ‘powers’ seen above) that brought the city’s downfall. I could go into a long exposition about their origins and what they mean in the game overall, but just as the game assumes you’ve played the original and know your lore, so will I. You are hunting for the girl they bonded you to, and a city of power-addled lunatics stand in your way.

Rapture was set up as a refuge for the fettered genius, a place where the best and brightest could practise their crafts unchained by Government or God. Surgeons could implement the most revolutionary procedures, artists were free to imagine Heaven, and scientists were free to plumb the depths of the possible.

Of course, it all went to Hell.

Looking at Bioshock 2 as a standalone shooter, I have few complaints. The game mechanics are polished as all hell, giving you a characteristic melee weapon  (to speak more casually, they give you a f*ck-off siege drill, and plenty of fuel) and a nice variety of ranged weapons, from rivet gun to spear launcher. On top of this, each weapon has a series of upgrades and three varieties of ammo, so you don’t get bored with your chaos-causing implements. Battles become a tactical affair, as you switch effortlessly between ammo types and weapons in order to inflict the most damage.

Your enemies are equally interesting. Splicers are the once-glorious inhabitants of this underwater metropolis, rendered insane by freedom and access to weaponised plasmids. They’re a terrifying bunch, from frock-wearing partygoers throwing fire as they complain about crumpled invitations to gown-wearing surgeons with machine guns begging you to stay still for that final perfect cut. The Big Daddies are present from the first game, hulking behemoths best assailed from a prepared position, their Little Sisters urging ‘Mr. Bubbles’ to crush you under their diving boots.

When one of these monsters fall, you’re introduced to one of the new innovations this sequel has to offer.

Little Sisters are kidnapped little girls, genetically engineered to take ADAM (the chemical that powers plasmids and special Gene Tonics) from the bodies of the dead. Big Daddies protect these thoroughly creepy imps as they travel from body to body. If you manage to slay one, you have the option to ‘adopt’ a Little Sister, gaining an ADAM-gathering girl of your own. ADAM  is the means by which you upgrade your character with more abilities and power, and while collecting them is optional, if you want stronger plasmids you really have to indulge.

When you lay one down on a suitable corpse (and she thanks you, kisses your hand, and tells you in a sing-song voice that ‘she has to go talk to the angel’) that’s when the Splicers come; swinging from chandeliers, jumping from balconies, all howling for the little girl’s blood. These battles are some of the most fun parts of Bioshock 2, and while you could conceivably avoid all of them, they’re thrilling and almost essential to attaining true power.

This is the world that the first game created, and while it’s realised just as well in the second game, this time around you’re treated like you should know all this already. The first time you saw a Splicer in Bioshock there was real fear, a carefully written introduction to the most common villain you’d face. The developers placed certain little scripted moments that scared and excited, and you were introduced to a messed-up little ecosystem that was immense fun to jump into. They don’t show this care the second time around. ‘You should know this, you played the original, right?’

Unfortunately, we also see this in the storyline. The problem with creating an amazing game is the challenge to beat it for the sequel, and they almost manage it. There are a few moments in Bioshock 2 that made my eyebrows rise, but not compared to the twists in the original.

One addition I loved, however, is the Big Sister. A new enemy in the Rapture environs, she’s the self-appointed protector of the Little Sisters, and she does so with a variety of plasmids, incredible agility and a ear-splitting snarl as immediately recognisable as the Big Daddy’s mournful moan. They’re a sort of boss battle, and they’re done very well, backflipping and throwing fire like a Cirque de Soliel-trained assassin. (which is an awesome novel idea, and I copyright it right now.)

2K Games puts you in a very odd quandry. In order to fully appreciate the setting, the characters and the general themes behind the game, you really need to have played the original. However, after playing the original, the sequel doesn’t live up in terms of surprises, clever moments or atmosphere. It almost feels more like an add-on pack than a sequel in its own right.

Now, after saying all that, I enjoyed every minute of Bioshock 2. It’s a great game. It’s just not the original. My recommendation to you is to go and buy the first game, (You can buy it in a double-pack with Oblivion for less than forty euro, amazing deal) play it, love it, and then play the sequel. They improve on some small niggling complaints I had with the original’s mechanics, and it’s a terribly enjoyable game, but it’s not the Godfather 2 to Bioshock. It’s just a good game, set in the same amazing world.