BioShock 2 Review – A Welcome Return to Rapture

After more than its fair share of delays, BioShock 2 is finally in the hands of consumers. Is the return trip to Rapture worth the price of admission or should this adventure stay sunk on the sea bed?

Thumbs Up: Great story, excellent pacing, stronger moral choices, a rich single player campaign, top-of-the-line voice acting, and an addictive multiplayer component.

Thumbs Down: Blurry text and some minor texture pop-in? Honestly, nothing of note.

Eh…: Graphics look aged but don’t detract from the experience.

First and foremost, I am happy to report that all of the gameplay mechanics that made the original Bioshock engaging (the plasmids, the weapon upgrades, the tonics) make a welcome return and have actually improved since the last game. The player now has the ability to dual-wield weapons and plasmids which gives an even greater sense of power to the player, something that was certainly needed due to the fact that you’ll be playing as a Big Daddy throughout the duration of BioShock 2. This feeling of overwhelming power is heightened by the new upgrades to the player’s plasmids as well. 2K has really done a phenomenal job in making the player actually want to collect all the plasmid and weapon upgrades this time around by making each of these upgrades more and more significant with each consecutive discovery. For example, near the start of the game you’ll earn the Electro Bolt plasmid which can electrocute Splicers and other enemies with a quick bolt of lightning. However, by the time you get Electro Bolt 3, the final upgrade for this plasmid, you’ll be shooting Bioshock’s equivalent of Force Lighting out of your hands which absolutely ravages whatever enemy comes near. There are tons of other plasmid upgrades that are sure to make players drool when they find them but for the sake of spoilers, I’ll leave these later plasmids for you to find for yourself. And oh yeah, the drill is an an awesome weapon.

Overall, BioShock 2 is also a much better paced game than its predecessor. Many of the gameplay lulls that occurred in the original game are gone and the action in between many story points has been heightened. BioShock 2 has also done a great job of changing up gameplay variety while still keeping the classic BioShock feeling of play. For example, on numerous occasions, you will be asked to watch over one your Little Sisters while she takes ADAM from various corpses throughout Rapture. While she is busy collecting the goods however, you will have to stop the various Splicers, thugs and other baddies from taking her out. These defense/escort missions are great fun and occur in just the right moments. The ever-looming threat of the game’s greatest enemy, the Big Sister, also helps to create tension in an already engaging experience.

Protecting the Little Sister brings me to another major gameplay aspect in BioShock 2: moral choices. While the original BioShock gave the player the option of saving or “harvesting” the Little Sisters, BioShock 2 adds an entirely new layer of depth to these choices. This time around, as I mentioned earlier, you can also adopt a Little Sister and have her harvest ADAM for you. While this may not seem like a major gameplay change, I need to stress that this new addition actually adds an entirely new layer of depth to the already complex world of Rapture and, without spoiling too much, it really does matter what you do this time around when it comes to your moral choices. In the original, players would either harvest or save the Little Sisters and, based on what they did more of, would receive a “good” or “bad” ending. This is certainly not the case with BioShock 2 due to the fact that the “Good or “Bad” choices you make throughout the game will completely change the ending scenario. And, considering the ending scenario is easily one of the strongest parts of this trip to Rapture, the gravity and consequences of your choices as Subject Delta mean that much more. These important moral choices also bump up this game’s replay factor tremendously since they allow for, and encourage, numerous play-throughs that can have completely different ending outcomes.

Now would probably also be a good time to mention that the story in BioShock 2 absolutely carries the pedigree of its predecessor. Not only is the story this time around much more engaging and easier to digest than the one in the first game but many of the characters are also much more interesting. When you think of the original BioShock, Andrew Ryan, Atlas and, arguably, Sander Cohen are the only characters that were strong enough to resonate with many players after their initial play-through. And, at the time, this was fine since no only really expected a horror-shooter like BioShock to have such strong character development. However, in BioShock 2, I finished the game with the words of Ryan, this game’s antagonist Sofia Lamb, plasmid-inventor Augustus Sinclair as well as that of a few of the extremely interesting characters you meet later on in the game, still resonating in my head. In addition to the forced dialogue however, audio diaries make a return in BioShock 2 to provide even more story for players who really want to know more about what happened to Rapture in the ten years since the last game, the Lamb family, and who Subject Delta really is. It’s also worth noting that the voice acting in BioShock 2 is absolutely divine. None of the various characters you encounter throughout the single-player experience sound forced in their performances and the sound clips in multiplayer are just enough to create atmosphere without distracting the player from blasting their opponents to bits.While Andrew Ryan once again remains a stand-out role ripe for monologuing, the performances of the Lamb family, Sinclair and one of the game later but most memorable characters (you’ll know who I am talking about once you play the game) also portray some top-of-the-line voice over work. Long story short, BioShock 2 will make you think with its story and characters but its story aspects won’t distract the player from the core gameplay experience.

Speaking of Augustus Sinclar and his plasmids, BioShock 2′s multiplayer is absolutely brilliant. Basically, multiplayer places you into the role of a test subject for the plasmid company “Sinclair Solutions” and asks you to help the company fine-tune their products by testing them on the spliced citizens of Rapture. The story is simple and the premise is easy to digest but the action is oh so satisfying. Initially in multiplayer, you’ll start off with some basic weapons like a shotgun, pistol and machine gun as well as a few of the earlier plasmids like Electro Bolt and Incinerate. However, using a Modern Warfare 2-like progression system players will, based on their achievements, unlock new plasmids and weapons to try against their competitors and rise in the ranks as one of the company’s top test subjects by entering new testing “clubs”. In essence, multiplayer is exactly what people were expecting from a multiplayer BioShock and since it really could’ve gone either way quality-wise, it’s nice to know that 2K really took the time to craft a fun and addictive experience in addition to the superb single-player experience. That said, only time will tell if BioShock 2′s multiplayer will really take off for the online multiplayer shooter crowd. The shooter field is pretty full right now with PS3 players eating up MAG and Killzone while 360 gamers are still devouring Halo and Modern Warfare but, if nothing else, BioShock 2′s will offer a nice diversion for those sick of “the same old thing”.

Truthfully, I could still go on and on about BioShock 2′s atmosphere, outstanding story and gameplay, improvements over the original and addictive multiplayer component but at this point I really feel as if I am belaboring the point: BioShock 2 is a masterpiece. Not only does it stand above its predecessor in terms of depth and length (a 9-11 hour single player campaign, rich perk-filled multiplayer) but it also succeeds in being a fantastic game in its own right. Anyone with a PS3, 360 or PC should own this title; it’s really that simple. Now would you kindly stop reading and go play the game for yourself?

Vice Verdict: MUST BUY

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