No matter how great the reviews are, Bioshock 2 isn’t anywhere near as good as the first one. However, if you’re a fan of the series, Bioshock 2 has a lot of offer in the world of Rapture.
The game has eight chapters. Of those eight, the first four or five feel like an expansion pack. The environments feel recycled, the music is mostly uninspired, even most of the Splicers seem sort of bored.
We’re supposed to believe these events take place eight years after the first Bioshock game, but other than another figurehead, little has changed in Rapture. Splicers and Big Daddys still roam, Little Sisters are still creepy as hell, and most of the environments haven’t been drowned in water. In the first Bioshock we see water leaks, rusted metal, and uncontrolled burning fires. In an underwater prison, these three things should open a door for the ocean. I guess it’s true though, they really don’t build it like that anymore.
One thing I noticed that has really taken love out of the game is the lack of fear. The rooms are more lit, there aren’t as many creepy shadows running by, you don’t hear people screaming from rooms away. You come to expect each door opens to a room with 5-15 people in it.
That’s also how Bioshock 2 handles boss fights, instead of there being one badass dude, you normally get one medium dude and 10 or so minions. Not as fun fighting through cannon fodder.
The story restores my faith in the new Bioshock team, but not until the end. Rapture takes on a sort of Communist ideal where everyone works for the good of the whole, and this of course fails. The new figurehead, Sophia Lamb, isn’t as interesting as Andrew Ryan, but she provides a nice counter idea of Ryan’s individualism and free enterprise.
The real meat and potatos is the last few chapters where the story really starts accelerating. Sophia Lamb screams over the alert system, bringing doubt to everything you are trying to do. She calls for the help of the family, painting you as a cruel abusing relic from Ryan’s kingdom. An abomination that needs to be destroyed, quietly flooding out room after room, backing you into a corner.
If you plan on continuing with the series, Bioshock 2 provides a lot of important canon. You learn much about the Little Sisters, the history of the Big Daddys, and the introduction of many more important citizens. Give this game a rental, its worth the experience. Just know, as you’re fighting through the psychos, you’re working toward an ending well worth it. Yes, the ending in Bioshock 2 is a thousand times stronger than Bioshock 1.
-Dan
Comments
No Responses to “Bioshock 2”