gamespot score:8.5( great)
my score:8.6
(+)pros:- great story, - its fun to play as a big daddy,- environments are great and well-made to suit rapture's atmosphere,- more enemy varieties add more fun to the mix, -combat is easier and more fluid this time round, - more interesting weapons,- multiple endings which are affected by the choices you make.
(-)cons:- game is shorter than the first, -no "real" last boss
gameplay time:10-20 hours( below average)
Bioshock 2, the 2nd installment to the bioshock series. The 1st bioshock was awesome, earning game of the year awards around the year it was released, it was quite the bomb. Does its sequel deserve the very praise it did? To answer the question indirectly, this game is amazing, and falls no short from the 1st, thus it shoudlnt be counted out from the fight just yet. Returning to rapture has never been better, bioshock 2 is the best way to experience it.
Story-wise, bioshock 2 provides a story thats better than the 1st, in my opinion. The game's plot takes place 10 years after the 1st, a rather long time indeed, its too bad the protoganist from the 1st game never appeared and was never even mentioned in this game. Kinda sad, after what he did in the events of bioshock 1, I thought he at least deserved to be mentioned. Anyway, you take control of a big daddy (awesome), who awakes suddenly in a dark place, remembering what happened 10 years ago. As a big daddy, you realize immediately that your little sister is missing. Its too bad though, your little sister, eleanor, is the daughter of the current warlord who watches over rapture, the dreaded sophia lamb. The game, will mostly take place withyou travelling accross the whole of rapture, to locate eleanor, as you face "the family" which sophia build up after the deaths of both andrew ryan and fontaine.
Bioshock 2 puts you in the shoes of a big daddy, which is cool. Those great armored dudes in bioshock 1.....you finally get to play as one. How cool is that? You get the ground shaking when you jump, you get to see your badass helm and armor when you look at your reflection in the puddle...heck, you even have a drill! Still, even as a big daddy you still have to face the troubles of raptures...splicers. Now as a big daddy, you are pretty strong, you can kill enemies by jus the shoving of your drill...or any other weapon in that fact. Just plain shoving will put them splicers in thier place.
In bioshock 2, the battle system is improved to be more fluid and flexible. No longer will you have to keep your weapon and bring out your left arm to electrocute someone, because now, both your weapon arm, and your plasmid arm are on screen. This makes things much easier, you can now shoot your weapon and plasmids together in rapid succession. Sweet. Plasmid and weapon wise you get a wide selection, though the plasmids in the game are mostly carried over from the previous game, the game makes it up with some new weapons. Though some of your weapons carry a relationship with their corresponding counterparts from the 1st game, there are still great to use. Your new speargun acts alot like the corssbow, where you fire spears that one hit kill most splicers, with the spear you shot stucking them towards the wall. The double barrel shotgun is like the old shotgun, expect that it burns ammo twice as fast but does double damage. The rivet gun, my favourite weapon in game, bears resemblence to the pistol. There are many more to list but all of them are fun to use. There are also more enemy types now! You still get your big daddies, but they added a new type called rumbler which specialises in shooting turrets. You also get the new brute splicer, which is a big ass splicer that has muscle to rival a big daddy such as youself. You also get the dreaded big sister, probably the strongest enemy in the game, since you are a big daddy this time round, 2K decided to put something that can stomp on the big daddy, and thats your big sister over there.
One of the things that plagued the old bioshock was game lenght. On the 1st play it didnt last more than 10 hours, this time, its even shorter, providing somewhat of only 6 hours of gameplay. Altough bioshock 2 is a game that can be replayed multiple times like its preduseccor, its too short. Another depressing problem is the game's conclusion. Unlike the 1st game where got to battle fontaine in an epic face off, there is sadly, no "last boss" in the game. Now thats kinda sad, seeing as how great the ending was.
Happy gaming!
