BioShock 2 review

A FISTFUL OF PLASMIDS

The trouble with reviewing a game as established and epic as BioShock 2 or its older brother is chiefly this-where do you even start?

There is so much scope for analysis, even right from the beginning. Do I elucidate just how deep and stylish the decaying utopia of Rapture is? How much things have changed in the game’s incredibly complex world in the decade between games? Or how real the experience feels, despite the fact that you’re playing as a reanimated Frankenstein’s monster that can hurl thunderbolts, fireballs and freeze enemies in their tracks with glacial blasts?

I suppose then, the best starting point and the key figure in all of those factors is how you, the player, experience them. And that, fellow explorers of Rapture, is Subject Delta.

Standing roughly eight feet tall with a fistful of Plasmids (The game’s genetic superpower themed upgrades) and a drill for an arm, Delta is different from the Big Daddies 2K familiarized us with in the first aquatic instalment. He’s the first Big Daddy, and he certainly means business. Delta is on the hunt for his own Little Sister, taken from him a decade ago at the same time he supposedly dies. Since his demise, Rapture has crumbled into a dystopia torn apart by civil and genetic war, populated solely by the insane mutants known as Splicers, and a new, enigmatic villain has stepped in.

Her name is Sofia Lamb, and she (Not to mention the vast sprawl that is the underwater city of Rapture)is what stands between you and your Little Sister. You’ll have to cross the entire city, face hundreds of enemies and obstacles, all the while collecting Adam-think of it as genetic money you use to buy more power-and ‘dealing’ with Little Sisters.

Now, onto how you go about doing so. As you start, you’re a pretty hefty chap-not many games start you out with inches of steel armour and a drill for a hand. So for the introduction, you’re swatting away wrench-wielding Splicers like flies as they rush at you, becoming mere fodder for your drill. You pick up your first gun, and then your first Plasmid, and the game seems to be ticking along at an even pace until ‘Shock 2 really drops in its ace in the hole.

Say hello to the Big Sister. She’s smaller than you, lighter than you, and ten times as dangerous. The first time you try to claim a Little Sister, she appears out of nowhere, with only the ominous screech of her movement as an indicator. The little girl in front of you says “Big Sister doesn’t want you playing with me” and then you realize-this is what you have to fear as a Big Daddy. It’s like being attacked by a hormonal teenage girl with psychic powers and a giant drill.

She is relentless in her assault, throwing Plasmids at you in rapid succession, and keeping up with you in melee combat. If you take your eyes off of her for a split second, she speeds out of sight only to strike from behind. You’re not the top of the Adam chain in Rapture, she is.

After a short-lived battle, Big Sister retreats-and when you follow her, she drops the ocean on your head. At this point, we’re introduced to one of the plethora of new features 2k have introduced in an attempt to make the sequel stand apart from the original. It’s fantastic, and it does feel great to stomp around as a terrifying Big Daddy on the ocean floor, but all the features combined just don’t do enough.

Yes, we’re exploring new places in Rapture. But it’s still the same city. Still the same aesthetic, still populated by the same A Clockwork Orangeinspired hooligans. Seeing it through the eyes of a Big Daddy who can survive at the bottom of the ocean really doesn’t change that much. It throws morality choices at you every now and then-returning is your dilemma of whether to harvest or rescue the Little Sisters-and they do have an effect on which one of six endings you get. But it has no fundemental effect on gameplay.

Despite the fact that nothing’s really new in everybody’s favourite underwater hellhole, the storyline remains rich and lovingly crafted. Though Rapture doesn’t quite have the eerie impact it did the first time around, it remains a thoroughly enjoyable place to experience, and a truly perfect setting for the narrative.

What I suppose it all boils down to is this-if you’re looking for something new and equally impressive as the first descent into Rapture was, you will be disappointed. Essentially the same weapons and Plasmids prevail, and it doesn’t provide all that much new. But if you love the franchise and you don’t mind retreading old ground to experience an entirely new story, supported by incredible graphics and one of the most fitting, cinematic scores ever to grace the videogame industry, then this comes highly recommended.

Laurence Braddow