GetDotted Domains

Viewing Thread:
"[Game] Bioshock 2"

The "Retro Game Reviews" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.

This thread has been linked to the game 'Bioshock 2'.
Wed 17/02/10 at 19:20
Regular
"Ghosts Can't Die!"
Posts: 774
If you had the chance to read my “Best of 2010” thread I posted a couple of weeks back, you’ll know that Bioshock 2 was one of the ten to make the cut bringing along with it an unbelievable amount of hype. The fact that the original was my first game I bought for my Xbox 360 didn’t help with keeping me any calmer when it came to the release either. So now I finally have my hands on it, does it live up to the ridiculous hype or its incredible original?

Bioshock 2 is a first person shooter that revolves around powering up your character, saving or harvesting little sisters, upgrading weapons and making your way through an underwater world in ruin known as Rapture. Built around the 50s by a man named Andrew Ryan, the entire environment looks and feels like it was once a living breathing world and is still one of my favourite settings in a game to date. Sadly though some of the initial shock and amazement is lost since this is my second visit to the city. You kind of know what to expect and the feeling you once had of “I’ve never seen anything else like this before” is gone thanks to the high level of quality set by the original.

The inhabitants aren’t doing much better than the city itself as they have now become addicted to a DNA changing substance known as ADAM. This red gunk alters genes enabling almost super-power like abilities such as turning invisible, controlling people’s minds and manipulating security. Due to the hunger for this substance the city went into a downward spiral of self destruction and left it in ruins. These are the enemies you will be facing constantly throughout your quest.

In the story you take the role of the first ever Big Daddy this time around complete with huge drill and diving suit. While the overall experience is fairly similar to the first Bioshock, little tweaks and additions have been made that not only bring new challenges, but also make for a much more fun game. Take for example the new hacking system. Last time you would be taken out of the action and placed in a fairly out of place pipe mini game. It wasn’t bad to start with, but definitely began to grate the further you got into the game. This time however things are simpler with a needle moving back and forth waiting for you to try and stop it in the correct coloured section on a panel. All this is done in real time too, so things can get fairly frantic. Another great change is that you can now use weapons and plasmids at the same time. Chopping and changing back and forth is now a thing of the past. Basically any little niggle that was in the first game has been improved or changed for the better.

The game is split into several sections each with its own theme ranging from apartment areas to theme parks. You will go about completing a series of fairly simple missions in each before moving onto the next and this continues pretty much throughout the whole game. It sounds repetitive, but the varying enemies and environments keep things for getting stale.

Weaponry may be limited, but is definitely solid enough offering the usual shotgun, machine gun and grenade launcher as well as some unexpected ones like a rivet gun and spear gun. Each can be upgraded offering bonuses but throw in the plasmids too and you have a lot of variety available to you.

Something that returns is the choice in how you deal with a little sister. Choosing to harvest them will give you a mass amount of ADAM but also lead to a negative ending, saving them will give you less ADAM but put your conscience at ease, and finally adopting them (as Big Daddies did in the original) lets you carry them around and extract ADAM from dead corpses around Rapture. These moments take a while and often attract bunches of splicers making for some of the more tense moments in the game. While ultimately the choice is up to you, the consequences are hardly game changing (besides a few achievements) and it feels like more could be done with this concept.

The multiplayer was something of a surprise when it was first announced and immediately followed were sighs of disappointment as many complained that Bioshock was and always should be a single player experience. Regardless it’s here and while nothing spectacular, it is still kind of fun.

Like so many shooters out there, you can take on a group of randomers or friends online with a small selection of guns and weapons in a bunch of modes including team, capture the flag (sister), elimination and more. While it seems fairly run of the mill, the one advantage this multiplayer has over other shooters is the use of plasmids. While your right hand will unleash bullets, shells and grenades via an assortment of weapons, the left hand can shoot a handful of elements at your opponents. Electricity momentarily stuns them on the spot, fire obviously sets them on fire, and a swarm of bees can blind them. It definitely adds some hectic action to the gameplay and soon enough you’ll find your favourite combos to use. Mine being the ice blast plasmid followed by a few hefty shotgun shells to the face. Thrown in for good measure is a levelling system not too unsimilar from Modern Warfare where the more you play the more you unlock. It’s a great system and as you progress grabbing new upgrades along the way, you feel a great sense of accomplishment and like you actually deserve the new homing ability on your grenade launcher.

Visually the game is amazing. I was impressed with the original and I am just as impressed with the sequel, if not more so. The environments steal the show once again and the characters too look decent. If I had one objection though, it is that the animations are still a little off. The music in the game is once again astounding with the right tones played during tense moments, and classic older music played on record players and radios scattered around the areas. The voice work is also great with tape recordings providing the back story so well with each character sounding as believable as the next.

So as my first new game of 2010 how has it set the bar? In terms of playing alone, it has set it fairly high offering yet another fun and absorbing experience. Multiplayer though just doesn’t feel as solid or polished as the high rollers like Halo 3 or Modern Warfare 2. Rapture may have lost its impact it once had when first visited, but that hasn’t stopped my time back being a joy. A worthy successor.
Sun 28/02/10 at 12:22
Regular
Posts: 1
Can you feel the heat though......?
Fri 19/02/10 at 12:39
Regular
"@optometrytweet"
Posts: 4,686
Great review Ghost Killer, very worthy of a GAD.

It sounds very impressive and honestly can't wait to give it a go!
Thu 18/02/10 at 09:07
Regular
"And in last place.."
Posts: 2,054
I'd like to say I've spotted no lag in the multiplayer games but I'd be lying, every game has at least one moment of lag. I did complete it last night, thoroughly enjoyed it.
Wed 17/02/10 at 21:30
Regular
"Ghosts Can't Die!"
Posts: 774
Thanks :) Yeah Rapture is one of the best designed environments in a game to date. I'm up to about level 22 I think on multiplayer. Oddly enough I don't think I've found one game where lag hasn't been apparent. I play Halo and everything is fine, then I play Bioshock 2 and it becomes a little laggy.
Wed 17/02/10 at 21:03
Regular
"And in last place.."
Posts: 2,054
A fine review of a fine game, I should be completing it tonight if all goes according to plan..

I think Rapture is one of the best video game settings and I'd have to say it lost none of its appeal for me with so many new locations that weren't in the original.

I thought the multiplayer was quite fun to start with but having reached rank 11 it is now starting to lose its appeal, it's fun for short bursts but no more.
Wed 17/02/10 at 19:20
Regular
"Ghosts Can't Die!"
Posts: 774
If you had the chance to read my “Best of 2010” thread I posted a couple of weeks back, you’ll know that Bioshock 2 was one of the ten to make the cut bringing along with it an unbelievable amount of hype. The fact that the original was my first game I bought for my Xbox 360 didn’t help with keeping me any calmer when it came to the release either. So now I finally have my hands on it, does it live up to the ridiculous hype or its incredible original?

Bioshock 2 is a first person shooter that revolves around powering up your character, saving or harvesting little sisters, upgrading weapons and making your way through an underwater world in ruin known as Rapture. Built around the 50s by a man named Andrew Ryan, the entire environment looks and feels like it was once a living breathing world and is still one of my favourite settings in a game to date. Sadly though some of the initial shock and amazement is lost since this is my second visit to the city. You kind of know what to expect and the feeling you once had of “I’ve never seen anything else like this before” is gone thanks to the high level of quality set by the original.

The inhabitants aren’t doing much better than the city itself as they have now become addicted to a DNA changing substance known as ADAM. This red gunk alters genes enabling almost super-power like abilities such as turning invisible, controlling people’s minds and manipulating security. Due to the hunger for this substance the city went into a downward spiral of self destruction and left it in ruins. These are the enemies you will be facing constantly throughout your quest.

In the story you take the role of the first ever Big Daddy this time around complete with huge drill and diving suit. While the overall experience is fairly similar to the first Bioshock, little tweaks and additions have been made that not only bring new challenges, but also make for a much more fun game. Take for example the new hacking system. Last time you would be taken out of the action and placed in a fairly out of place pipe mini game. It wasn’t bad to start with, but definitely began to grate the further you got into the game. This time however things are simpler with a needle moving back and forth waiting for you to try and stop it in the correct coloured section on a panel. All this is done in real time too, so things can get fairly frantic. Another great change is that you can now use weapons and plasmids at the same time. Chopping and changing back and forth is now a thing of the past. Basically any little niggle that was in the first game has been improved or changed for the better.

The game is split into several sections each with its own theme ranging from apartment areas to theme parks. You will go about completing a series of fairly simple missions in each before moving onto the next and this continues pretty much throughout the whole game. It sounds repetitive, but the varying enemies and environments keep things for getting stale.

Weaponry may be limited, but is definitely solid enough offering the usual shotgun, machine gun and grenade launcher as well as some unexpected ones like a rivet gun and spear gun. Each can be upgraded offering bonuses but throw in the plasmids too and you have a lot of variety available to you.

Something that returns is the choice in how you deal with a little sister. Choosing to harvest them will give you a mass amount of ADAM but also lead to a negative ending, saving them will give you less ADAM but put your conscience at ease, and finally adopting them (as Big Daddies did in the original) lets you carry them around and extract ADAM from dead corpses around Rapture. These moments take a while and often attract bunches of splicers making for some of the more tense moments in the game. While ultimately the choice is up to you, the consequences are hardly game changing (besides a few achievements) and it feels like more could be done with this concept.

The multiplayer was something of a surprise when it was first announced and immediately followed were sighs of disappointment as many complained that Bioshock was and always should be a single player experience. Regardless it’s here and while nothing spectacular, it is still kind of fun.

Like so many shooters out there, you can take on a group of randomers or friends online with a small selection of guns and weapons in a bunch of modes including team, capture the flag (sister), elimination and more. While it seems fairly run of the mill, the one advantage this multiplayer has over other shooters is the use of plasmids. While your right hand will unleash bullets, shells and grenades via an assortment of weapons, the left hand can shoot a handful of elements at your opponents. Electricity momentarily stuns them on the spot, fire obviously sets them on fire, and a swarm of bees can blind them. It definitely adds some hectic action to the gameplay and soon enough you’ll find your favourite combos to use. Mine being the ice blast plasmid followed by a few hefty shotgun shells to the face. Thrown in for good measure is a levelling system not too unsimilar from Modern Warfare where the more you play the more you unlock. It’s a great system and as you progress grabbing new upgrades along the way, you feel a great sense of accomplishment and like you actually deserve the new homing ability on your grenade launcher.

Visually the game is amazing. I was impressed with the original and I am just as impressed with the sequel, if not more so. The environments steal the show once again and the characters too look decent. If I had one objection though, it is that the animations are still a little off. The music in the game is once again astounding with the right tones played during tense moments, and classic older music played on record players and radios scattered around the areas. The voice work is also great with tape recordings providing the back story so well with each character sounding as believable as the next.

So as my first new game of 2010 how has it set the bar? In terms of playing alone, it has set it fairly high offering yet another fun and absorbing experience. Multiplayer though just doesn’t feel as solid or polished as the high rollers like Halo 3 or Modern Warfare 2. Rapture may have lost its impact it once had when first visited, but that hasn’t stopped my time back being a joy. A worthy successor.

Freeola & GetDotted are rated 5 Stars

Check out some of our customer reviews below:

Easy and free service!
I think it's fab that you provide an easy-to-follow service, and even better that it's free...!
Cerrie
Many thanks!!
Registered my website with Freeola Sites on Tuesday. Now have full and comprehensive Google coverage for my site. Great stuff!!
John Shepherd

View More Reviews

Need some help? Give us a call on 01376 55 60 60

Go to Support Centre
Feedback Close Feedback

It appears you are using an old browser, as such, some parts of the Freeola and Getdotted site will not work as intended. Using the latest version of your browser, or another browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Opera will provide a better, safer browsing experience for you.