Bite-Sized Rapture
Single-player downloadable content seems like exactly the kind of thing that those who bemoaned BioShock 2's existence were afraid of. The original BioShock's story was self-contained, they might argue, and thus, trying to expand the fiction of the game with stories that would reference the central material when the original game didn't allude to those particular concepts seems like an attempt to leech the franchise for money, and undermines the core fiction.
Minerva's Den, the final piece of DLC for BioShock 2, is a side-story to what BioShock purists believe is a side-story, which should no doubt have those purists pulling their hair out. As someone who enjoyed BioShock 2, I don't see more BioShock content as sacrilege, so I'm open to learning more about Rapture.
Taking few risks so as to not offend the faithful, the story of Minerva's Den follows the same narrative beats as the rest of the franchise. A new “guide” character (C.M. Porter) and new antagonist (Reed Wahl) lead the new player character, Subject Sigma, down yet another part of Rapture previously unseen.
The variable this time around, a supercomputer created in Rapture's Central Computing District called The Thinker, can predict the future via mathematical algorithms. Though that ability doesn't really have any impact on the gameplay, it's still an interesting plot device; things like Wahl yelling “Ha! Right on schedule!" When you're defeated provide some unique moments to the piece of conent. But, aside from that, the guide character will tell you where you should be going to fix something, you'll fix it, and the bad buy will curse your name then wax political.
But the story, though typical, is executed fairly well. It does a great job of giving you something to care about as you wander around Rapture for the third time, even though the events of the DLC don't hold many long-term consequences for the city as a whole. Wahl isn't that great of a character when held up to franchise standards, but his interactions with The Thinker are the best part of the whole DLC.
Porter's a decent Atlas substitute, and the audio logs do a good job of fleshing out his relationship with the machine he created as well as his wife. No heavy philosophical fights this time around, but the personal battle is just as interesting, and the payoff is worth seeing. By lowering the stakes, the story manages to create some impact in the short-term.
Like the narrative structure, the gameplay also doesn't veer to far off-course; the plasmid-and-gun dynamic of using genetically-created powers to augment regular first-person gunplay sees only two new additions: a laser, which feels like the chemical thrower from the first BioShock – not bad, but boring -- and the Gravity Well, which is a unique toy that creates miniature black holes. It's an extremely powerful weapon, powerful enough to warrant its exclusive use after getting it. Also, watching dead Big Daddies and other helpless bodies being tossed around while you shoot at them is as close to comedy as BioShock's going to get.
It's a fairly conservative package, but when put into perspective, Minerva's Den is exactly what I'd want out of a piece of BioShock DLC. You'll run through an entire gamplay and narrative arc in the course of about four or five hours, and that includes the staples like fighting Big Daddies and Sisters, defending Little Sisters while they collect Adam for you, and upgrading your plasmid powers and weapons. The whole thing feels like BioShock: Express Edition, and it's a shame there won't be more of this kind of content, because it's exactly what I'd to see from the franchise in the future.