Explore the ocean from the safety of a sequel
The original Bioshock came during the gaming nirvana that was the end of 2007. The two things I remember about it from that swirl of gaming was its amazing water effects and the big story surprise that is now part of gaming legend. Bioshock 2 was announced earlier than I would have expected and not by its original developer. These factors didn't leave me all that excited about it. Regardless, after some positive word of mouth and a Steam sale, I decided to pick it up.
As is typical of sequels with faster development cycles, Bioshock 2 does not revolutionize the game play mechanics established by its predecessor, but rather enhances and extends them. As a Big Daddy, the player escorts Little Sisters as they gather the mutagenic resource Adam. In Bioshock, Adam was rewarded based on the player's choice when dealing with the Little Sister of a defeated Big Daddy. Bioshock 2 allows the player to work a little harder by guarding the Little Sister as she gathers additional Adam. When the job is done, the Little Sister is safely returned to a vent and Rapture's circle of life is complete.
Each of these event is punctuated by a fight between the player and rival Big Daddies, Splicers, and the newly introduced Big Sisters. The battle scenarios ensure a constant stream of action which provide ample opportunity to dispatch foes with a combination of plasmids (supernatural abilities) and weapons which mostly carry over from the first game.
It is therefore fortunate that levels have been structured in a way that promote and often require the creative combination and use of weapons and plasmids. The hacking and rpg-lite aspects of Bioshock 2 are still present, and the mini-game associated with these aspects have been streamlined for the better.
Although the core combat of Bioshock 2 is satisfying, the experience feels stretched due to the lack of game-play variety and quality set pieces. The expected uptick in visuals was also difficult to notice, although this may be caused by my delay in playing the game. As far as the trademark water effects were concerned, I was never wowed. At least the voice acting and sound were of a consistently high quality.
The final factor to colour a PC player's experience, is the game's use of Games for Windows Live. This is guaranteed to frustrate you at least in some way, but you will rewarded with achievement points for your trouble. Multi-player is also present, but I will not comment on an aspect that I felt to be needless and accordingly ignored.
Bioshock 2 sets itself up well with solid changes to the core game play mechanics of its predecessor. The single-player campaign is solid without ever making your job drop. 2K Marin can be congratulated for making exactly the sequel expected, I wish they said "screw it!' and went for something great.
