Why hello there folks,
what the hell do you want?
 
Lovely to see you all too, that's right, I'm watching you from here...
 
ok then, aside from the creepy, lets try out this blog thing by starting with a small review of Bioshock 2.
 
Keeping it simple: I enjoyed it, you should play it.
 
I remember playing the first bioshock and before that reading through all the press saying how it would be groundbreaking and setting new precedents. I also recall claims of meaningful decisions and an open world to explore and tackle as you saw fit with random events. I can safely say that I enjoyed bioshock despite it's failure to genuinely deliver on any of these promises. There is plenty to criticise in the first bioshock but it's still just fun. 
The second installment is, in my opinion, much of the same. Admittedly the gameplay is improved, but it could still be better. I still feel that the stealth option is greatly ignored, yes we have the quiet footsteps tonic and a big drill to bash people around with but most splicers see you pretty sharpish and suddenly all of the buggers in the local area have you lined up for some pain.
Onto other things though, new gripe: hacking. I didn't mind the puzzle in the old game, it wasn't special but it required a tiny bit of solving. Now we have a test of reaction times that occasionally doesn't seem to register correctly. The number of times the needle stopped over the blue but still triggered an alarm or buzzed me was infuriating. I can say for certain that I died many times to fucking up the hacking and being swarmed by bots which then needed hacked or killed, but I barely died on any other occasion. Big Sisters, Big Daddies, Alpha Series, none of you have anything on that endless swarm of pain in the arse bots. In the end I purchased every possible hacking tonic and sacrificed my combat or survival prowess. I also found that the fastest solution to a failed hack was to dive straight back into the hack again and try to complete it as fast as possible. Naturally this lead to greater stress meaning more fuck ups and more deaths or dozens of wasted first aid kits.
Ok, I've possibly just got a personal vendetta on that score, I read back and it sounds like I'm bitching a lot... I am, I want a wrench for those bots.....
Simply put, in the mind that is mine... puzzles > quick time events.
Ok, next thing, story. Where should I go with this?
I liked it. I did not love it. Though this reflects my feelings on the first bioshock as well. Many people found the story to be hugely compelling in the first but I wasn't overly impressed. I still only saw it as a means to drive the character through an interesting landscape, fair enough though, that's what a game is for the most part. This time around however the story was levered into a space that wasn't there from the first game. Since I knew this to be the case before I started playing the game I decided to play it as a different story rather than a continuation. I believe that this vastly improved the storyline, I could sympathise with trying to get my little sister back, the essential part of me that I needed to survive, and I was willing to tear apart anything that stood between me and her if it tried to stop me and I would take any friendly help I could get. She was the goal and I wanted the fastest route. I'm not going to discuss the plot because I haven't yet learnt how to hide spoilers but I will say that it starts slow and builds up as the game progresses. Nearing the end there was a point that genuinely made an emotional impression on me and for that I add a whole extra level of respect to this game. Could just be my sentimental side though.
Next point: Environment.
Yes:
beautiful
interesting
fun to search and kill in
No:
it IS linear (that's ok in itself, but don't pretend it isn't.)
a little more interactivity with props would be nice. I'm a big daddy, surely I can move heavy objects such as cupboards...
 
I'm not going to comment on the multiplayer just yet. I've barely touched it and haven't really got a balanced view to share. I have enjoyed what little I've played of it so far though.
 
I've run out of thoughts...
perhaps in future I'll try to make notes ahead of time and remember things as I play...
or maybe play twice before saying things...
 
Comments are for constructive thoughts and feelings! I expect plenty.
 
Blog cherry officially popped.
 
Kind Regards folks