I finished Bioshock 2 yesterday. Im definitely in the 'it didn't need a sequel' camp with a lot of other people, but for me that doesn't mean that the sequel is a bad game. I can think of a ton of other games than it is much, much better than - but it isn't anyway near as good as its predecessor. For me the main problem is that it doesn't feel like they ever intended to make it for fans of Bioshock. Its almost like they decided that was a redundant idea because fans of the first game would never accept the second game as a 'true sequel'. Instead, they have made a shooter...a shooter set in Rapture. 
 
Fine, it has to be said though that Rapture looks just as good as ever, especially the outdoor bits, but the story is forcefully wedged in there in between the shooting and because of that, they have missed the point. Even though I enjoyed the story (The scraps we were given) it has lost all its mystery. I think a better way to approach it would have been to have the events of Bioshock 2 away from the events of the first game. There just wasn't a reason to tie them together. I would rather see other peoples stories and see subtle hints or visit places I have seen in the other game...but not be told that they were from the other game and then I can smile to myself at the tribute they are making to a great game. It would be like the developer was saying - "hey, we know you loved the first one, we did too. And that is why we aren't going to touch it. We're going to leave it, as it was, just fine...but we're going to take the world of Rapture and show you some of the other things that happened in the city". That would have been cool and all of these arguments would be redundant. Because really, its the world of Rapture we love.
 
Anyway... as I said, it isn't a bad game AT ALL. Its a great game...it just doesn't to take into consideration the adoration that people had for the first one. The guns were awesome, especially the cyclone/spear gun combo. Pinning things to the roof took me back to my HL2 days and I loved that. And some of the new enemies were brilliant. Please let me be a Big Sister in the next one :P
 
The thing that has surprised me the most however, is just how good the multiplayer is. COD2MW set in Rapture. To get my single greivance out of the way early...if you are going to rip of COD at least keep one of its best features and reassign a new game leader when the current one drops out...don't send me back to the lobby. It makes me want to scream.
 
Obviously this game is nothing new or special in terms of multiplayer shooters...except that it is set in Rapture and the maps and plasmids really add an extra element of interest. I don't normally get too into multiplayer online when it comes to gaming. I am lucky to have family and friends who love to be in the same room and bully one another in a great atmostphere with lots of beer and snacks, so I often steer away from it. But with Bioshock 2, I played the multiplayer before I finished the story...and I never do that. Ever. I guess because I knew it was set during the war of the first game and I knew I wouldn't spoil anything I felt a bit better about it...but I dived in and im glad I did. The last multiplayer I really found engaging and kept coming back to was Call of Juarez. I think maybe I like my online games with a few holes in them or something.
 
How about you guys? What do you think to Bioshock 2's multiplayer?

I really enjoyed it, I love the Bioshock universe so I was always bound to play it. I ended up collecting everything in the single player though, so that's an indicator on how much I enjoyed it. The story was solid, but I can understand why some weren't so taken by it, relying on another side of an existing story and creating new plot around it is essentially saying "oh here's what we never showed you last time" is a sure fire way to alienate some.
 
Not being the biggest player of competitive multiplayer, I've got to say I liked that also. Freezing the other team before smashing them to peices with a pipe never got old, it wasn't as completely serious and self-involved as other online games like MW2 have become either.

I picked it up on the cheap recently  and have completed the story. Whilst I can admit it's not a good as the first I'd agree with you to say it's definitely not a bad game. I also quite enjoyed the story as it explored the development and creation of the Big Daddies. The MP might be my favourite part of it, they justify it being there through a small amount of backstory and it's surprisingly fleshed out as a mode.

...let's put it in terms of dollar value. 
 
How much would you spend for it now?