Final Thoughts 13
BioShock 2
Note: This is not a review, but merely my musings after having recently completed a game as part of my Rogue's Adventures playthrough of my backlog. Follow @RoguesAdventure to keep up with my playthroughs.
Developer: 2K Marin/Australia, 2K China
Release Date: February 9, 2010
To say that BioShock 2 was the classic example of a sequel that nobody wanted would be stretching it. After all, the cool mix of gun and spell-slinging (in the form of plasmid mutations) combat with the ultra interesting fallen utopian underwater world of Rapture cemented the original BioShock as one of the greatest games of the 360/PS3/Wii generation. BioShock also popularized the Voice in the Ear story approach in FPS, mostly in the form of finding neat and well-written audio diaries describing the rise and fall of this idealistic paradise. After the original's universal praise and commercial success, a sequel was inevitable whether fans actually wanted one or not.
Gamers were rightly nervous when the original developer, Irrational Games, bowed out from doing a direct sequel, instead choosing to focus on an entirely new setting and narrative while using some similar gameplay mechanics in their new entry BioShock Infinite. But 2K wanted another game set in Rapture, and what could have easily been a tired retread and obvious milking of the cow instead managed to be a great game in its own right.
The original game told the story of a sleeper agent that seemingly stumbles upon Rapture by happenstance and makes his way through the half-destroyed city to face its idealistic tyrant. A few big twists and crazy story moments later, and you escape the hellish world while either saving or dooming the ADAM-infused little girls you come across. The primary enemies are Splicers, the citizens of Rapture that have become mutated and insane from too much plasmid use. You see, Rapture might have done just fine if not for the remarkable discovery of a little underwater slug that grants extraordinary powers, right out of a comic book (fireballs, telekinesis, hypnosis, etc). The new resource, ADAM, can only be stored in the body of little girls, turning them into ghoulish glowing eyed creatures called Little Sisters. To protect them from the increasing roving bands of Splicers, they were bonded with mutated humans who were placed in giant hulking old-timey diving suits and named Big Daddies. This combination resulted in a unique gameplay mechanic - the Big Daddies essentially acted as frequent boss battles that you had some control over: they were completely neutral unless you fired upon them or tried to harm their little sister.
The Big Daddy/Little Sister dynamic was one of the most memorable aspects of BioShock and Rapture, so it was no surprise that in the sequel the new developers chose to put you in the role of one of those feared suits. Your "daughter" is taken from you in the events before the first game, and new villain Dr. Sofia Lamb orders you to kill yourself. You're reborn 10 years later with your daughter's voice in your head urging you to save her, and set off once again through the ruined world battling Splicers, meeting shady figures, and learning more about Rapture's unfortunate history.
Being a Big Daddy affords a lot of new and awesome features. The drill is by far my favorite melee weapon in a game ever; with the press of a button you swing it in front of you, or you can hold it down to spin it, ripping up any splicer that dares get close. Even from the very beginning I felt much stronger than I ever did in the first game. While this nearly eliminates any of the horror aspects the first game excelled at, it did effectively allow me to feel like the powerful creature I was inhabiting.
The biggest game changer is the ability to dual wield plasmids and guns at the same time. Such a simple and obvious advancement to make, but it made me realize that I rarely used plasmids in the first game as switching back and forth was a bit of a pain. By dual wielding I could pull of some fun combos - freezing an enemy with Winter Blast then shattering them with my drill, lighting a room full of Splicers on fire while unloading my machine gun, and catching the rockets fired by Big Daddies with telekinesis and hurling them back while still backpedaling with my shotgun. My only issue was switching between guns and plasmids during the more hectic large-scale battles proved quite stressful once I had a full arsenal of guns and plasmid slots, not to mention the different special ammo types for each gun that made a return from the original game. While most of the plasmids were recycled, the guns were impressively all new - from a somewhat lame rivet gun (setting traps was cool tho!) to the fully automatic machine gun and a cool-in-concept but hard to use Predator-like speargun. I found myself constantly switching weapons instead of relying on one or two favorites, and also enjoyed utilizing a variety of plasmids from fireballs to freezing to summoning security bots and placing a very helpful decoy. My favorite new plasmid was a cool ghost mode that allowed you to scout ahead and cast a few plasmids on the enemy (like hypnosis!) to stir things up even before you arrive.
Even with improved gameplay, it wouldn't be a BioShock title without a strong narrative focus. From the very beginning your goal is straightforward - save Eleanor from Dr. Lamb. Although you meet Dr. Tenenbaum, the one helpful NPC from the first game early on she seemingly bows out and is replaced by Augustus Sinclair, a very 50s era-sounding businessman that you can't help but like. He remains your primary Voice in the Ear ally, although you do meet a few non-spliced NPCs. Like the Little Sisters you encounter in each level, you're given the choice to kill or spare these people, and this black and white choice affects how Eleanor behaves once you finally meet up with her.
While the sequel lacks any of the gut punching Holy Crap story twists of the first game, it does have a supremely cool moment late in the story. You're given control of a Little Sister and get to see the world of Rapture through their heavily conditioned eyes - Everything is pristine, all the people look as they did before the fall (and mutations) and all the pictures look like propaganda, reminding me of the classic scene when Roddy Piper puts on the glasses in They Live. Brief flashes when you interact with objects strip the world back to what it really looks like, complete with the screams of Splicers, and was by far the most horrific part of the whole game, despite the lack of combat or danger.
Example:
Here's what Little Sister sees
Here's what Rapture really looks like
The ending was sufficiently rewarding, though I felt that the final level was drawn out far too long for wanting to do an exciting "This place is falling apart!" climax. In true video game fashion, you're briefly anxious when the screen shakes and Eleanor screams at you that We Have to Hurry, but then have all the time in the world to explore the final sections of the game. Speaking of which, the final section of the game is Lamb's detention facility and insane asylum, a level that should have been utilized earlier for a horror effect. I've admitted to not being a horror fan but honestly felt like the game could have benefited from a few more frightening moments that the original did so well. BioShock 2 is very much the Aliens to BioShock's Alien - eschewing most of the horror elements because we've Been There, Done That and instead throwing everything at us to create a much more action-heavy experience. Surprisingly it works quite well; the sequel introduces a few new lore-friendly enemy types like the Brute Splicers and the new feared boss type enemy the Big Sisters (which are basically really fast versions of Big Daddies) and the aforementioned dual wielding really opened up my combat options for every encounter.
While the whole fighting Big Daddies and rescuing or harvesting Little Sisters mechanic makes an exact return, the fact that you play a Big Daddy allows you to carry around each Little Sister and let them harvest ADAM for you. Each Gather attempt causes a wave of enemies to attack the both of you, and it gives you another chance to have a prepared large battle. I found many of these defensive battles to be some of the most difficult in the game, depending on their location, and in one particular level you're entire goal is to simply deal with each Little Sister (something you do in every level anyway), and it grows supremely repetitive. Because of the impressive power curve you're on, these large scale wave battles became the only thing that I had any trouble with on Normal difficulty - even the feared Big Daddies were a breeze once I figured out which type they were and had the proper tools to deal with them.
BioShock 2 had all the qualifiers for the cash-in sequel - different developers, added multiplayer (which I didn't try, I assume it's past dead by now), and reused assets and gameplay mechanics. As a medium, video games benefit the greatest from this type of sequel however, as a solid gameplay experience can easily make you wanting more with just another story excuse to dive back into a cool world. While falling way short of the story achievements laid out in its predecessor, BioShock 2 still gives you a great excuse to play as one of the coolest and most feared creations from this generation of gaming while also retaining an emotional core in the form of a unique father-daughter bond. BioShock 2 is a solid follow-up to what will surely become a groundbreaking classic in video gaming (if it hasn't already), an impressive feat for any sequel.
