Well, first off, let me just get this out of the way so no one expects it later. This review is just as the title would suggest, a review of ONLY the single player. I was one of the many people that were a little perplexed when they announced a sequel to Bioshock. More so when they announced that it would have a multi-player aspect. I did not play Bioshock 2’s multi-player at all. It may be surprisingly good and have lots of achievements attached to it, but that wasn’t why I wanted to play this game. I rented it for the single player, and that is all I cared about.
It bears repeating that I, like so many, didn’t expect to see a sequel to Bioshock ever hit the shelves. The story from the first game was not only original and compelling, but also pretty well rounded. It had a lot of moments that (if no one spoiled them for you) were very eye opening. The first time you realize you’ve been used as a tool the entire game is really one of the better “A-Ha!” moments in recent gaming history. It also had what most every well-written story has, and that is a very defined ending. This being a video game, and a gateway to selling more and more merchandise however, I guess they [industry executives] decided there was more they could do to milk the franchise. Something they [industry executives] are VERY used to doing.
I am not here to review “Business Ethics” but rather the single player experience found in Bioshock 2. The story picks up eight years after the first game. You play as a nameless “Big Daddy”, actually I guess as you find out later in the story, you are the ORIGINAL Big Daddy: “Subject Delta”. That isn’t giving too much away, but from here on I will try to remain spoiler-free. Your main quest in the game is to find the Little Sister that has been “pair-bonded” to you. Basically it was a way to permanently link a Big Daddy to a Little Sister. Should the Big Daddy or Little Sister get too far away from each other, the Big Daddy dies. If the Little Sister should happen to die first, then her Big Daddy becomes something like a wandering, insane Ronin, of sorts.
After the death of Ryan and Fontaine, Rapture fell under the control of a psychiatrist named Sofia Lamb. Her thinking on how to handle the inhabitants of Rapture is almost the polar opposite of what Ryan originally intended. Lamb wants everyone to live in Rapture as one big family. Help the family, and the family helps you. I guess it’s closer akin to Communism than anything, really. You however, being from the original time of Rapture, are a free thinker, and all you want to do is find Elenore (your Little Sister) and get out. The big issue, as you find out early on, is that Elenore is the daughter of Dr. Lamb. Your biggest ally during all this is a man named Sinclair, who wants to take out Lamb so that he can sell off Rapture for parts to the topsiders.
Given all that information, and the large amount of information that you find out through various audio logs and character exposition, this game really just felt like a continuation of the first. If they could have smushed together the first and second game, minus the bits from the first after the fight with Fontaine, you could even be lead to believe that this was just one long add-on pack. The one glaring problem in the story is the fact that through out the first game there was never a mention of Dr. Lamb from Ryan. Yet through audio logs and more, we learn that they apparently had a long standing feud over Rapture and how to control it.
Gameplay-wise everything still handles well, if not better. The subtle things make this game shine just a bit more than the first. Weapons can now be held along with plasmids. You can also now look down the sights of your weapon for better accuracy. Overall the weapons just felt like they had more weight, and were a bit more “realistic” than before. The addition of the new spear gun is nice, and leads to some of the more brutal deaths in the game. The plasmids and tonics were also revamped slightly, as well as adding a few more to choose from for each. Once I got the Insect Swarm plasmid and the “Drill Specialist” tonic, I found myself using them throughout the bulk of the game. It just seemed to be the best combo for what it did, and how well it did it.
Enemies in the game received a slight upgrade as well. Almost all the splicers seem to move and act a bit more “human” than they did before. Now they will seek cover, regroup, and even try to flank you in some cases. Two new enemy types were also added this time around, the Brute Splicer and the Big Sister, both of which take a bit more than the usual shotty to the face to put down. Big Sisters are exactly what you would think they are, Little Sisters all grown up. They are tough girls. Usually appearing once you have rescued/harvested the Little Sisters in a level, you will know they are on their way from the horrible high-pitch screech. They move fast, and attack with speed and lots of firepower. I tried setting up traps for them, but it didn’t do much damage, and didn’t slow them down one bit. The only way to take them out is brute force, and a lot of it. The fights with the Big Sisters are really the only thing close to a boss fight you will get in Bioshock 2.
Upon completing the game, again, I was satisfied enough with the way the story ended. I “rescued” all the Little Sisters, and didn’t kill any of the key targets that I was given the choice to kill or save. This netted me the “good” ending of the game, apparently. I could totally see where the game could have gone had I played through as a more evil Big Daddy, killing and harvesting. I have to say that one of the later sequences that you are put through was another one of those “A-Ha!” moments, and without giving too much away, helps explain why the Little Sisters are always so cheery and happy in an otherwise dismal and scary place.
All said and done, I enjoyed the game. As I said, it just felt like a continuation of the first, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The subtle differences in the gameplay mechanics and controls were enough to keep me playing, more so then the way the story would finish out. Again, I never had any intention of playing the multi-player side of the game. It wasn’t in the first game, and in my opinion didn’t need to be here either. The people that were itching to get into this kind of game apparently will be happy with what they have, based on what I have read and/or heard from different sources. Multi-player just didn’t interest me in the slightest, but if it makes the game a must-buy for you, then more power to you. In my humble opinion, the single player again stands out as the biggest reason to play the game, and should be the real reason for anyone to search this title out.
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