BioShock 2

By Jay Williams

Can someone please hold my hand while I crap my pants! BioShock 2 is scary and pretty damn creepy as anyone who has played the first game in the franchise can tell you.

BioShock 2 puts players back into the underwater city better know as Rapture. Set 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the story kicks off after it is revealed that some monster has been kidnaping little girls and taking them back to the dark, dingy and creepy surrounds of Rapture.

And they aren't exactly taking them there for a harmless tea party either folks...

The opening cinematic is one hell of a brain freeze, I won't say what happens - but lets just say it's pretty intense!

Gameplay starts with you lying face down out the front of a Vita Chamber in Rapture's Adonis Luxury Resort without any recollection of who you are or how you got there.

Your true identity remains a mystery from the game's outset, but, what you do know is that you are now a Big Daddy, a being that has had it's organs and skin grafted into an atmospheric diving suit (pictured on the right). 

Sounds pretty cool, huh?

It soon becomes apparent that you are among the first of your kind and from there your main quest is to search the city in an attempt to relocate Eleanor Lamb, the Little Sister you were originally paired with.

Now, because you are a Big Daddy most of the weapons in BioShock 2 are those that were previously seen carried by Big Daddies from the first game, so you start out with a large power Drill and a Rivet gun.

The Rivet Gun is partiulary good for picking off unsuspecting Splicers, while the Drill is good for close combat and swinging melee attacks.

Later on in the game you pick up a Gatling gun, which is good for blazing away wildly, as well as a double barrel shot gun and even a hydraulic spear gun.

In addition to traditional weaponry you also have a set of abilites at your disposal, as seen in the last game, but this time you can wield a weapon in one hand while leaving the other hand free to unleash your plasmid attacks.

Plasmid attacks are unlocked by acquiring ADAM which allows you to genetically modify your character via a Gatherers Gardens vending machine.

Unlike the previous game you can now harvest ADAM from a dead corpse. To do this you need to kill another Big Daddy and adopt their Little Sister or you can harvest them for a quick fix of ADAM.

This also adds an intense morality aspect to the game : To kill or not to kill, that is the question.

By adopting a Little Sister (she sits on your shoulders) and by pressing and holding the square button she guides you to the nearest ADAM filled corpse.

This is where things get tricky, the Little Sister jumps down from your shoulders and begins to extract the ADAM from the corpse with a giantsyringe. 

Now, you better be ready because while the Little Sister is extracting ADAM you have to protect her from crazed and desperate Splicers that start flooding in fast and aggressively.

Splicers are a lot smarter this time around, they'll use cover, throw grenades and head for the nearest med station when their health gets too low. It can get pretty hectic at times.

As with the previous game there are three main resources ADAM, EVE, and money. 

Money lets you purchase ammo and health from various vending machines that you have hacked throughout each level. Most dead foe will have money on their persons or, alternatively, cash registers and safes that are scattered around Rapture are always a handy source for some much needed moola.

ADAM allows you to genetically modify your character and can be used to purchase plasmids, as mentioned before.

EVE is the stuff that fuels your special abilities. It's a light blue substance that was manually inject mid-firefight – which previously left you momentarily vulnerable to enemy attacks. This time around your Eve supply is topped up automatically via your atmospheric diving suit (provided you have picked up some Eve hypos), this is handy especially when you're mid fight and on the move.

Because of your slightly more complex relationship with the Little Sisters and the host of major moral decisions to be made throughout the game, BioShock 2 has three possible endings - which one you unlock is ultimately up to you.

Although BioShock 2 seems to be well paced in terms of story line, it just dosen't seem to have that same jaw dropping impact that the original BioShock delivered with its story line.

But, in saying that, BioShock 2 has vastly improved in terms of overall gameplay. The combat system has vastly improved with its dual weapon wielding, broader set of smarter and more aggressive enemies, and the addition of a multiplayer mode gives the game a much needed sense of longevity with well past the 12 hours of story line gameplay on offer.

While BioShock 2 may not have the same impact as the first it comes very close and is still a very well polished and involving shooter that has a great narrative that’s better scripted than most.

Game: BioShock 2
System: Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
Players: Multiplayer
Developer: 2K Marin
Publisher: 2K Games

Rating: 90%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)