Ten in-game years have passed since my last visit, and Rapture has morphed into a sort of communal splicer haven. Still ramshackle and relentlessly creepy, the city has found itself a semblance of order through a new character, Dr. Lamb.  Lamb is a psychologist hired by the city’s founder, Andrew Ryan, to further his message on the importance of self but who instead did a one-eighty and preached the exact opposite. What has come out of Ryan’s demise and Lamb’s rise is a makeshift society of ravenous addicts being kept in line by a message of unity and family.

There is one major difference this time around, though: you. Instead of being a man caught in a nightmare, you are a nightmare. A Big Daddy. Not just any Big Daddy, but the prototype unit, Subject Delta. Forced to witness a coerced first-person execution of yourself, you awake a decade later, weak and confused. Shortly thereafter, Eleanor Lamb, the Little Sister to your Big Daddy and daughter of Dr. Lamb, reaches out for you to save her from her current plight. And through your new adventure in Rapture, you will see a citizenry made up of herded splicers that worship Little Sisters, follow the word of Lamb, and reaching back to a more civilized time.

If you think that being a Big Daddy from the get-go would entail a more varied experience this time around, you would be mistaken. For the most part, the sequel plays out very much like the original. Despite being in a giant diving suit with a massive drill attachment yourself, you will still battle other Big Daddies for access to their charges, the Little Sisters that harvest ADAM from corpses. ADAM is still used to purchase the active plasmids and passive gene tonics, giving you a wide range of powers, such as the ability to send out swarms of insects to attack enemies, set foes on fire, and even increase your hacking proficiency. And there are still dozens of audio logs to be found that will fill you in on the city’s happenings before and after the original.

What is new within the single-player portion is limited to story and Big Daddy territory. Well, I should say Big Sister. There is a new Big Daddy model, but it isn’t nearly as important as Lamb’s new protectors: the female progenitor of the Big Daddy, the Big Sister. They are far more agile than their predecessors, and are introduced with a terrifying screen-shaking shrill. While it takes a while for one to appear, and is suitably freaky when she does, they are quickly relegated to the role of mini boss, appearing after the harvesting of so many Little Sisters. They are still a problem, but by the end they are pretty watered down in terms of presence and challenge. It’s odd they are used as much as they are, given the first half hour or so of buildup. In the end they might not be quite as iconic as their male counterparts, and utilized a few times too many, they are nice additions all the same.

The less bombastic but more worthwhile addition are the new audio logs. I really, really enjoy them and am happy to report that they are, at the least, on par with those in the original. They really delve into the build up to the civil war, giving you a much better idea of what Ryan was up against, why so many people began to dislike him, and why he used the hard tactics that lead to his downfall. As Ryan struggles in his war against Atlas, Lamb serves as a thorny third party that pulls at Ryan’s powerbase, preaching the downfalls of the unfettered free market model of his that has led to so many destitute and depressed people. The screw continues to turn throughout on Ryan, as Atlas attacks his physical assets while Lamb assails his ideals. You get taped debates between Ryan and Lamb on religion and spirituality that are quite interesting, as well as more background on Atlas/Fontaine’s motives and the various bit players caught in the struggle. Don’t worry, I’m not giving anything away; the story is so dense and intertwined that it’s the content of the logs themselves that are needed to truly understand what lead to Rapture’s current state – and they are a joy to hear.

The story, its importance and prominence, requires a certain familiarity with the original. As such, BioShock 2 is definitely not a self-contained sequel, as knowledge of the original is needed to fully appreciate and understand the circumstances. Playing it, however, you wouldn’t think that. As powerful as a Big Daddy is, for the majority of the game it feels as if you’re still playing as Jack. You are surprisingly susceptible to bullets, cocktail bombs, and the elements as an alpha model. But combat is as you remember with plasmid powers combining with weapons for devastating effect. Enemies can be frozen then shattered to pieces with a few rivet rounds, shocked while standing in a pool of water from a lightning bolt, or blown to pieces from an explosive barrel tossed via telekinesis. You will still have to use copious amounts of health packs and EVE vials to replenish your health and ‘mana,’ respectively, and pick up ammo and health kits from vending machines. The machines, including turrets and cameras, can still be hacked via a mini game. This time, however, you must stop a moving needle on a meter for a successful hack, attempting to hit the green ‘safe’ areas or the ‘bonus’ blue areas for extra goodies. Splicers also continue to be a huge annoyance, as well as a great way to pilfer much-needed items. Research also returns, but now you use your helmet’s camera to capture footage of all creatures, slowly building up experience as you catch their motions and attack patterns on film, gradually unlocking a range of enhancements.

It isn’t towards the end that the Big Daddy-ness really comes through; but when it does, it’s awesome. The giant, fuel-guzzling drill that was more visually striking than useful finally comes into its own, with plasmids and upgrades from one of the many Power to the People machines having increased its power, fuel efficiency, and versatility. The drill ended up being my primary go-to weapon when tackling Big Daddy and Sister units: freeze them with a plasmid, then drill into them, using my plasmid whenever my drill failed to freeze them itself, and then finishing with a massive charge slam that would shatter them. Ah, so satisfying. The drill can also be switched out for another weapon, including a rivet gun, machine gun, shotgun, remote hacking dart-shooter, as well as a spear gun. Weapons also have several different types of rounds to offer a greater range of attacks, such as rivet traps, mini turrets, explosive spears, and anti armor and personnel rounds, in addition to upgrades of their own. By the end, you are no longer scary because of the deep hums or thundering footsteps, you are scary because you are finally a force to be reckoned with.

Getting to the point of being a walking fortress bristling with armaments takes a while. Unfortunately, it ends up taking a little too long because of excessive filler. Searching for a switch or key is something I expect in a city that has been running on its last legs for a decade, but such missions are relied on way too much to give the game its longevity. After searching for two switches to engage a primary machine, you will almost immediately have to search for three or four items to use another machine, with each trek seeing you in areas repopulate with splicers or primed for an ambush. In many cases, there isn’t even a break between the find-and-flip missions – just one after another after another. There are some great moments within these sequences, especially when you get to wander about outside amongst the floating corpses and sea life, but on the whole there is just too much tedious backtracking and hunting for panels.

Menial chores aren’t exclusive to the sequel, and likewise, exceptional moments aren’t limited to the original. There is one sequence in particular, towards the end, which is absolutely phenomenal; you get an entirely different perspective that’s both startling and enticing. And smaller, meaningful moments are scattered throughout, whether they be the moral choices you have to make, oppressive areas you must explore, or almost tender moments you stumble upon. The small visual touches are also nice, offering revelations of how Lamb was able to fill the void left by Ryan’s murder and retain control.  Even canned animations can touch a chord, such as whenever a rescued Little Sister would inevitably stumble as she entered a vent and my insistence that I stay and try to somehow help.

Multiplayer has also been added, and it is surprisingly similar to the single-player mode. To be honest, I went into BioShock 2 with the view of multiplayer as being just icing on the cake if the single-player portion was anywhere near as good as the original. In that regard, multiplayer is wildly successful; however, if it is a selling point for you, the thought of running around spliced up and coming up with wild plasmid attack combos, then you might want to temper your expectations. Despite the erratic, slapdash combat, however, the multiplayer element as a whole is one of, if not the most, unique I have ever seen. Instead of just tossing in some combat and being done with it, the developers have integrated the storyline into multiplayer and multiplayer into the storyline.

Choosing between one of six unique characters, you begin your multiplayer career on the eve of the civil war between Ryan and Fontaine. Each character has their own backstory, from a disgruntled welder that helped build Rapture to a mystic trying to carve out a following from the increasingly disillusioned population. You are given your own apartment within the city, as well as an intro explaining that you are being sponsored by Sinclair Solutions and will be taking part in a market test for their plasmids and tonics. Within a few moments of settling in, a message over the PA system alerts you to the outbreak of violence at the Kashmir Restaurant during a New Year’s Eve celebration. From there you enter your bathysphere and begin combat, fighting in one of seven modes. There are the traditional modes, such as deathmatch (Survival of the Fittest) and a territory mode (Turf War), but there are some that intertwine more within the lore. ADAM Grab and Team ADAM Grab revolve around finding a Little Sister and holding on to her while Capture the Sister entails one team capturing the defending team’s Little Sister and bringing her back to a vent within their base (re: capture the flag). But the two that lead most into the story are Civil War and Last Splicer Standing, the later being the former without respawns, in which each side represents a faction within Rapture’s civil war. You are also offered an array of masks and melee weapons to adorn your character, but these go beyond differentiation and combat preference. Those two objects also mark the beginning of your journey to becoming a splicer. You will eventually be the lunatic mutant that terrorizes you in the future, as Jack and Subject Delta.

Rewards, in the form of unlockables and audio logs, are plentiful. Plasmids, tonics, and slots to use them are unlocked as you gain rank by earning points for killing, collecting ADAM vials, donning the randomly generated Big Daddy suit, taking down a Big Daddy, and so on. Photos of defeated players can also be taken, which gives you additional post-round points and increases the damage you deal to that particular player within that round. Trials are unlocked as you level as well, which are challenges that revolve around using specific weapons and powers to take down a set number of opponents. Weapon and weapon mods are unlocked alongside the plasmids and tonics. You are limited to two weapons, with a mod each, as well as two plasmids and a handful of tonics. Coming up with an effective combination is interesting and is mildly addictive, but much like the single-player portion, the combat takes a back seat to the presentation and story.

The combat itself is so-so; it won’t replace Modern Warfare 2, but it’s good enough for another couple hours of play.  The real hook is the story-based rewards. Unlocking character-specific audio logs and Rapture announcements is a treat, as they not only detail the events leading up to the original but also offers insight into the motives of the average citizen. The apartment setting is also nice, with a broken mirror and leaking roof providing the kind of visual cues that something isn’t quite right while the plush furniture and roaring fireplace point to better times. Being able to listen to all characters’ audio logs is a great touch, and having those unlocked is a strong incentive to level up. I was genuinely surprised with how well multiplayer was implemented into the single-player’s framework, and even if the combat isn’t as addictive or involved as the imaginative world might suggest, it’s solid enough to keep lore hounds playing as they delve deeper into Rapture’s history.

Overall: 8.5/10
Unlike many sequels nowadays, BioShock 2 is a follow-up heavily dependent on its predecessor and solely for fans of it. To newcomers, I advise you to check out the original first. Aside from seeing if a slower pace and story-centric focus is something you enjoy, the mechanics haven’t advanced enough to warrant skipping ahead and missing out on all of the story elements. It’s unfortunate that there is as much filler as there is, which can be a bit trying, but the combination combat system manages to hold strong long enough to keep it from feeling like a chore. Multiplayer, the game’s biggest addition to the series, is a strange beast: the combat and maps aren’t engaging enough to keep you playing to the max level, but the story elements are; tying them together is a brilliant move. For those who enjoyed the original, it’s time to get lost in Rapture all over again.


(This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.)