The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

Most reviews of Bioshock 2 that I have read start with the fact that this is a sequel that did not need to exist and, honestly, since that’s the elephant in the room, I’m not going to be any different. This game did not need to exist. Bioshock was a neat, near-perfect package that said what it wanted to say and was done. Playing through the first hour or two in the game, I was filled with the feeling that the game was trying way, way too hard. “Ugh, this is so unnecessary. Man, they’re really forcing this in here.”
After you get past those feelings, though, you start realizing that, hey, there’s still a fun game there. Sure, it didn’t need to exist, but it’s still a good time, and they certainly improved, mechanically, on the combat in the game, making it a much more enjoyable game, though perhaps a slightly diminished experience, since you’ve been to Rapture before.

All the plasmids and guns have been improved upon. The plasmids now have levels: you can upgrade them, and then charge them up for additional effects. This gives you a feeling of power progression you simply did not have in the original game. It’s not gaining levels, but you feel like you’re constantly getting stronger, a feeling you didn’t really get from the first game. This is certainly a benefit and helps draw you through the game experience. Additionally, upgrading the weapons fundamentally changes their use, unlike the first game. The Rivet Gun, for example, starts setting people on fire once you fully upgrade it, making it’s use change. It’s also a big difference, making you feel that same sense of progression that you feel with the plasmids. It works.

Combat itself has been improved by the simple fact that you have a gun and a plasmid equipped at all times. You don’t have to switch between them, which makes it much easier to zap someone with electrobolt and then drill them, or complete whatever kind of complex plasmid to weapon or weapon to plasmid maneuver you want to undertake. Add to this the fact that the game constantly rewards you for varying up your attack tactics, much more than in the other games. The research camera is now a video camera, and you get rewards for recording the killing of enemies in a variety of ways, much more than simply shooting them with the same gun over and over. It makes the combat much more dynamic.

Especially important, to me anyway, was the Little Sister collection sequences. The game gives you a very wide variety of traps, from proximity mines to the Cyclone Trap plasmid. These existed, for the most part, in the first game, but you never really had a reason to use them. You could set up ambushes for Big Daddies, I guess, but they never felt required. It was much easier just to charge in there with a shotgun or grenade launcher and be done with it. Now, with the defense of the Little Sisters, the game is giving you a clear reason to play defensively and set up lots of traps. I loved this: it was a welcome change from how I was approaching normal combat. I took the time to completely vary my approach for these sequences, and I had a lot of fun. I can see how someone who decided they were just going to run and gun during those times would find them a bit tedious, but I took them as a reason to do something different, and was rewarded. I found it very fun.

I feel like I need to mention multiplayer, another thing that people claim the game did not need. I only played a round, but I have to say, I can appreciate what they’re doing. They pretty successfully integrated the “Modern Warfare” style of multiplayer progression with the setting of the game. I loved that I got to walk around my little Rapture house, hear propaganda, set up my loadout and crazy splicer attire, and run into battle. I also enjoyed how well they worked plasmids into the multiplayer. Most of them are reconfigured to be debuffs or DoTs. They aren’t just another gun. They really do compliment whatever strategy you’re trying. So, yeah, I wouldn’t be mad at someone for playing the multiplayer. It’s not really compelling enough to get me to drop everything else and play it, but for a kid who got this for his birthday and has no other multiplayer options, he’s going to have a damn good time, and won’t feel like he’s settling for second best.

Yeah, Bioshock 2 was a fun time. It’s not really a “must play” like the first game, but if you enjoy the first, and want to enjoy some better combat in a familiar setting, you really should give it a go. Just expect many elements to be rehashed going in, and you’ll have no problem enjoying yourself.