BioShock 2: Similar game play with a sinister plot

By: Curtis Shubert

Posted: 3/16/10

Once again we return to the massive, desecrated underwater city of Rapture. BioShock 2 picks up about a decade after the events of the first edition. This time, instead of playing as Andrew Ryan, we play as the character Big Daddy. Big Daddies are heavily armed armored goliaths whose sole meaning of existence is to protect Little Sisters. You start this game trying to find one of the Little Sisters.

Fans of the first BioShock will recall that as Andrew Ryan one would often have to fight and kill Big Daddies. This was done because Little Sisters' ADAM. The ADAM mutagen is what allows players to level up. By killing the Little Sisters, one could absorb their ADAM. There is a way to extract ADAM from the Little Sisters without killing them, but you would gain only half as much. It was the player's choice to choose strength over morality or vice versa. Both choices have drawbacks and rewards.

You play an early model Big Daddy, and while you are not as well armored as the current model, you are definitely faster, and able to use plasmids. Plasmids are upgrades that grant you special powers like shooting fire or ice from your hand. ADAM increases the power of plasmids. This brings up an even more interesting moral dilemma than in the first game. Because it's your duty to protect Little Sisters, it makes it that much more sinister to kill them for your benefit. But if you don't get stronger, you might not have the ability to find your own Little Sister.

The game plays, for the most part, the same. There are more weapons and plasmids, not enough though. One noticeable upgrade from the last game is that you can shoot plasmids and use guns at the same time. Unfortunately, although you are a Big Daddy, the way your player moves about the city is completely indistinguishable from the character Andrew Ryan. It would have been nice if the character could move faster or possess extra agility.

The biggest change that BioShock 2 has to offer is multi-player. BioShock's developers put an original spin on the online multi-player mode by making it a prequel to the original BioShock. Although it's fun to battle with your friends, make no mistake that the best part of the game is the single-player mode. This outstanding first person shooter delivers another epic story that's sure to please devoted fans of the series.

BioShock 2 is available on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.