GameGuide

Bioshock 2

Posted by Rhettspect On February - 13 - 2010

The original Bioshock was one of those rare games that was universally acclaimed as a masterpiece. It’s success wasn’t so much in its gameplay (which was solid but not amazing), but instead in its originality, its narrative, and its dripping sense of atmosphere. As pretentious as this risks sounding, Bioshock was a game that truly deserved to be called art.

Sadly, news of Bioshock 2 has not been greeted warmly, right from its first announcement. Things just seemed to be stacked against it. For a start, it was handled by a different developer (2K Marin). And then it was announced that multiplayer was being tacked on, a stupid decision for a game which isn’t really about the shooting mechanics (which aren’t nearly as crisp as some games in the genre).

Most of all, a second visit to the underwater city of Rapture just seemed – excuse the pun – like a diluted idea, since so much of what made the first game memorable was because of the sense of wonder you had at first exploring the place.

I wish I could say that my doubts had been proved wrong, but after playing through Bioshock 2, I just can’t. I read one review which described this game as a straight-to-dvd movie when compared to the first game, and I think that’s very accurate.

Very little has been improved upon in a gameplay sense. In fact, other than the fact that you can now wield weapons and plasmids (Rapture’s superpowers) at the same time, and a few new hacking minigames, Bioshock 2 is identical to its predecessor.

The graphics in the original were technically limited but masterfully executed. The art direction of Bioshock was astounding and it created a very unique environment in games. In Bioshock 2, the graphics really haven’t been improved at all, and are starting to look very dated indeed. That would be fine if the art direction compensated, but instead it’s more of the same, just with none of the “Wow!” moments from the first game.

And then there is the most important part of the Rapture world: the narrative. Bioshock 2’s story is not bad per se, but it pales considerably compared to the original games shocking twists and turns.

Sophia Lamb, the big baddie this time round, just never comes anywhere close to the heights of mystery and intrigue that Andrew Ryan achieved in the first game. The story does have enough to keep pulling you along, but it’s in a Scooby Doo mystery kind of way. It feels so much smaller in scale and impact than it did before.

I wanted to like this game, but in the end it is just a solid, slightly above-average story-based shooter. And that, in light of the first game, tends to detract from Bioshock’s legacy as a whole, rather than add to it. It feels like a money grab.

Reviewed on: Xbox 360

Available on: XBox 360, PC, PS3

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2 Comments

Stu says:

February 14, 2010 at 3:09 pm

Your closing words ‘a solid, slightly above-average story-based shooter’ describe how I feel about the original Bioshock game. I never played more than a couple of hours of the original because I found it boring, and while the setting was fairly unique, I found still it pretty cheesy. Each to their own I guess.
Rhett says:

February 14, 2010 at 3:27 pm

The original certainly was much more “low key” than a big action epic like Call of Duty. The way the story was delivered via audio diaries, for example.

I suppose it was the sense of atmosphere more than anything that I liked. The only other game I can compare it to is Fallout 3. Not that they share a lot in common, but for both the major strength was the atmosphere.

But I hear ya. I definitely didn’t have as much fun moment-by-moment playing Bioshock as I did play say GTA IV or Modern Warfare 2. But the story and feeling of the place stayed with me. It’s like watching a weird arthouse film vs watching Transformers on the big screen. Sure, the blockbuster movie may be more entertaining in the short term, but more often than not it’s the arthouse movie which stays with you.

I felt that way about Bioshock.