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  1. 1. Rate this game

    • Truly awful in every way
    • Terrible
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    • Not good
      0
    • Dissapointing
    • Average
    • OK
    • Good
    • Very impressive
    • Fantastic
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I havent wrote one of these in a while, this is a boring lecture im sitting in so here we go :)

 

 

Story: 10/10

 

The story behind Bioshock 2 seems to be one of the main driving points behind the game, the background story is very in-depth and a lot has gone into character development and a lot more has gone into the lore of Rapture itself.

 

Every character is weaved deep into the story and has a very engaging story/agenda behind them. I also found myself quite drawn to a lot of the characters and their interactions towards you. Also, the audio diaries return to delve you further into the fuel that fed the fires of madness in Rapture and give you even more insight into what went on while you were away.

 

I rarely find myself stopping gameplay to listen to audio diaries/collectables but I was more than happy to make an exception here and found myself stopping gameplay to listen to every single one.

 

Gameplay: 9/10

 

Gameplay has always been one of the major plus points for players of the original, this time round, Rapture pulls no punches. You play as a Big Daddy (complete with drill and rivet gun) and use the same familiar elements from the first game (Hacking, traps, plasmids, etc.) to kill a myriad of deranged splicers, fellow Big Daddies and (the new) Big sisters.

 

Gameplay has also been modified slightly from the first game, with a lot of focus being refining the weaker points of the gameplay of the first; a major change being dual wielding plasmid/weapons, a welcome change which adds a new element of gameplay. Another change being the hacking: Hacking has been changed to a quicker, more efficient method of hacking which can be done in real-time combat.

 

One more addition is the little sister management; this time round you can adopt them and have them harvest corpses (which triggers a 'protect and defend' event) adding yet another element of gameplay.

These changes seem to give a feeling of relief from any apparent flaws of the first game and even though there are a lot of similarities in the gameplay with no major changes, it makes you think "if it isn't broke, don't fix it"

 

Controls: 8/10 - 10/10

 

The controls are standard bioshock controls with no real changes. It only suffered a minus point as on a personal note, I could never warm to the control.

 

But, from a non-biased point of view - 10/10 - Every action is covered, with no real confusion or heavy manuals needed to learn the button combinations and everything is learnable within 5 minutes.

 

Graphics: 10/10

 

The graphics are what to be expected from a game of this magnitude - brilliant:

The overall graphics are very polished and smooth. Every enemy is detailed with no graphical glitches during heavy fights. The little sisters have been revamped slightly and the water effects are absolutely stunning.

 

The main winner for me graphically was the environments; like a few games of similar genre (Dead space for example) a LOT of detail has gone into designing environments that have a shocking level of detail put in. The levels all have tiny elements to them that add to the overall atmosphere of the game and the underwater sections are just beautiful.

 

Sound: 9/10

 

Score wise, It has Django Rheinhardt esque Gypsy Jazz pieces (remnant of the era) combined with a very eerie underlying score. Brilliantly fused to give that 'used to-be-happy-but-now-psychotic' environment.

 

The voice acting is also top-notch. The splicers are all voiced with a lot of conviction and each major character really does have a lot of character in the voice acting alone (as a lot of dialogue between major plot characters happens through non-face to face interactions) and a lot of work has gone into making sure there are no 'dead' dialogue sections.

 

Wow Factor: 8/10

 

The game itself has a lot of 'wow' moments with a lot of amazing environment and battle scenes, but sometimes the 'wow' does drop while exploring or taking it down a notch to explore Rapture and it's history, I wouldn't go to far as to call them a detrimental change of pace, but the in-between moments tend not to 'wow' you as much as other main sections and tend to stick to corridor weaving and room searcing.

 

Replay Value: 9/10

 

The single player is easily enjoyable over multiple playthroughs over multiple difficulties. The good/bad option is still there and the little sister harvesting also affects the game outcome. Each encounter can also be dealt with in a different way and pure exploration plays will also promote more replays.

Also, with the addition of multiplayer and future DLC, I'm sure it will stay in your collection for a long time.

 

Multiplayer Experience: 8/10

 

The multiplayer starts off with you being a citizen of Rapture who is caught up in the civil war and has opted to take part in a tester program for plasmids and defence (Multiplayer with a backstory is always nice) You then go out and...well, test! It has all the elements of a standard first person shooter and a lot of standard game modes masked in the Bioshock universe (Civil war = Team deathmatch. Capture the Sister = Capture the flag.) With a standard leveling system based on ADAM generation instead of exp (ADAM gathered from kills, hacks, scoreboard placement etc.)

 

A nice addition is the amount of customization throughout the levels, the higher you go, the more amount of plasmid/gun combinations you have and different outfits/masks/ become available for further customisation. There are also various 'trials' (Think of challenges from Call of duty.) These vary from the standard "Kill 30 people with a specific weapon" to more obscure challenges, all of which grant extra ADAM. With the ability to become a Big Daddy in a round, the scope for gaining addition ADAM becomes more interesting.

 

There are some underlying problems with server lag, host disconnects and frantic gameplay but it is nothing that has seriously damaged the overall fun of the online games. The online is actually very fun and will keep you entertained for hours on end.

 

Rent Or Buy This Game?

 

Buy - If you enjoyed the first game, you will love this. The main story is quite linear and can be completed fairly quickly if rushed but why would you want to do that? Lose yourself in Rapture and you will not be dissapointed.

 

Your Personal Verdict & Your Final Rating: 9/10

 

Overall, Bioshock 2 is a brilliant sequel that does nothing to damage the franchise and only serves to strengthen the Rapture experience. The main story is engaging, the gameplay is very fun and dynamic. The graphics are stunning, the environments creepy (and sometimes very dark and gruesome) and the multiplayer is simple, but fun. With the first session lasting over 7 hours, (sadly 20 minutes of this being taken up with a slightly over the top HDD installation) I found myself very drawn to this game

I could write for hours on the good points on this game but it will have to be kept to a readable length, you will just have to play the game and find the rest out for yourselves :)

 

Bioshock 3 ideas - ? All are welcome.

 

Thanks guys

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The game (story) is great. The controls are much better then the first one, the fights are a little thougher/harder.

the multiplayer is kind of weak, and multiplayer maps are boring.

But overall a great game, no doubt a great buy if you enjoy shooters, and good game play/ story. Much more then a shooter.

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Aside from the story, this is just BioShock regurgitated. The story is good so far, the rest is nothing special.

 

The graphics actually look worse to me than the first one. I'm no graphics whore by any means, but the textures look muddy and low res most of the time.

 

The multiplayer is laughable, but I didn't expect much to be honest. The controls\gameplay are just too clunky and awkward to be a fun MP shooter for more than a few hours.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game, but I wish I rented it instead of paying full price. There's just no improvements here.

 

I'd give it a 7.5 / 10 at best.

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I chose very impressive. The first game was way better according to my opinion. The story was better, the characters were more special and the game was more freaky and scary. But this one was still very good. I just wanted it to be more like the first one, didn't happen, little disappointing.

 

I am actually hoping they will make a prequel to Bioshock 1. That would be awesome, with Steinman, Cohen, Ryan, Fontaine and many others back in the game. And watching Rapture decline and wars starting throughout the city.

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I chose very impressive. The first game was way better according to my opinion. The story was better, the characters were more special and the game was more freaky and scary. But this one was still very good. I just wanted it to be more like the first one, didn't happen, little disappointing.

 

I am actually hoping they will make a prequel to Bioshock 1. That would be awesome, with Steinman, Cohen, Ryan, Fontaine and many others back in the game. And watching Rapture decline and wars starting throughout the city.

i do like the first better. but if this was the first bioshock game i would think better of it.

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