Bioshock felt like a complete story. Jack was just a guy who found the underwater city of Rapture and by game’s end the seemingly largest tyrants that remained there were defeated. Then it’s assumed the city would fade away with time, allowing the imprisoned Little Sisters to live their lives in the wake of your choices. Thanks to audiotapes scattered across the levels, they allowed players to get an idea for what Rapture was like before it spiraled out of control and when everything was revealed, it made sense. In other words, I didn’t think Bioshock needed a sequel so when Bioshock 2 was announced, not only was I skeptical, but also a little let down that Bioshock would not quit while ahead. I feared for the future, where a game as special and memorable as Bioshock would eventually milk itself dry until no one ever wanted to see it again. Now that I’ve actually played and completed Bioshock 2, I can safely say that sadly, some of those worries remain.
Bioshock 2’s story begins ten years after the first. After a brief introduction of Delta, one of the first Big Daddies made in 1959, the timeline jumps to 1970 where Delta finds himself awakening in a damp and deserted Rapture. Due to the bond between Big Daddies and Little Sisters, Delta immediately begins the pursuit in locating his Little Sister named Eleanor. Eleanor plays a very important part in the story, not only because of her connection to Delta, but because she’s also the daughter of Sophia Lamb. During the power struggle between Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine, Sophia Lamb secretly built her own following, and with the two tyrants dead, she seized the opportunity to build a utopia in her image. Delta’s pursuit of Eleanor puts this at risk, and thus, Sophia Lamb and her cult becomes the antagonists of Bioshock 2.
What I Liked:
Improved combat – The first Bioshock was an average shooter. It didn’t take many risks but the Plasmid mechanic worked well enough to allow for some variety in dispatching Splicers. Bioshock 2 builds on that by allowing duel-wielding a Plasmid in one hand and a gun in the other. It allows for better tactical approaches to fights and offers a lot more variety than its predecessor. The Big Daddy drill is a nice welcome, replacing the wrench from the first game though it isn’t very efficient until fully upgraded. The new and improved Plasmid abilities offer more variety to combat enemies, but they don’t offer too great of a significant difference.
Amazing sound – Bioshock 2 manages to keep you immersed from start to finish with an impressive amount of ambience. Everything from the sound of water dripping to the explosions, Rapture has never sounded better. The voice acting is still great and the soundtrack remains relevant to the time period.
New, yet familiar gameplay – Bioshock 2 doesn’t deviate too far from the original. A lot of mechanics including control schemes and actions have returned so veterans will feel right at home. New mechanics like the hack darts offer different ways to approach turrets and cameras, but the rhythm mini-game that’s replaced the pipe mini-game from the first is a lot more frustrating to use in difficult situations and takes a lot more patience. It’s a risk to recycle old play mechanics in games, but Bioshock 2 manages to successfully reapply them. A completely new sequence that occurs during the end portion of the game provides a peek into the potential of Bioshock’s future, which leaves hope for future sequel(s).
A more focused story – In the first Bioshock the story was divided, and because of that division the narrative suffered some, either because of pacing issues, information not being able to be revealed yet or it just simply not being strong enough. Bioshock 2 somewhat fixes that by focusing on a consistent story path while injecting a reasonable amount of morality that hits a lot harder than before. This allows choices made to have greater impact and context to the narrative, allowing for a much better pace.
What I Disliked:
A less impressive story – As I mentioned, I thought the first Bioshock started and wrapped up nicely. Never once did I question what others people in other parts of Rapture were doing, because the game made it pretty apparent that it wasn’t necessary. Bioshock 2’s story somewhat proves that to be true. Sophia Lamb, when compared to Andrew Ryan or Frank Fontaine, doesn’t pass as a believable leader character, at least one who can command Splicers to do her dirty work. The overall quality of the story is a lot more focused than the first game, but Bioshock 2 really doesn’t go anywhere and by the end of the game, it felt like nothing was really accomplished. The moral choices were done a lot better, but much like in the first game, their significance to the overall experience were very basic and once those moments were over, they really had no impact on later events until the end, which then only determined a good or bad ending. At first, the story was very enjoyable and felt like it would be a solid experience. However, as the story went on, much like the first, the quality began to fall and by the end, the feeling of completeness had begun to diminish.
Weird changes – Although the developers improved on many aspects, some of the changes made to accommodate the additions resulted in some odd changes. For example, Delta is able to refill his Eve meter automatically, and from a design standpoint it’s assumed this is why he can only carry five Eve hypos at a time (as opposed to nine from the first). However, Delta cannot automatically refill his health and requires manual injections. This would have not been an issue but because they added melee strikes to combat, the heal button was moved to the directional pad. This means removing the thumb from the joystick—presumably moving you—to heal. It doesn’t work too well in high-pressure combat situations and ultimately becomes an inconvenience. Also, because it’s assumed that health cannot be administered the same way as Eve, that doesn’t explain why Delta is restricted to carrying only five health hypos in the first place.
Delta the weak daddy – Arguably the most annoying aspect of Bioshock 2 is just how weak Delta feels. Not only does he carry less Eve and health hypos compared to Jack from the first Bioshock, but it takes even less damage to take him down. On normal, Delta can have all his health drained in a matter of seconds. Melee strikes can take up to half his health in one hit. It begs the question as to why even a prototype Big Daddy, who was built with the intention to be a protector, would be so susceptible to damage, especially when Jack, who dawned just a sweater and slacks, could withstand twice as much as Delta, even on hard difficulty. When Delta begins to become stronger through upgrades, that feeling begins to go away but there’s never a real significant moment that says, “Yeah, that’s right. I’m a Big Daddy!”
Rapture no more – The things that stood out the most from the original Bioshock were the level designs themselves. Atmosphere and attention to detail in the architecture gave Rapture personality and made it an important part of the experience. The initial moment you gazed upon the underwater city and then every moment after spent in its rooms and corridors just oozed atmosphere. Everything felt like it belonged and nothing seemed out of place. Bioshock 2 decides to go a separate way and contain almost every location to low-level passages or areas blocked off from view of the city. Looking out a window in Bioshock 2 meant seeing some blurry landscape in the distance, a few rocks or coral and a whole lot of ugly. This probably comes at the decision to have Rapture rot for ten years, but the decision to have majority of the game take place in ugly, almost indistinguishable and generic-style levels really takes away some of Rapture’s personality. It’s as if the developers were trying to make a deliberate counter-point to the original’s presentation methods so people could tell the games apart.
Basically Bioshock 2 feels like an honest effort for a lost cause. While it surpasses the original in gameplay with its improvements, the game still suffers from a weak narrative and unbalanced pacing. Despite being skeptical, I felt Bioshock 2 did a lot to try and move the series in a proper direction, but it’s obvious the sequel was never meant to be. It’s almost completely detached from the first and tries to get by on simple references and similar mechanics. The story feels like a build up to an eventual third and in the process manages to ruin a lot of character the original brought.