The Bioshock 2 thread

[xoqolatl]

About time we made one.

I'm about an hour into the game; I don't want to spoil anything or pass any judgement yet, but I have to complain about something that definitely won't get better as I progress. Controls and menu system are utter shyte, just like in first Bioshock. Max usable mouse sensitivity is 1, and the scale goes from 1 to 9. Mouse has some freaky acceleration is menus, with a photoshop-like shift effect occuring sometimes (only moves horizontally and vertically, no diagonal movement).
There is one good thing though: DRM is not very annoying for today's standards. Requires online activation on first run and DVD to be present in the drive every time you play, but one copy allows unlimited installations and activations. A definite step up from first Bioshock and it's 3 activations limit.

[srredfire]

I'm not buying it. The first one was very over rated and this one looks all the same.

I'll pirate it eventually maybe, I have to beat the first one first, but I don't see that happening any time soon. Maybe if it goes on sale months from now.

[xoqolatl]

Well, I have to admit I wasn't going to buy it when I walked into the mall, but I got hypnotized by shiny box and the included artbook.

[Major Banter]

Got it on PS3 and thus far I'm sort of enjoying it; but the whole magic of Rapture is totally gone. It's gone from incredible to enjoyable, which is no real step down but as a series I don't feel an improvement, nor a stagnation. Just a sorta...continuation.

Thus far I've been having fun with it, and I've just got the (much improved) shotgun. The combat is slicker with dual wielding, the fights more intense and the snaffling of goods more consistent. The hacking is massively improved, the set pieces much more intense.

However, there's been absolutely no "OH MY FUCKING GOD THAT'S AMAZING" moments; first emerging from the Bathysphere into Rapture, watching Atla's family

burn alive and have him scream down the radio,

the "would you kindly" moment of realisation, meeting Ryan - it was just so utterly...astonishing. Bioshock wasn't just good, the story was one of a kind, so utterly unique, tight and intense. Bioshock 2 just doesn't have that. It doesn't feel predictable or flat, just generic. No epic set pieces or anything - the water thing is very, very cool, but I've seen it in the trailers. Nothing jumps out and screams WOW at me. At all.

In fact the most epic moment I've had is blasting the hell out of a Big Sister and using my drill swing. It's really, really satisfying, and pretty gratifying to take one of those bitches down - but again, it's just gaming now, just killing. There's no fantastic-ness anymore.

However, I'm only 2 and a bit hours in, we'll see how it finishes - apparently brilliantly.

[Dionysos]

Bah I say, more milking. Basically thinking the same as sred. It seems like devs are *scared* of interesting innovations.

[ad_hominem]

Best moment so far: Killing the first big sister.

Worst moment so far: Immediately after, realising that there's more than one of the annoying cunts.

[Mephasto]

I did complete on hard already, id say its worth the money. Rapture still has great atmosphere and looks in the second one, i did only encounter few areas where design was sloppy and boring. I did find some bugs too, sometimes when you got "stunned" by charging enemy your plasmids got stuck and you could not change/use them without reloading.

I was pretty dissapointed by the story, as there is no clever "twist" in bioshock 2, im still not eaven sure what the hell was Elanor Lamb beign used for. Another dissapointment was the "last boss battle" as there was no gigantic adam monster like frank fontaine in first one, just running around killing splicers and big daddies, eaven on hard setting it was very easy and didnt really differ from normal "guard little sister while she gathers adam" miniboss moments. The video camera was brilliant. I did find it hard to identify as Big Daddy, i felt like playing as Jack once again (not sure is it bad thing tho)

Physics still feel sloppy and odd, i mean if i walk past chair it goes like "GRUMBLE GRUBLE" and flies to the opposite wall, slicers also had bad habit of twiching and flying all over the rooms. Also i didnt find the side characters intresting, example Sander Cohen was great and the "Mad doctor" whos name i cant remember, Bioshock 2 had nothing like that. I didnt find the game scary, heck how can you be scared when you carry ten ton Drill on your hand, the splicers were more scared of me than i was from them.

+Atmosphere/Visuals
+Music
+Plasmids/weapons/tools
+Combat was very fun and entertaining
+Big Sisters
+Drilling slicers guts

-Some parts of the story
-lack of "WOW" moments

91

[ad_hominem]

I got that plasmid sticking bug, but found that I could get plasmids working again without reloading by selecting them using the F1, F2 etc keys rather than q. Dunno if it'd work for everyone though.

[nub]

Downloading it right now. At 83% Of course, not on my account. My friend is letting me use his account to play it while I let him use mine to play Episode 2. :0

[Phott]

My brother pre ordered a collectors edition, and I get the feeling that everything in that package except the game is awesome.

[Meotwister]

I just picked it up today. I have to say the first one I played only last month or so but I (like many) loved the atmosphere created by it. The prospect of playing as a big daddy sold me on the second one, but even besides that initial "ohh cool" being a big daddy interestingly improves upon a lot of the annoyances of the first one (Gene Banks, long/awkward reload animations, etc.).

I'm only a little ways into the second one but I'm so far expecting maybe a little better than more of the same.. which was awesome to begin with.

[dewkl]

It was nice to see them still make such characteristic bosses, one of them were even more interesting than those in the first game. The consequences for your choices were a huge improvement to the first game, I'd say it's probably the best handled choice/consequence-feature in any game.

It can't really beat the original though. It didn't deliver any surprises like the first one did, or play on Ryan's philosophy for Rapture/objectivism. This game was a step back for the philosophical relevance that enveloped the first one, overshadowed by Lamb's messiah complex and crusade on Ryan's rapture.

It's a good game. If you want more Bioshock you should definitely get it.

[The Good Doctor F]

I have to say, I loved the first Bioshock. A style not many had been able to carry out in most games. Dystopian steampunk 1920's art deco? Who the hell could have thought of that! Its story telling mechanics are incredible in the sense that it tells so many stories from so many perspectives and still manages to come together.

I dont want to spoil anything either, but Bioshock 2 was really good, but didnt deliver the punch in the stomach that the first one did with its twist ("Would you kindly")

The idea of Andrew Ryans polar opposite taking controll of the city certainly was a great idea, but there could have been more to show how Lamb's philosophies effected Rapture as not only a community, but a city.

The plasmid/weapon system was very hard to get down through the first playthrough, but on the second, you begin to use it for more complex stuff (Use telekinesis, throw a corpse into a cyclone trap, guy gets knocked down and you shoot him while he's down. Overly complex, but fun )

There was more they could have done, but what they did was great in my opinion.