I don't consider myself a major gamer. When I was younger, I had to play anything I could get my little fingers on. I have some old favorites that I played over and over again as a youngster, many of them now considered to be classics of their day and I still occasionally play them now and again. Now with the new generation of gaming, I consider myself pretty experienced. I own all three consoles and have played several dozens of games that have come out for each. Very rarely do I look back affectionately at games that have come out, but but Bioshock left me in awe and pure joy. It grabbed you with immersion, with a mystery that you needed to solve, filled with memorable and creative moments that I found myself replaying through just to experience again and again. No game I've played this generation has been held so closely to my heart as Bioshock, and very rarely to I find myself excited for a sequel to a game, but I can genuinely say I was excited about Bioshock 2.
It's in my nature to keep my expectations low for any game. I wasn't expecting the awe and glory the first one gave to me, but I have to admit it came with expectations. I knew the premise and I thought it was excellent. There were some things I had to get used to but eventually appreciated. I admired returning to Rapture after all these years and soaking in the beauty that it had to offer, now worn, aged and destroyed but littered with colorful coral and sea life. As I progressed through, a lot of the soul and admiration I had for the first game wasn't present in this sequel.
First off, game play. I can say that this sequel is significantly harder than the previous game. I played through on normal, and your enemies do much more damage than they do before. On top of that, you cannot carry more than 5 Eve hypos and medical kits (6 if you're upgraded). The combat is much easier and more fluid with simultaneously using weapons and plasmids at the same time, and many game play aspects were added, such as defending the little sister, which was about as much fun as taking out your first Big Daddy in the original. The hacking system is also much more fast-paced and fun than the previous title, so much so that I found it very difficult and flow-breaking when I went back to play it again.
If anything, the sequel makes me appreciate Bioshock 1 much more. As I mentioned before, I felt that the original Bioshock had a lot of soul to it in many different aspects. Not only was the story deep and intuitive and fascinating, but it was also filled with character, style and general soul. I feel that Bioshock 2 lacks these aspects. I will give a few examples. Bioshock 1 was filled with bizarre, twisted yet intriguing characters that both were repulsive and admirable. Dr. Steinman was a particularly fascinating character, somebody whom you listened to as he slowly descended into creative and egotistical madness as he becomes more addicted to ADAM. Sander Cohen was another starring moment that made the game more than just an above average shooter, as you run around and create his "masterpiece". Bioshock 2 lacked these interesting characters. Many of the audio diaries scattered about featured a suffocating cast of characters that you heard from once and then never again. A lot of the bosses that you fight lack the creative dimensions the first one had, and the ones that had the potential to be interesting were killed off before you could learn more about them.
Another thing that added much to the character of the game were the Splicers. There were several sets of Splicers, all with varying personalities and dialog that gave them more depth than just your average, static enemies. Some of them interacted with one another or with their environment (one moment that added immersion was walking around and listening to a Splicer observe and comment a failed teleport), some were funny, some of them were frightening, but they showed various emotions such as sadness, anger, insecurity, egoism, and insanity. This added to the character of the Splicers that reminded you that you weren't just fighting generic monsters, you were fighting human beings who wanted to live their dreams and instead were caught up in a situation beyond their control. Bioshock 2 feels lacking in this department. There were very few Splicer models, and I swear I must have killed the same one at least over a hundred times. Their interactions were also very limited and I never heard many dialog options from them that strayed far or different from the original.
It is known by now that the sequel would have a weaker storyline than the first, but it had potential. Everything that needed to be said was said and done in the first, and very little was done to expand upon or hold the mantle of the political climate of Rapture in Bioshock 2. There were very few memorable moments, the only one I can think of off the top of my head was playing as a little sister, but other than that, it felt more like a tacked on expansion pack than a full-blown sequel. Tennenbaum makes an appearance once and then disappears for the rest of the game without closure, and instead replaced with Sinclair, while interesting, takes too long to be interesting.
In all, Bioshock 2 is good as a shooter, and you'll probably enjoy it if you enjoyed the first. But for me it felt like it lost much of the soul and creativity the first one had. If anything, after completing it, it made me go back and play through Bioshock 1 and appreciate it more than I did before.
It's in my nature to keep my expectations low for any game. I wasn't expecting the awe and glory the first one gave to me, but I have to admit it came with expectations. I knew the premise and I thought it was excellent. There were some things I had to get used to but eventually appreciated. I admired returning to Rapture after all these years and soaking in the beauty that it had to offer, now worn, aged and destroyed but littered with colorful coral and sea life. As I progressed through, a lot of the soul and admiration I had for the first game wasn't present in this sequel.
First off, game play. I can say that this sequel is significantly harder than the previous game. I played through on normal, and your enemies do much more damage than they do before. On top of that, you cannot carry more than 5 Eve hypos and medical kits (6 if you're upgraded). The combat is much easier and more fluid with simultaneously using weapons and plasmids at the same time, and many game play aspects were added, such as defending the little sister, which was about as much fun as taking out your first Big Daddy in the original. The hacking system is also much more fast-paced and fun than the previous title, so much so that I found it very difficult and flow-breaking when I went back to play it again.
If anything, the sequel makes me appreciate Bioshock 1 much more. As I mentioned before, I felt that the original Bioshock had a lot of soul to it in many different aspects. Not only was the story deep and intuitive and fascinating, but it was also filled with character, style and general soul. I feel that Bioshock 2 lacks these aspects. I will give a few examples. Bioshock 1 was filled with bizarre, twisted yet intriguing characters that both were repulsive and admirable. Dr. Steinman was a particularly fascinating character, somebody whom you listened to as he slowly descended into creative and egotistical madness as he becomes more addicted to ADAM. Sander Cohen was another starring moment that made the game more than just an above average shooter, as you run around and create his "masterpiece". Bioshock 2 lacked these interesting characters. Many of the audio diaries scattered about featured a suffocating cast of characters that you heard from once and then never again. A lot of the bosses that you fight lack the creative dimensions the first one had, and the ones that had the potential to be interesting were killed off before you could learn more about them.
Another thing that added much to the character of the game were the Splicers. There were several sets of Splicers, all with varying personalities and dialog that gave them more depth than just your average, static enemies. Some of them interacted with one another or with their environment (one moment that added immersion was walking around and listening to a Splicer observe and comment a failed teleport), some were funny, some of them were frightening, but they showed various emotions such as sadness, anger, insecurity, egoism, and insanity. This added to the character of the Splicers that reminded you that you weren't just fighting generic monsters, you were fighting human beings who wanted to live their dreams and instead were caught up in a situation beyond their control. Bioshock 2 feels lacking in this department. There were very few Splicer models, and I swear I must have killed the same one at least over a hundred times. Their interactions were also very limited and I never heard many dialog options from them that strayed far or different from the original.
It is known by now that the sequel would have a weaker storyline than the first, but it had potential. Everything that needed to be said was said and done in the first, and very little was done to expand upon or hold the mantle of the political climate of Rapture in Bioshock 2. There were very few memorable moments, the only one I can think of off the top of my head was playing as a little sister, but other than that, it felt more like a tacked on expansion pack than a full-blown sequel. Tennenbaum makes an appearance once and then disappears for the rest of the game without closure, and instead replaced with Sinclair, while interesting, takes too long to be interesting.
In all, Bioshock 2 is good as a shooter, and you'll probably enjoy it if you enjoyed the first. But for me it felt like it lost much of the soul and creativity the first one had. If anything, after completing it, it made me go back and play through Bioshock 1 and appreciate it more than I did before.