Earlier this month I sat down in front of a build of "BioShock 2" in room packed with journalists from the world over. Everyone seemed to be eagerly anticipating the first hands-on experience with the title and I was certainly no exception. But rather than give you all a run through of the hour-long section I played (a section of Rapture called Ryan's Amusements where children are educated of the evils of the outside world) or tell you how the game plays (like "BioShock"), I figured it would be worthwhile to note the differences between the original and this latest outing.
What's the Same?
The Upside of Déjà Vu
The stunning world of Rapture, as realized in the first BioShock, makes a triumphant return in "BioShock 2". Environments simultaneously feel familiar and new, without striking the "haven't we seen this already" chord that I'd suspected it might. Exploring these previously-hidden halls of Rapture, running across bands of splicers, and utilizing new and familiar plasmids to gain access to unseen parts of the underwater city are all as well-placed and defined as I'd expect to see in a sequel. 10 years later, the city continues falling while its inhabitants have evolved in exciting new ways.
Beggars can be choosers
Just like the first title, most of a player's adventure deals with the idea of choice. While my time with the demo only showed off the player's interactions with the little sisters, my conversation with lead designer, Zac McClendon, confirmed that there will be multiple other points in the adventure where player's are presented with the ability to choose.
Progression Obsession
The lure of upgraded weapons, plasmids, and tonics will have players searching every nook and corner of Rapture for "Power to the People" weapon stations and hidden glowing vials. This time around, both the weapons and plasmids can be upgraded up to three times, but the fundamental goods at work remain the same: pick your path, and hone your arsenal to perfection.
What's Different?
Get Ready to Run & Gun
I can't say if it was just the section they picked to demo, or if the slice speaks for the game as a whole, but "BioShock 2" takes the slow, methodical approach of the first game and sends it packing. Enemies attack in swarms and the boosted firepower that players now wield as the first Big Daddy, comes into full focus. Whether you're firing off rockets, laying proximity mines with the Rivet Gun's alternate attack, or just boring a hole in a slicer's chest with the massive drill you have for a right hand, the action is layered thick. So is the recoil on your weapons. Boy was it hard to aim.
Hacking Made Simple
I know there are a number of players out there that loved the hacking minigame in "BioShock" one. I did. Hell, I hacked every damn thing in sight. But all those skills may as well be useless now, as the hacking in "BioShock 2" has undergone a major overhaul. Rather than break up the action, hacking now takes place in-game and is over in just a matter of seconds. A sliding ticker pops up (like you still see in golf games to control swing power) and players simply need stop the arrow on a green section of the ticker. Stop it on the single blue section of the ticker and earn yourself a fancy bonus like a free item from a vending machine or a health pack from a first aid center.
Plasmid A, meet Plasmid B. You two play nice now.
Players can now combine plasmids and weapons with some creative results. Drop a cyclone trap then blast it with your ice blast to create a chilling trap that'll freeze enemies as it launches them into the air (to land crashing back to the floor). Or freeze an enemy in an ice block and hit them with a rocket to send the block soaring about the room until it explodes in a rain of icy goodness.
Bigger is Better?
You're playing the game as the first Big Daddy ever created. You fight powerful psycho-kinetic Big Sisters. And you're up against a new Big Daddy type known as "Rumblers" that are basically just Big(ger) Daddies. I understand the need to "crank it up a notch" in a sequel, but I can't help but feel like increasing your firepower has somehow decreased the whole concept of a lone man at odds with the world around him. Yea, and there's also bigger Splicers called Brutes.
Friends come in small packages
"BioShock 2" takes the Adam harvesting from the first game and presents players with another level of choice. Little Sisters can be harvested at contact (evil), adopted to aid in their search for Adam (good), or adopted to find more Adam and then harvested prior to letting them go (downright dastardly). The choice is yours.
Rapture Online
You can hop online in "BioShock 2" for a number of familiar multiplayer scenarios with their own Bioshock-y spin. Capture the Flag is "Rescue the Sister," Team Deathmatch is… Team Deathmatch. Oh well, it's all the same thing we've seen before with a variation on the now-standard experience system set forth by "Call of Duty 4." Oh, and it's set during the fall of Rapture, so it's a prequel on the same disc as a sequel. I can't help but put this out there… but did anyone really ask for this?
Excited about "BioShock 2"? What do you think of the changes made for the sequel?
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