Bioshock 2?

[scarfacetehstag]

In all this hub bub of Infinite,I wanted to see some discussion on Bioshock 2. I largely avoided it, considering I didn't get into Bioshock till after it released, but have seen that it is considered a "good game"

I'm sort of hesitant in playing it now since it had no Levine input, and it seemed really heavy handed in it's internal philosophy. I remember listening to a podcast where someone described it as better than the original because you explored new environments like where the poor of rapture lived, you know the people that shouldn't have existed. The point of Rapture was to have the best of society only, and that the collapse was due to there being no one "to clean the toilets" as Fontaine put it. A big oversight like this makes the game doubtful in my mind.

So is Bioshock 2 worth playing? What were some of your guy's thoughts on it?

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Eh...
Play it if you REALLY want to but don't go into it thinking it's better than the first one, IT IS NOT.
But that's not to say it isn't a good game. It's NOT as good as the first one but it's not as bad as some people say.
But don't play the multiplayer.

 

[hazabaza1]

I thought it was good. Not as good as the first or Infinite, but still enjoyable.
The morality does get a bit heavy handed at times, and one of the good/evil choices is dealing with a topic that philosophers and the such have been debating the morality of for years so it kind of takes that piss that it says I took the evil choice but whatevs.
Gameplay is still good ol' Bioshock, if not somewhat confusing due to the fact that you're supposed to be a Big Daddy but you're about as fragile as Jack or Booker.

If you can find it for about £10 or so I say go ahead. I got it on release and wasn't disappointed, but I wouldn't buy it over BS1 or Infinite.

 

[Juan Regular]

It´s a great game, but a much smaller story than Bioshock 1 or Infinite. It doesn´t really deal with any big ideas but instead focuses on the strange father/daughter relationship of a Big Daddy and a Little Sister. It´s quite beautiful at times (there´s two scenes in particular that I absolutely love), but can be a bit dull as well. I´d say for a small price you absolutely can´t go wrong. If you have a record player, you owe it to yourself to get the collector´s edition though. It´s awesome.

And for all those people that have such a problem with Levine not being involved, keep in mind that the lead writer, Jordan Thomas, was also lead level designer on Fort Frolic in Bioshock 1 (arguably the best level) and senior writer on Infinite. Bioshock is probably just as close to his heart as it is to Levine's.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

It's a good game, it just had the misfortune of being the sequel to one of the best FPS titles ever made

It felt very unnecessary, the story of Rapture was already told, there was no need to make another game there.

 

[Korten12]

Honestly out of Bioshock 1 and 2. I like the story and gameplay a lot better in 2. If just for the fact that the whole plot twist in 1 makes replaying it less fun imo where as 2 doesn't have that problem.

Imo for me it goes:

Infinite > Bioshock 2 > Bioshock 1.

 

[Smertnik]

Well, it's pretty much the same as the original Bioshock but with more refined gameplay mechanics and a far worse story.

 

[skywolfblue]

I've already said this before, but:

I loved Bioshock 2. Lamb is an excellent villain, a very well played anti-ryan psychiatrist. She looks at how ryan failed and goes to the complete opposite extreme of collectivism. The dynamic between Delta and his daughter Elanor, is similar in ways to Booker and Elizabeth.

The gameplay is excellent, I think it has better gunplay then Infinite does (Infinite's more standard guns and lack of whacky ammo types aren't quite as thrilling).

It's well worth picking up, I'd highly recommend it.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Funny, most people I talk to say they hate BioShock 2 and that it's an awful game. In one sense I have to agree with them; the storyline is just atrocious compared to its predecessor. But the gameplay is still really solid, barring the fact that being a Big Daddy makes absolutely no difference in the power you can wield, and in some ways I like it even better than the first BioShock, since the level design remains consistently good. I would say it's worth playing, though if you're the sort of person who plays a BioShock game primarily for the plot, then you probably wouldn't enjoy it. The plot itself is basically non-canon anyway as I doubt Irrational would ever acknowledge it. So long story short, BioShock 2 is rather good as long as you have low expectations of the story side of it.

I do think the Minerva's Den DLC did a much better job with its sub-plot than the main game. Granted it was simplistic and maybe I'm just a blind moron to have not seen it coming, but the twist to it at the end made my jaw drop.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

I'm one of those rare people who liked BioShock 2 better than BioShock. The characters felt more real to me, more human, and the story was much more 'heart strings' focused than the first one for me. I loved the game.

I also like how it shows what happens if things are taken to the extreme in the opposite direction. Ryan showed what happens when people are left alone and put in charge of themselves with no oversight. Lamb showed what happens when a government (mainly her) is put in charge with no oversight or input from the citizens.

So I say yeah, pick it up. It's very fun to play.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

I thought it was a great game, while the story is probably the worst of the three games, the gameplay is undoubtedly the best. My biggest complaint with Bioshock Infinite was that its gameplay just isn't as good as Bioshock 2's. Also when I say the story is the worst of the three, that isn't necessarily a bad thing as Bioshock 1 and Bioshock Infinite's story aspects are very hard to beat, Bioshock 2's story is still quite enjoyable. Its probably my favourite game in the series.

 

[Scrustle]

I listened to some podcasts recently on both games, and I've been replaying the first, and I've been thinking that Bioshock 2 is probably a lot better than I originally gave it credit for.

At the time I enjoyed it, and I recognised that the mechanics were better in many ways, but I just didn't connect to it in the same way as I did with the first. Usually I say it's because the story and characters aren't as strong or interesting, but from hearing a lot of discussion about it I remembered that it actually had some story elements that were better than the first. Obviously it can't rival Andrew Ryan and the plot points surrounding the twist, but the second game did have a better ending and more intimate characters. It also allowed you to see Rapture through the eyes of the Little Sisters, which is one point of the game that really stood out to me.

The more I think about it the more I think that perhaps the biggest problem Bioshock 2 had was simply that it was Bioshock 2. It's not just that it had a big act to live up to, but because it didn't have the novelty of the first. Everyone remembers the introduction to the first Bioshock and entering Rapture for the first time. It was encapsulating and masterfully done. Then you spent a lot of time in very dark, narrow, metallic hallways and rooms. That's not to say that the game lacked atmosphere after the start. It was anything but, but it was new and mysterious too. The second one didn't have that. But it wasn't the game's fault. If the first game didn't exist we would all be praising the presentation of Rapture in the second. But the first did exist. We had already been there, and experienced that world in a major way. You killed the guy who built the place! There's not really much you can do to raise the stakes after that. Just run around the dark narrow metal rooms some more going after some people who are crazy like Andrew Ryan, but less interesting. That's a gross understatement of the game's quality, but there was definitely a feeling that Rapture had become more banal and familiar by the second game, simply by being in a second game.

But I might end up playing through Bioshock 2 again at some point as well, and I'll see if it actually comes out better when I do. I have a feeling it might. Playing through the first again helped me to realise how much Bioshock 2 suffered from following the first. I'm not getting that sense of novelty and mystique from Bioshock 1 this time, because I've already been there and experienced all the events. So maybe if I can play both without that sense of novelty, I might come out with a different view. I also hear that Minerva's Den is worth experiencing, which is something I never did.

 

[daveman247]

Im glad to see many people like bioshock 2 - most people say its terrible for some reason.

The story is good, not as good as bioshock 1's but still good. The ending is MUCH better than bioshock 1's aswell. It may be set in the same city, but it explores plenty of different idea's.

The combat i think is the best of the 3 games. They took the combat from bs1 and refined it and added much better upgrades to the guns and such. They improved how research works too.

Yes go get it! Especially since you can purchase it for peanuts these days.

I think it was another victim of "deus ex syndrome". The previous game set the bar REALLY high so a lot of people were disappointed that the sequal was more a refinement than another mind-blower. - Raptures an awesome world, so i'm ok with it.


The story DLC "minerva's den" is also really good.

 

[shrekfan246]

The story and characters are still great. There's nothing that can match up to Andrew Ryan, but that's a pretty lofty goal to try reaching in all honesty. It feels a lot more heartfelt than the first game, to tell the truth. Things seem more personal, and there are three characters in particular who will always stick out for their tragic tales, which... is a little more than I can say for the first Bioshock. They did a stellar job with Ryan and Atlas, but the other characters just felt like so much filler.

And the actual gameplay is far superior. Being able to wield a Plasmid and weapon simultaneously does wonders for what you can do in combat, the Big Daddified-weapons feel far more satisfying to use, and the enemy balance remains fairly consistent throughout the game so that none of the weapons in particular feel like they're utterly useless by the end of the game (though the spear-thrower and rivet gun were both largely useless anyway in my opinion).

Really, as a few other people have said, the greatest thing Bioshock 2 suffers from is being set in Rapture after Bioshock was a thing that already existed. It has nowhere near the same amount of atmosphere and world-building detail that Irrational put into Bioshock, and that's really the biggest flaw. Still well worth picking up in my opinion.

 

[Strelok]

It's not awful, it just didn't live up to BioShock, but if you add Minerva's Den, that is another story. I found I liked the story of Minerva's Den more than I liked that of BioShock. On that note I like Infinite even more than that.

 

[sethisjimmy]

Well obviously it's better than Bioshock 1 gameplay-wise. What most people criticize it for is its story. I didn't notice it though, mainly because I didn't find the story in Bioshock 1 or 2 very good. The storytelling comes mainly from people talking at you and audio logs, which didn't really grab me. The plot itself is semi-interesting, I just think it's told in a lame way.

Despite better gameplay I still got bored about halfway through, because just like in Bioshock 1, it really plateaus after a while with extremely repetitive shoot-fests.

 

[Mr_Terrific]

I think the mistake people make is comparing it to the original. The narrative is not as strong as the first but compared to it's peers or other shooters available at the time, Bioshock 2 is an outstanding game. Gameplay wise, it's the best Bioshock out there. Dual wielding plasmids, weapon wheels, alternate ammo...

 

[NightmareExpress]

Pros:
Story was alright.
Playing as a Big Daddy was interesting.
Gameplay was pretty solid.

Cons:
Felt rather unnecessary.
You didn't feel empowered, explanation for why was lackluster.
Multiplayer was shit.

In short, it's a great game that was doomed from the start to fall short due to the original being so goddamn amazing.

 

[IrateDonnie]

Bioshock 2 wasn't too bad of a game. I'm probably one of the few that liked the multiplayer. If you read the Bioshock book "Rapture" before playing it, it does a nice job of tying the second game in with the first.

 

[mitchell271]

Bioshock 2 is a fantastic game. In my mind, it's more Bioshock and that's never a bad thing. It's not as good as the original, but still fantastic.