PS3 Review – Bioshock 2
Presentation is where Bioshock 2 really shines. Even though most of us have been to rapture before, it is still a very good and creepy setting for a video game. The music gives you that kind of feeling as if something is always coming around the corner. The voice acting and story telling are again all top notch with most of the story telling coming through via diaries left behind or over radios. The game runs really smooth during the campaign, even with multiple enemies on screen. However the engine behind the game is really starting to show its age. The game does not do much in the graphics department to separate itself from the first, in fact the two look identical despite being released a few years apart. I would have really liked to have seen a bit more polish this time around as some of the environments looked out of focus and lacked a lot of polish.
Lack of polish, now that is something can be said for this horrible attempt at a multiplayer aspect. Yes Bioshock 2 has online MP and yes it is terrible. I can understand developer 2K Marin wanting to branch out and attract more people into Rapture, but adding a lack-luster online component may not be the best way to do this. The Multiplayer starts you off by letting you select one of 6 different splicer looks and then puts you through a prologue that gives a tiny back story. Pretty much you are being used to test weapons out in the field during the fall of Rapture. You are given the key to your own apartment and inside you are able to customize your loadout, wardrobe and choose a game. Your loadout consists of 2 weapons, 2 plasmids and 3 perks. Players start off with a very limited selection and by playing and gaining ranks, more is unlocked.
The online features plenty of modes for the player the choose from, actually 7 to be exact. These range from your standard free-for-alls and territories to a game of capture the ADAM, placing 6-10 players against each other. You can hack turrets, set traps and even research your enemies to gain damage bonuses. In the mode ‘Capture the Sister’, one player will be randomly selected to play the role of Big Daddy, given that player a chance to destroy the competition. Sadly though the online looks even worse than the single player, it lags far too often and it is very hard to find people to play with. This portion of the game feels very rushed and you can’t help but wonder if 2K should have spent more time on this or just scrapped it completely. In fact the online is not even done by 2K Marin but instead by Digital Extremes.
Bioshock 2 is a good game but it is not a great game; it’s not a Game of the Year type such as the first one was. The game didn’t do enough in my eyes to improve on what made the first game so great. It’s a great time playing as a Big Daddy and it adds an interesting twist to Rapture but more story telling would have been lovely as the story didn’t hook me in like the first did. Also the engine used to run Bioshock 2 is really showing its age as it looks like a game made a few years ago. Should gamers be excited to play Bioshock 2? Yes in fact they should. However its not the epic game that it should be and to make matters worse, it threw in a shoddy online to boot.
PlayStation LifeStyle’s Final Score
Atmosphere Really Grabs you Outdated Engine & Lackluster Online |  |
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14 Responses to “PS3 Review – Bioshock 2”
Just beat the first one. Loved it.
really disappointed to hear that about the multiplayer, I’m still really looking forward to trying it out. It seemed like something that would have a lot of potential to be fun and innovative, and I was hoping that having an additional developer working on that would give them the chance to make it really work well. Oh well, as long as the single player is still really fun I’ll be satisfied.
@BigWoopMagazine
actually the multiplayer is fun. You can use a variety of ways to use your weapon load out with your plasmids
graphics??? have you seen darksiders and brutal legend? Bioshock 2 looks beautiful.
@wtGp – so to each their own I guess? Some people might like it and others not so much? Thats what I was thinking though, combining different plasmid load outs with different weapons might really effect the way you play… I’m playing through the first one on survivor mode right now, and I know it makes a huge difference what plasmids I choose to get on how I play through the game. I wonder how much the lag will actually ruin it though – if you have a good host it shouldn’t be a problem, right?
@Selfja – I was thinking to myself that even playing Bioshock 1 right now, it still looks better than some recent games I own,,, so even a slight improvement on that will be fine with me. I’m trying not to take any review seriously at the moment, since Bio1 set the bar high enough that its real easy to get some high expectations here.
@ everyone
The online MP is very well done…sure it is NOTHING like COD or Bad Company or any other shooter because you have Plasmids at your disposal. But for the most part I think the MP was pretty well thought out. The netcode is good…no patches needed (MW2)…the online runs great. The only thing that gets me is that the game takes like 3 min to log you onto the online menus.
It should be called Bioshock 1.5 or Bioshock: The Lost Levels
@kwietStorm
lmao.. that made my day.
I also agree with Cameron. They should update the game visually, they have the money after Bioshock 1 took off. Bioshock 2 reminds me of Bioshock 1 (visually) there probably using the same engine. Visually Bioshock 1 didnt draw me in.. it reminded me of a PC shooter. (im aware it came out on the PC). It looked like a typical PC shooter but with “powers” and a good story.
I honestly think visuals are soemthing not to really focus on, pretty much on any game that comes out now. Yes visuals are getting better, but we’ve reached the point wehre we’re too damn nitpicky. Remember PS1 when coudl couldn’t tell polygon arms from hands? now it’s like “GEEZ! this guy’s face should have moar wrinkles! he’s totally older than he looks. FAKE!!!”
most importantly is the story, and yeah, it does feel just like bioshock 1.5, but I’m fine with that. I loved bioshock, and this one is a great continuance…. but not a real sequel. mind you I haven’t beat it, but that’s just what it feels like.
Other than that, the weapons and Plasmids are inCREDible in #2. I have had a shit load of fun playing around with the spear gun attempting to pin splicers on the ceiling (which is totally possible, and incredibly rewarding)
@max
visuals are a part of the story.. why do you think FF7 cant grab the same attention as it did back in the days? because the visuals suck now. when you release a game that never changes visually, its tolerable… like COD w@w and MW1 and 2.. same thing, great game.. it never advances.
@Max
There’s a difference between being picky, and just expecting a sequel to a 2 year old game to look better. BioShock 2 looks EXACTLY like the first, and being that the first one released 2 years ago, it looks dated now. It looks like they didn’t even attempt to update their own build on top of that old ass Unreal 3. Visuals are not everything, but they play a big role in making a game believable. Now, being that BioShock 2 barely even tried to improve on the gameplay of the previous game, the graphics at least could have used a bump. As it stands, I feel like it was a waste of money. It’s just holding me over until Heavy Rain.
Am I weird? When I realized I had to give up the first Little Sister I didn’t want to.
I wanted to keep one for the entire game. I mean, I had just spent a couple hours carrying her around and protecting her as she collected ADAM. :S
I dunno, this game seems to be messing with my head, it doesn’t help that the character you play as is ‘Subject Delta’ since my PSN is Delta_Canuckian. Freaked me out the first time I heard it lol.
I kno I didnt even want 2 giv her up 2 4 some strange reason…..Ha, I got tired of her having 2 collect all that ADAM so I pretty much kept clicking “Harvest” after all that.
I think 4-5 is too much for it. Yeah what you said is right but I believe some of the levels are similar to each other which is annoying, not to mention that the story isn’t as great as the first one. Also they’re trying to make to convince you that Sofia Lamb is like Andrew Ryan which is a failure imo. But still the game’s worth playing for BioShock fans.