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.