Bioshock 2 [PS3/360/PC]

[FelixofMars]

I don't understand the negativity really, I think it was always going to have the case where it felt similar to the first game and it does echo it but the levels are suitably diffrent I though. Just picked up the

->Open Spoiler<-

research camera

so started scanning away.

I am not really finding that the enemies re-spawn any more/less than the original, however I stuck it on Normal for now because I wanted to take it in and not worry about being hammered on Hard. That said I got to the middle of the second area without dying so switched off the Vita chambers.

So far I have only died about 3 times in the entire length of my play-through and I don't usually mind restarting from a checkpoint.

My only gripe is that you still use lots of health killing the big daddies and the

->Open Spoiler<-

big sisters

are no more difficult. In fact I used a hypnotized daddy to help me with the

->Open Spoiler<-

second sister

. So far I have not been harvesting the little ones

[ezee ryder]

Ahh the irony! Come on man

I thought about spoiling that up but it seems like it is a well known fact as even the developers themselves stated that you play as a Big Daddy. Hell, I haven't paid much attention to the news and I knew you play as a Big Daddy.

Ahhh man. I had a bad feeling about this, and the EG review made me even more worried, but if Ezee thinks its "OK" (& with respect, but you bloody love your games & never overly critize without good reason) then they really did lose the magic from the first one.

Oh well, all the more reason to take my time & do every last side mission on ME2!

Thanks for the impressions mate, I don't remember respawning enemies in the first one, or have I forgotten? Re-spawns are normally my number 1 hate in any FPS/TPS.

Thanks for the kind words, I think!

Yeah I want to love this as much as the first (or even more) but I am finding it really hard. Some might be able to overlook the shift in gameplay but personally I feel the developers have hindered the overall quality of the game. The re-spawning enemies get very annoying after a while and you feel like you are being hurried along, when all you want to do is explore Rapture.

Anyhow, apologies if my comments come across as "too negative", the game is still good but I really do feel it has lost something over the original by going down the "more action" route. I am going to play some more today and hopefully the game picks up in terms of its overall quality.

[SuperBeatBoy]

I liked the opening but 20mins after it, i got a bit meh. 2hrs later and i'm really enjoying it now, makes me want to go back and play the original bioshock again, which is a good thing.

I can see why people might not like it as much as the first, but i still think its a thoroughly enjoyable game and after coming off the incredibly bland & derivitive Dante's Inferno its a welcome scenic enjoyable change of pace.

[Eight Rooks]

Still downloading on Steam for me. I'm on a fairly slow connection here. Should be done by this evening... my expectations have been fairly lowered, so I doubt I'll be that disappointed, but we'll see.

[eastyy]

hey quick question does the pal xbox version work on a japanese machine

[smokedog]

hey quick question does the pal xbox version work on a japanese machine

Donno, but it is region free.

[gware]

I can confirm the PAL version will work on a JP system

[Jebus]

Having finished the game, I'll tell everyone what I told Ezee.

I have HUGELY mixed feelings about this game.

On one hand I love being back in rapture, on the other hand...it's too much of an action game, I almost always felt rushed, there were stupid respawning enemies.

As you progress, the game is so telegraphed it unbelievable. You hit a switch and you know what is going to happen. It's all just so obvious.

Without spoiling, right at the end I thought "OH ****, NO WAY ARE THEY GONNA LET ME....." and I was right, they weren't gonna let me do what I was thinking, hugely disappointed I carried on.

The thing I went into this game thinking is that it was uneccessary, and having completed it, I actually think it's even more uneccessary, maybe even throwaway.

They improved some things with the "dual wielding" but with that they also made the game just any other shooter. They kept the vita chambers, which were the thing that always made me feel as though it were an RPG-FPS in the first game, dying happened but it didn't matter because the narrative was more important. In this one, dying still doesn't matter, but the narrative isn't even halfway as good, which means it's just a really really easy game!

By the end I couldn't be bothered exploring and I didn't even get the achievement for finding 100 audio diaries, I just couldn't be bothered.

The entire game I felt as though something was missing, and I think it's the suspense! I always knew what was about to happen.

I guess they were always on a hiding to nothing with this title, and as a standalone game, it's probably a high 7/10 or low 8/10 for me, but (SPOILER DO NOT READ UNLESS COMPLETED THE GAME) it seems as though

->Open Spoiler<-

the franchise is going to be continued with another game, and I don't like where it looks like it's heading

.

Toward the end it also does that horrible thing games do whereby it...hmm, better spoiler just in case, but it's not really story related...

->Open Spoiler<-

...it tells you you need to rush, urgency is key, it even gives you that impression in the voiceover work, but truth be told, you could do whatever you wanted, you could spend hours exploring, but you are supposed to be rushing...no penalty whatsoever

, but I still rushed it anyway!

So yeah, rather mixed feelings toward this one.

Oh I almost forgot, the ice plasmid = the win button. It's so bloody stupid, all the plasmids out there and it's broken because use ice = win. When shooting, after a few seconds charge up the ice again, refreeze = win.

There is a better plasmid, but it's a major spoiler so will leave that one alone for now.

[mr_woo]

Anyhow, apologies if my comments come across as "too negative", the game is still good but I really do feel it has lost something over the original by going down the "more action" route. I am going play some more today and hopefully the game picks up in terms of its overall quality.

You don't need to apologise for not liking a game ezee! Your thoughts are your thoughts regardless of how you feel. Afterall how boring would it be if we all loved the same thing

'That was wonderful'

'Yes it was'

'Certainly'

END

[MisterBubbles]

Eight Rooks what difficulty you playing on, and you can turn off the vita chambers, like the 1st game after an update, try it on Hard no chambers and see how easy it is, it wont be.

[teddymeow]

Jebus; how long did it take you to finish?

I've played for about 45 minutes so far and it's more of the same but with the balance-o-meter switched more to the action side of things.

I've heard some people whinging about the visuals but it looks okay in my eyes. It won't win any awards but it certainly doesn't look bad.

I do feel the pacing is quicker than the first games and I don't seem to be exploring as much as I did in the first one.

Still, plenty of game left to form a better opinion on this but at the moment it seems good if not the next "OMGz, teh game am wicked" (that'll be Heavy Rain!)

[ezee ryder]

Just finished it and things do get better (especially two certain "set pieces") but it begins to "drag" towards the end with focus, once again, on the action. Infact sometimes there is way too much action and I don't think it compliments the game well at all.

I have to agree with pretty much everything that Jebus stated, especially the parts about being rushed along and re-spawning enemies. Those two aspects in particular help the game lose the magic the developers created in the original game. There are sections in this that re-create some of that magic but they are few and far between.

Jebus, I totally know what you mean which the "Are they gonna let me?" part. That was hugely disappointing and it would have been great if,

->Open Spoiler<-

even for a while, they let you play as the Big Sister. It was even more frustrating because just before that there was the wonderful eerie section where you play as a Little Sister

.

Now as disappointed as I am with this sequel, it is still a pretty good game (probably a 7 or 8). The gameplay mechanics are solid, visuals (thanks to the art style) are great, story/narrative (despite some hiccups) is pretty good and, let's face it, Rapture is just a fantastic game world. It's just a shame the developers couldn't at least match what came before it. Like Jebus, I am little concerned about the direction it looks like the series is heading in but hey I'm willing to keep the faith.

[Jebus]

Jebus; how long did it take you to finish?

No more than 8 hours...

[Dezm0nd]

Well, despite me moaning about the multiplayer achievements (I still agree MP achievements shouldn't exist) but the multiplayer is surprisingly original, fun and has the features of CoD:MW2's perk/challenge system.#

You start off by waking up in your beautiful apartment, on new years eve the day before the events of the original Bioshock with Andrew Ryan telling you about whats going on. In your apartment you can customise your loadout and appearance. Entering the Bathosphere begins the Lobby system.

I played two rounds of Civil War which is Team Deathmatch to you and me and found myself straight into the action. Using your plasmids with EVE and guns are a big part of the experience, setting people on fire and gunning them down seems to be a favourite amongst us level 1's.

Littered around each level are the traditional Turrets which can be hacked for your alliance, also there are vending machines which you can grab stuff from but can also be hacked, leaving a booby trap for the next unlucky fellow on the opposite team to be tempted for a EVE hypo. If you manage to gun someone down, you can take a picture of their body for research, this and hacking take some time and leave you vunerable but if successful you're left with a nice bonus damage on said victim.

If one team is not doing so well, someone is turned into a Big Daddy, leaving a very distinct L4D Tank vibe in my mouth. It's **** scary fighting one of them in MP and they will rack up the points in no time if you've got a bunch of nellys on your team.

XP (ADAM) is earnt for killing, hacking, researching and finding ADAM hypos in-game, these level you up and earn you new guns, perks such as quicker research, stealthier against turrets and loads more which I can't use yet and access to new plasmids.

A totally enjoyable MP mode, 2K deserve a pat on the back, I think.

[MJ]

A totally enjoyable MP mode, 2K deserve a pat on the back, I think.

The multiplayer was farmed out to a different developer. I think it was the same company that made Dark Sector.