Ten years have passed since Andrew Ryan’s crumbling universe saw an unexpected visit from Jack and now Subject Delta, the first ever “Big Daddy” begins his first descent into the once utopian world of Rapture, which is now being controlled by a benefactor who goes by the name of Sofia Lamb. The sequel to one of the most poignant games of 2007 has finally hit shelves. Even though the sink to Rapture is far less exciting and storming as the original, BioShock 2 successfully manages to blend together a fresh story arc that seeks to construct a different flavor that is desperate to escape Ryan’s philosophy of objectivism.
As Big Daddy enters the world which is seemingly destroyed by Splicers and Sofia’s quest for creating a family that is to be headed by her own daughter Eleanor. She is also on a rampage on absorbing enough Adam to create a version of Eleanor that is destroyed of recognizing the concept of the Self and craft out a cohesive family that is bonded together for a common good. BioShock 2’s story is linear in most ways, it is a quest for Subject Delta to bond with his Little Sister Eleanor. The only hurdle is posed by Sofia Lamb who is bent of crafting out an insidious “family” out of the deranged inhabitants of Rapture. Along the way you meet the regular bunch of colorful characters who are in pursuit of their set of pernicious designs and Delta through most parts acts as the pawn for fulfilling these. Fans of the original will be pleased to see that they can now use both plasmids and guns together instead of switching back and forth, which makes the gameplay a bit like Clive Barker’s “Undying,” which directly affects the combat mechanics of the game, making it faster and tighter than the original.
During the development cycle, many fans had scepticisms regarding the power that would unleashed given the fact that we would be stepping into the shoes of “Big Daddy”. However, all these fears can be relegated to the fact that the Splicer community has also evolved over the years. One of the additions to this family is the Brute Splicer, who is a mash between the tank from Left 4 Dead and a chain bound hulking beast found in Condemned 2: Bloodshot. The game also includes a version of Big Daddy which was originally canned from the original BioShock. This menacing metal head carries on its shoulder a grenade launcher which fires a massive armada of grenades onto the player. One of the biggest additions to the enemy lineup is the creation of the Big Sister who is a vile and tenacious version of Big Daddy. They are quintessentially those bunch of freaky Little Sisters incorporated into the armour of the Big Daddy. The result is a bizarre creature who is devoid of all the flab that protectors of little sisters carry and infused with ADAM abilities making them a formidable foe in the game.
Their appearance varies according to the moral choices in the game which have aloes been diversified to allow the player to explore the relationship between a Big Daddy and a Little Sister. This was only witnessed from a distance in the previous game. The structure is such that on defeating a Big Daddy, there is an option to adopt a little sister who will extract ADAM from corpses strewn across the city. Now during this process she will be attacked by those blemished lot splicers and the player just like a Big Daddy has to fend off these foes till she finishes extracting the juice that will craft powers for the player to explore. In a situation where the player decides to act out like a maniac and harvest all the ADAM from the Little sisters present in a level, the Big Sister shows up as a Mini Boss (who is sometimes tougher than a regular boss) and a fight ensures allowing the player to tread on the path that led to ultimate demise of Rapture. Morality has been further explored through the game in the form of having the choice to kill or spare certain NPCs through the game, which will have an effect on the penultimate ending.
All of the previous plasmids return in the game, Telekinesis, Incinerate, Freeze Blast, Insect Swan are a few favorites. Now the list has increased massively that the player will have trouble figuring out which one they should pick and stick on with throughout the game. The most effect line-up of plasmids are the ones which were present in the previous game, most of the others are cosmetic extensions which may be ignored. Hacking has been simplified in the game, there is a specific hack tool (Dues Ex anyone?) that Big Daddy can use in an up close and personal basis or remotely to plan out traps during a ongoing ADAM harvest or a sticky combat situation. Instead of buying out present in the previous game, players have an auto hack dart that instantly allies machines onto the side of the players.
One of really strong points in the game is depicting the world of Rapture, which was closed and alienated from the player’s purview in the last game. Delta explores all the nooks and crannies of Raptures history and the lineage of Andrew Ryan’s eccentric vision which is now interspersed with Sofia “family values” fleshing out the insanity that corrupts. The vast blue sea can also be explored by Big Daddy in short bursts wherein he traverses from one tank chamber to another passing through the clam environment beneath the sea contrasted with the craziness of Rapture. The visuals also portray this story, though the game might look similar to the original the art direction changes everything adds a fresh dimension to the entire experience. Being a Big Daddy there is a helmet option in the game which can be turned off/on to enjoy these striking visuals. Multiplayer is a option that has been included in the game and developed by the guys who brought us “Dark Sector” this generation. Though the game is primarily a story driven experience, this additional mode feels like any other multiplayer game spruced up with plasmids. There are numerous game types that incorporate the viciousness of objectivism in Rapture but it all is a matter of catching on with the public so as to speak of its success.
The Final Word: BioShock 2 improves on the base of its predecessor that crafted out this psychotic delusion of an eccentric man and takes it to a higher level. However this quest feels more of stop gap story than a full fledged sequel of a madhouse, making it fall a few notches lower than the original. Even though the developers have tried their best to craft out a “different” experience, it falls into “more of the same” syndrome after a point, but an effort that is worth a few hundred applauses.
Graphics: 8/10.
Gameplay: 8.5/10.
Sound: 9/10.
Budget Pocket: 7/10.
Overall (Not on an average): 8/10.