Bioshock 2

Bioshock 2 Review

This is a very fun game until a major BUG freezes your PS3...Then you'll want to set it on fire! There should be no bugs in a game that's already been delayed by several months and I have a very low tolerance for this kind of stuff. I recommend you save your game every time you do something significant (waste an Alpha or big sister, help a little sister harvest ADAM, buy new plasmids or tonics, etc.) Above all, SAVE BEFORE you go to a Gatherer's Garden!

This game is designed with unusually long periods between autosaves, which it does once you complete an "area" of Rapture. It is also designed so it can take hours to thoroughly cover one of these areas. Common sense should dictate that these are counterproductive, especially in a buggy game. For example, in Dionysus Park I was literally at the end of this level and had 485 ADAM after spending a few hours poking around every nook and cranny there. Convinced I had done and seen it all, I went to a Gatherer's Garden after receiving a "special gift" from the rescued little sisters. I purchased new plasmids, tonics, slots and had less than 100 ADAM left when I chose "preview" for one of the remaining plasmids available for purchase. Then I only heard the audio and my PS3 LOCKED UP! As you probably know, once this happens you're screwed.

So after a reboot, pretty much everything I had done in Dionysus Park was LOST. It was weird because it looked like some things I had previously searched remained searched (trash cans, corpses)...But I had to rescue ALL of the little sisters again, protect them while harvesting ADAM again, defeat the big sister again. I was NOT happy. I chalked it up to a fluke occurrence. The following day I reluctantly went through Dionysus Park again and cleared maybe 75% of Fontaine Futuristics. Once again I went to a Gatherer's Garden after defeating a big sister. This time I purchased a plasmid upgrade, only heard the audio play and then my PS3 locked up again. Then I realized this is not a fluke. There is a MAJOR BUG hiding in the Gatherer's Garden portions of this game just waiting to knock you back to the beginning of each section. From this point on, I saved after every significant accomplishment and recommend you do the same.

As for the game itself, it's a beautiful landscape as it should be since it's more or less the same as the original Bioshock with enhancements. Playing as a big daddy was hardly distinguishable from playing through the original against the big daddies, and that's unfortunate. Use the drill at all and it runs out of fuel in just a few seconds. Then you're back to shooting guns and plasmids at splicers, other big daddies and big sisters. You rescue little sisters and guard them while they collect ADAM. Go to the next area of Rapture and repeat. And that's really the failure of this game. It's probably the most repetitive game I've played in the past year. Areas of Rapture are strung together with completely linear strolls through the ocean that serve no other purpose than to get you from point A to point B. You scavenge around for items of use, listen to recordings and transmissions from other Rapture residents who guide you around and fight enemies around every corner...Just like the original.

The game also suffers by forcing you to search for and purchase items to prepare for one-sided battles. Early in the game, big sisters will kill you over and over so you simply step out of the Vita Chamber and wait for them to come to you and kill you again while you throw everything you have at them and they suffer very limited damage. Nothing quite like a half-dozen respawns to finish off a single enemy. Then you end up with no useable ammo, no first aid kits, no Eve hypos...So you're forced to scavenge and purchase these items again to prepare for the next big battle. As an example, I repeatedly froze and hit a single big sister with anti-personnel rounds until gone, rocket spears until gone, phosphorous buck until gone and she kept killing me over and over regardless of what I did. Finally, she had a tiny bit of RED left on her damage meter and I froze her multiple times in a row and fired 10 solid slugs right into her belly before she killed me again. The ridiculousness of battles like this take away from the gaming experience...

Finally, Bioshock 2 could be viewed as not much more than additional DLC for Bioshock...The games are that similar. Fans of the original will LOVE this, while those expecting more will be disappointed. There are technical improvements, to be sure, specifically in the area of plasmids, tonics, weapons and the simultaneous use of them...But with months of development delays, shouldn't we be treated to something more than just the same game with marginal improvements? For a .99 list price, I think so.

Bioshock 2 Feature

• Online and offline multiplayer modes including: Free-For-All, and Team Death Match and more.
• Return to the underwater city of Rapture where now the 'The Big Sister' is the toughest creature around.
• Play as the original the Big Daddy as you harness raw strength to battle Rapture?s most feared denizens as you battle powerful new enemies.
• New game mechanics including the ability to wield plasmids and weapons simultaneously; flashback missions detailing how you became the Big Daddy; the ability to walk outside the airlocks of Rapture to discover new play areas, and many more.
• New game environments including Fontaine Futuristics, headquarters of Fontaine's business empire and the Kashmir Restaurant.

Bioshock 2 Overview

BioShock 2 PS3

Bioshock 2 Specifications

Follow-up to BioShock, 2K Games' critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2007 release, BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter set in the fictional underwater city of Rapture. As in the original game, BioShock 2 features a blend of fast-paced action, exploration and puzzle-solving as players follow varying paths through the overarching storyline based on the decisions that they are forced to make at various points in the game. In addition to a further fleshing out of the franchise's popular storyline, players can look forward to new characters, game mechanics, weapons, locations and a series first, multiplayer game options. The new power in Rapture. View larger. Duel wield plasmids & weapons. View larger. New choices as Mr. B. View larger. Franchise first multiplayer options. View larger. The Story Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster — somehow familiar, yet still quite different from anything ever seen — has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city. It is a Big Sister, new denizens of Rapture who were once one of the forgotten little girls known as Little Sisters, known to inhabit the city's dank halls. No longer a pawn used to harvest ADAM, the dangerously powerful gene-altering lifeblood of Rapture, from the bodies of others and in turn run the risk of being harvested herself, the Big Sister is now the fastest and most powerful thing in Rapture. You, on the other hand are the very first Big Daddy, in fact the prototype, that for some reason has reactivated. You are similar to the Big Daddies familiar from the original BioShock, but also very different in that you possess free will and no memory of the events of the past ten years. The question is, as you travel through the decrepit and beautiful fallen city beneath the waves, hunting for answers and the solution to your own survival, are you really the hunter, or the hunted? Gameplay and Multiplayer In BioShock 2 players will take on the role of the original Big Daddy, not that of game one protagonist, Jack. As a Big Daddy you will have access to all the strengths and weapons of a standard Big Daddy, including the drill and rivet gun. More importantly you also possess free will and the ability to use plasmids and gene tonics — genetic modifications allowed for through ADAM, a stem cell harvested from conquered enemies, or sea slugs outside the Rapture air lock, and powered by the in-game injectable serum known as EVE, which can be found, captured or purchased. Plasmids and gene tonics provide a wide range of aggressive and passive abilities which can be upgraded and arranged for quick use. The ability to use plasmids and tonics gives you a decided edge over other Big Daddies and most other denizens of Rapture, excluding the powerful Big Sisters. In addition, due to their role as a Big Daddy, players will experience a new relation to the Little Sisters. Upon defeating standard Big Daddys you are given the familiar choice as to whether to harvest or adopt them. Harvesting gains you ADAM immediately, but could alter your path through the game, while adopting makes you responsible for Little Sisters, who then accompany you through Rapture, but also provide aid and warning in times of danger. Additional gameplay features include: new plasmids, weapons and the ability to combine these two. The game also features the anticipated multiplayer modes. Several of these are team-based, allowing up to 10 players. Within these players are provided with a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction, and allows you to play as one of several characters pulled from Rapture's history before the events of the first game. Key Features The Big Sister - No longer just something to be harvested or not, the Big Sister is the most powerful resident in Rapture. You Are the Big Daddy - Take control with the original prototype Big Daddy, and experience the power and raw strength of Rapture’s most feared denizens as you battle powerful new enemies. New Plasmids - New plasmids such as "Aero Dash" allowing for bursts of speed over short distances, and "Geyser Trap" a stream of water used as a jump pad and electrical conductor, join the ample list of Plasmids from the original game. New Game Mechanics - BioShock 2 contains many new gameplay mechanics. Just a few of these are: the ability to wield plasmids and weapons simultaneously; flashback missions detailing how you became the Big Daddy; the ability to walk outside the airlocks of Rapture to discover new play areas, and many more. New Locations - Just a few of the locations and environments debuting in BioShock 2 are Fontaine Futuristics, headquarters of Fontaine's business empire and the Kashmir Restaurant. Evolution of the Genetically Enhanced Shooter - Innovative advances bring new depth and dimension to each encounter, allowing players to create exciting combinations to fit their style of gameplay. Return to Rapture - Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the story continues with an epic, more intense journey through one of the most captivating and terrifying fictional worlds ever created. Genetically Enhanced Multiplayer - Earn experience points during gameplay to earn access to new weapons, plasmids and tonics that can be used to create hundreds of different combinations. Experience Rapture’s Civil War - Players will step into the shoes of Rapture's citizens and take direct part in the civil war that tore Rapture apart. See Rapture Before the Fall - Experience Rapture before it was reclaimed by the ocean and engage in combat over iconic environments in locations such as Kashmir Restaurant and Mercury Suites, all of which have been reworked from the ground up for multiplayer.

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jun 22, 2010 07:30:21

Review Feature Office 2010