Bioshock 2 review (Awesome, Good, Not Bad, Pass, Boring or Lame?)

If you are a fan of the first BioShock then BioShock 2 will give you quite a ride. In fact, even if you have never played BioShock 1 (Like myself), you will still enjoy the ride! You might get lost in the storyline due to the constant tension whenever you find any insane human beings in the underwater city, but the gameplay will keep you going.

Story:

I got lost in the story but here it is. You are an advanced Big Daddy called "Alpha" who was hypnotized to kill yourself a long time ago. Your Little Sister was then left under the care of somebody and you must find where she is because the Little Sisters are the ones that will provide you nutrients to increase your power.

I got lost in the storyline in the middle of the game, so I kinda not care what happen and just keep going through the game. Big Daddies are big robotic-engineered people whose brains are reprogrammed to always protect their Little Sisters from harm. Little Sisters are kids who are programmed to collect ADAM (the source of Big Daddies' power) from corpses.
The environment is definitely an A because everything just looks so f-ed up!
Some of the things included in the environment are not even relevant to the story or the gameplay but they are added just for the sake of adding the atmosphere for the players. Cans that can be knocked off, lamps, tables, chairs, they don't add anything into the story but they do add something into the environment.

This is "Alpha" with a Little Sister:
The beautiful thing about this game is that it shows how much a father (Big Daddy) cares about his little girl (Little Sister) and would protect her whenever she is in danger. Adding to the beauty, the Big Daddies and Little Sisters converse in a very father-daughter tone. Little Sisters will complain to their Big Daddies when they are threatened and will sing while collecting Adam. Adding to the beauty as well, Big Daddies cannot talk but can only groan and make noises.

The picture above shows one of the many enemies in the game.
These people who look like creatures are called "Splicers". They are humans who have gone insane and would rely solely on animal instincts which means that if you go too close or if they see you, they will shoot you or attack you.

They are a pretty easy bunch. The next enemy is the pain in the ass:
As you save more and more Little Sisters, this enemy will appear (Above) - Big Sister!
Big Sisters are older Little Sisters and will pop out after you have saved 3 or 4 Little Sisters. These Big Sisters are a pain in the ass because they are very agile and their attacks are nuts. They can be beaten but it does put your skills to the test.

You will find out that you are also associated with a Big Sister but that it later in the game, you got'ta play it to find out.

This will always happen when your Little Sister collects ADAM from a corpse. It will take awhile and during that time, she is vulnerable. This is the time when endless waves of Splicers will attack the Little Sister. As a Big Daddy, you have to defend your Little Sister by killing all of the Splicers that come.

As you can see from the picture, the graphics are great. It makes you feel like you are indeed in an underwater city and once you get to see the sunlight by the end of the game, what a relief! Details are also added including words on posters (eventhough most of them are blurred out), smudges on walls, chairs, closets, tables, etc.. It just looks like a rundown city which it is.

Gameplay:
It is a first person shooter which means you can't see your character but only both of your hands and the weapon. However, the gameplay is smooth and everything is pretty fluid but you can't expect it to be fluid all the time because Big Daddies are not exactly small, they are big, bulky and heavy, so there is a certain amount of speed that you cannot achieve and also you have to hear the big foot steps all the time but that is good because it adds that whole feeling to the game.

Overall, this is a very good game. I am looking forward for BioShock 3. Things might get a little grumpy some times but you have to face it, nothing is very beautiful when your world sunk into the deep sea.

This game gets: Good

- Jackson Teoh
jackson.teoh.sc@gmail.com