Thoughts on BioShock 2

What are your thoughts of another team developing the sequel to your 'baby'?

I'm excited to see where they took the franchise. Can't wait to return to Rapture.

IG.Kline said:
I'm excited to see where they took the franchise. Can't wait to return to Rapture.

I agree with Chris. I really want to see where they took the franchise.

Im also eager to ee their take on Rapture. Hopefully it will be as great as the first descent into Rapture

I am excited to revisit Rapture, but the lack of the TEAM that brought it to life worries the Hell out of me.

I just played the first level of the single player this morning before work. I really like the tweaks they've made to the gameplay, and the rivet gun feels solid. Definitely going to play it more during lunch.

The character story and motivation at the beginning is a bit weak in terms of introduction/exposition, i.e. it's more like someone tells me that I should care about something/someone than I actually care Fortunately it gets better along the way.

The gun/plasmid combo feels better now, that you can use them simultaneously. I love the rivet gun and the tactical gameplay opportunities provided by trap rivets. Every time I have to fight a big daddy or defend the little sister, I look around the environment to find any crucial spots, choke points and such to deploy those. Nice sense of reward for nosy/careful players, as in any place in the game there seem to be some good spots to place trap rivets.

Unfortunately the controls on PC are a bit clunky. I kinda wish I bought the X360 version. There are a few things not right with the keymapping. Anything other than default mapping may not work on some screens (i.e. if you change keys for hacking, harvesting or adopting). Besides, the whole idea of PC controls seems too complicated.

You get a separate key for searching, hacking, melee atack, audiolog play, use medkit, next plasmid, previous plasmid, and so on. In the heat of the battle it becomes a real QTE-fest. E.g. you have to hit B key to start hacking the bot/turret/camera, and then you use F key to play the hack mini-game (which is an improvement over the plumbing game, tbh).

This plus using WASD for movement makes the player struggle with the controls, instead of enjoying the game. I got used to it after an hour or two, but you know how it should be done, the player shouldn't think about controller while playing the game, it should be almost "invisible"

Also, as I'm a bit spoiled by Mass Effect 2 , I found searching the lockers/bodies a bit tedious. It could be dealt by removing the confirmation of taking things. If I search the body and devs put something "in it", it's always a powerup or something useful, I don't have to confirm that I take it. It decreases the number of clicks by half and boosts the dynamic of the gameplay.

In terms of graphics the level of visuals seems on par with the first game. The setting helps a bit, but the textures and objects remind you that this the old tech. I know that this is your own (Vengance) engine, but I really hope you'll get UDK for the next project

Anyway, enough ranting, I think the rest is where it should be, I can't wait for the main plot to unveil.

One more thing, I like the cultural references I saw so far, songs like "It's only a paper moon" by Ella Fitzgerald or "Nobody knows you.." by Bessie Smith at the beginning of the Paupers Drop (good sense of irony here). Also paintings in Ryan Amusements, I immediately thought these are referring to Tamara Lempicka's works or another similar painter of art-deco period. Nice!

i just beat the game... *SPOILER***

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I loved playing as a little sister.
but, my only complaint was the level variety...and that it was short, real short.

Bioshock 2 was absolutely amazing. Delta is officially one of the biggest hard a**es in gaming.