BioShock is a phenomenal game because it transports us to an imaginative environment full of exquisite detail. Instead of wandering through a space station or military base, we explored an underwater city forever trapped within the 1950s, where freaks populating its leaky innards murder each other for the game's highest commodity, ADAM. The sequel, aptly titled BioShock 2, lacks the original's sense of wonder (a lot of things and places look the same), but it's still an immersive adventure teeming with twisted monsters and disturbing imagery. At least that's how we felt after plowing through a single player demo and shooting fellow journalists in multiplayer. Here's what stood out:
There's more than one Big Sister: Initially, there was only one Big Sister pursuing players through Rapture, but now they'll encounter several throughout the course of the game. They show up whenever the player disrupts the balance of power by hogging the ADAM. They're insanely tough (Big Sisters use telekinesis to hurl objects), but you can kill them. Actually hitting one, however, takes some skill. Instead of charging your Big Daddy, they tend to jump around.
Plasmid/weapon combo: In the previous game, you chose to use either a Plasmid or a weapon. Not so in BioShock 2. Now you can wield both simultaneously, allowing for more creative kills and a greater sense of power. Take Winter Blast, for instance. You can use this Plasmid to freeze enemies, then follow up with a gun to shatter their bodies into thousands of pieces. Makes the combat significantly more entertaining.
Playing as a Big Daddy has its advantages: In addition to using both Plasmids and weapons at the same time, the Big Daddy has access to a sweet .50 caliber machine gun that makes short work of splicers, as well as Rocket Spears that stick bad guys to walls. There's also a great sense of satisfaction that comes from using the character's drill to bore holes through enemies. It's a guilty pleasure.
Dr. Sofia Lam calls the shots: This nut job continued to live in Rapture after the meltdown, and doesn't take kindly to your meddling. She's found ways for others to do her bidding, including one of the game's early bosses, Father Simon Wales, whom you battle in a chapel; he was easy to kill.
Hacking made simple: In BioShock, you hack turrets and vending machines by twisting pipes, allowing blue liquid to travel from point A to point B. In this game, you simply press a button to stop a needle within the specified zone. It's much easier, and we're still not sure whether or not that's a good thing.
Rumbler in the Bronx: To "adopt" Little Sisters, you'll need to kill their Big Daddies. At first, we thought this would be easier, since we play as a Big Daddy, but that's simply not the case. One of the new Big Daddies, the Rumbler, throws down turrets and fires a bazooka. Good luck with him. You'll also see different types of Splicers, such as the Brute; he's much bigger than your average weirdo.
Goodbye Atlas, hello Sinclair: In the first BioShock, you receive friendly advice from a guy named Atlas, who turns out to be the game's lead villain. For the sequel, you speak to a man named Sinclair, but it remains to be seen whether he'll turn on you. Based on the previous experience, yes he will.
Rapture Museum: Although the designers created all new areas of Rapture to explore, much of it looks familiar. We'll give them credit, though, for the Rapture Museum. During the demo, we wandered through this detailed history of the city, with robotic announcer rattling off historic facts for each scene. It adds tremendous depth to the city's mystique.
Let Little Sisters be your guide: Holding X on the Xbox 360 controller produces a white line that directs you to a corpse containing ADAM, providing you have a Little Sister in tow. Definitely useful.
Knock back a few: Despite wearing a huge helmet, Big Daddy somehow consumes alcohol throughout the game. Yes, he gets drunk, causing you to stumble around, but if you acquire the Booze Hound tonic, you'll regain health the more you drink. See, alcohol's not so bad after all.
Choose wisely: Before jumping into a match, you can choose your weapon lineup (pistols, machine guns, nail gun, shotgun, crossbow). You can also use Plasmids. And for extra insurance, you can hack gun turrets. Or perhaps you'll just get lucky and become a Big Daddy; you'll be able to absorb more bullets.
Conversely, if you're on the receiving end of an attack, the Aero Dash lets you cover great distances in a single bound.
It pays to win: Dominating matches lets you gain access to new tonics, weapons and upgrades, thereby increasing your options.
Thus far, BioShock 2 feels like more of the same and it's a good thing. We thoroughly enjoyed the single player mission, despite performing similar actions from the original BioShock (save or sacrifice Little Sisters, use Plasmids, kill Big Daddies). That said, multiplayer, despite its high quality, feels tacked on and a mish mash of older concepts. With the game's February 9th release on the horizon, 2K Games should give us another opportunity to mess around with it. In the meantime, enjoy the new screens and look for additional details in the future.
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