First Play Review - BioShock 2 (2010)

 Note: This review is for the 2016 Remastered version of the game.

After reviewing the excellent original BioShock, the spiritual successor to System Shock marries Steampunk/Cyberpunk with biological elements creating a unique 'Biopunk' genre and that sets the tone and the overall design of the game's world - Rapture. In an interesting twist, in this sequel you play as Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, an armoured denizen of Rapture similar to those you fought in the original with the goal of escaping the underwater dystopia. As with the original you have an array of weapons and 'Plasmids' (powers) to aid you.

BioShock 2 had some pretty big shoes to fill considering the success of the original and it delivered in the gameplay. Your weapons are different to those in the original, more akin to being cobbled together from various bits of Rapture tech - and of course a mining drill! Rather than crafting your own ammo this time, you can buy it from vending machines using dollars you pick up along the way. Powers and abilities are drip fed to you over time but using 'Adam' - life force energy drained from Little Sisters or sea slugs, you interestingly you can purchase different powers of your choice as you progress and lightly customise your abilities as you see fit.

 

The biologically created powers Plasmids return, allowing you to burn, freeze or shock enemies or the environment. The pacing of the game with some quite vast levels however is certainly superior to the original. The difficulty of this game over BioShock was noted, or (I'm getting older). Overall while improvements such as those related to hacking Rapture's devices made the gameplay superior, there sadly was not any significant element which distinguishes itself from it's predecessor. You can still chose to harvest or free the Little Sisters after you eliminate their guardians which puts you on a sort of light or dark path just as Jack did in BioShock.

 

The original game's story is lauded as one of the best in gaming history in stark contrast to the fact that most FPS games aren't known for their story. Sadly BioShock 2 was always going to live in the shadow of the original in that regard. The story is still far superior than most FPS games, but when compared with it's progenitor it's sadly lacking.

 

The star of BioShock 2 I must say is still the series unique environment. There was no initial awe at discovering Rapture this time around, but more like going to somewhere familiar that is really as interesting as it was the first time. The lighting, texture detail, volumetric smoke and surface reflections of the 2016 remaster were not wasted on my top-of-the-line monitor 10 years later. Sound plays a very important part in the game from Garry Schyman's impeccable sore to the sounds made by Rapture's technology and denizens as well as a stellar voice cast including Juliet Landau (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Armin Shimmerman and J.G. Hertzler (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) all returning from BioShock with some new additions in Michael Ensign (Ghostbusters & evey Berman-era Star Trek) and Yuri Lowenthal (Marvel's Spider-Man game ).

 

Final Verdict: BioShock 2 did not iterate very much over the original and provided nothing new, it was nonetheless a superior gameplay experience by far and well worth your time today.

 

Technicals: 14.3 hours playtime through Steam using a Nvidia RTX5080 @ 3440x1440/175Hz with max settings on Windows 11.

 

Bugs: The game requires an external mod called Luna to run on modern hardware in UltraWide resolution. Once this was installed I encountered no bugs/crashes but game saves were not synced to the cloud.

 

Availability: BioShock 2: Remastered is available on its own for €19.99 on Steam or GOG. Steam also offers BioShock: The Collection which has BioShock 1 & 2 Remastered and BioShock: Infinite and all DLC in one package.

 

Note that the 2010 edition of BioShock 2 is no longer available for sale, but a purchase of the 2016 remastered version (or collection) on Steam will have the original version also added to your game library.. Additionally if you own the original versions of BioShock or BioShock 2 on Steam, you have access to the remastered versions for free.

BioShock franchise

• BioShock (2007)
• BioShock: Challenge Rooms (2008)
• BioShock 2 (2010)
• BioShock 2: Minerva's Den (2010)
• BioShock: Industrial Revolution (2012)
•  BioShock Infinite (2013)
• Infinite: Clash in the Clouds (2013)
• Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 1 (2013)
• Infinite: Burial at Sea Episode 2 (2014)
• BioShock Remastered (2016)
• BioShock 2 Remastered (2016)