BioShock never captured my attention back in the day, and sticking a number on the end and releasing BioShock 2 didn't really do anything to help change that either.
For whatever reason it was, I just wasn't interested in diving beneath the waves and shooting through the ruins of Rapture. Was it the setting that didn't engage me? Were there just too many first-person shooters that I was interested in playing instead?
It wasn't until playing BioShock for this 1001 list that I finally got around to seeing what the fuss was about (and quickly realizing I'd have a better time if I installed the Remastered version instead), before concluding that while it didn't floor me, I could see it was a solid game to play.
Is BioShock 2 more of the same, or is there more to this underwater paradise that needs to be investigated? Without wanting to resort to 'diving right in' again, let's get our feet wet once more.
Fun Times
I don't recall who we were in the first BioShock, other than a boyo, but BioShock 2 doesn't leave you guessing who you are this time out, as it is quickly revealed that you are a Big Daddy, complete with a very menacing drill on your right arm.
I'm playing the original release of BioShock 2 first, which certainly hasn't thrown up as many issues as BioShock's PC release did. If I choose to stick with it, I'll probably play the Remastered version, but you know me - try to play the original releases where possible. Let's imagine ourselves back in 2010. We've just picked up BioShock 2 from the shops, the disc is spinning, what's cool about this one? Ah, OMG, we're a Big Daddy, blimey.
Right, now that I'm in the right frame of mind, let's get coerced into suicide.
Did we die? I heard a gunshot, but I'm still in control of a Big Daddy ten years later. The same one? Who knows. BioShock is all about messing with player's heads as much as it is about presenting a weird environment for us to explore.
So far as I can tell at least, we're still stuck under the sea in Rapture, the utopia that never made it. The walls are covered in coral and sea creatures, as well as graffiti and grime. The fall of Rapture is a mystery I'm yet to solve, and I'm assuming that BioShock 2 is showing me that mystery from another point of view.
The colours and lighting are just as dramatic as the first game, and the updated HUD continues to evoke that old-timey '50s steampunk kind of look that we'll be seeing plenty of throughout the game. If you wanted more of the same, you've certainly got it so far.
The Andrew Ryan of this game is Sofia Lamb, the woman who convinced us to shoot ourselves in the head ten years ago. I have absolutely no idea what her deal is, and where she fits into the story, but whoever wrote this at the bottom of the swimming pool is probably in her bad books.
It's not long at all before a lovely bottle of Plasmid can be found glowing to get our attention. This one allows us to shoot electricity from our hands, stunning enemies on the spot so that they've no defences against our almighty drill.
The voice over the radio this time isn't calling us boyo but does have an accent of her own. Brigid Tenenbaum will be pointing me in the right direction, and that involves finding a Little Sister called Eleanor, with whom we have a close connection.
As in the first game, though, we'll probably end up getting distracted along our journey to get there. There's plenty to see and hoover up into our inventory, after all.
But something lurks in the shadows, leaps from the ceiling, and shows me just how rusty I am at this kind of gameplay.
I didn't get a good glimpse of it, but that was a Big Sister, essentially a Big Daddy crossed with a damn Ninja, made because a Big Daddy just isn't enough of a defence for the Little Sisters. Boy, who'd want to live in Rapture with all these things bouncing and stomping around?
Important to note after our skirmish is that I'm low on health and will have to eat some food found in suitcases and bins, and my drill is out of fuel, meaning it can only be used to clobber someone over the head until I can get it spinning again. At least it is effective at clobbering as well, though.
The benefit of being a Big Daddy is that you're well suited to life underwater, what with being in a diving suit and all. Once again, we get a reveal of the city in its current state, but it is nowhere near as glorious as that seen in the first game. It's as though Rapture has given up trying to impress onlookers, and we walk right past it. Its scale isn't important to us anymore. Not when we're on a mission.
The appropriately named device allows us to shoot out some kind of hacking probe into all sorts of machinery, from locks to cameras and security bots, and engage with a little mini-game to crack them open. Do particularly well, and you can get some bonuses out of your electronic target as well. I don't want to know what happens when you do badly.
Hacking a little flying security bot for some eyes in the back of my big head (much like I found myself doing in BioShock if memory serves), I go off in search of Tenenbaum in the ticket office, but end up finding a recording from Andrew Ryan himself, moaning at the state of things.
Should I be paying attention to audio logs? How directly relevant are they to the story? Can I get by without them? I know I'm not going to find them all. There's an option to have items glow or something, but I felt that might stick out too much and make BioShock 2 feel a little too gamey.
Yes, I'm well aware I left the large arrow to the next objective on, but I'm still aiming for some level of immersion...
Speaking of immersion, let's cut the ominous red lights of this room and have the TVs spring into life.
Now I must admit to not quite following along with the story at this point, and when the room you're in is on fire and you can see no escape, worrying about the plot doesn't help. I needn't have worried at all, however, as the wooden floor quickly gave way and dropped me into yet another flooded section of Rapture.
I guess this is the way we're going, then.
Making progress through who-knows-what towards who-knows-where, we get another vision of Eleanor, our apparent daughter that we were following and protecting a decade ago. Am I hallucinating all of this? Perhaps. But her importance to our survival cannot be understated. She is what's driving us towards Lamb, and if she is the one giving us new powers to play with, then keep driving.
Telekinesis at the ready, briefly explained by instructional videos that absolutely do not evoke the style of Fallout, how dare you suggest that, we get to test it out with some rather dangerous looking containers in the next room.
It's a little fiddly, I must admit, and I'm really not sure how to aim anything, but hurling explosives into crowds of folks who attack you on sight doesn't really get old. I'm concerned at how quickly an object moves from floating in front of my hand to slamming into its target, though (that being near-instantly, it seems).
I'm also not too keen on juggling both my powers and my weapons. Because you can mix and match everything you can make use of, the combinations at your disposal are numerous but try not to get yourself into a tricky situation before you've sorted yourself out and are ready to go.
I've still not got a clue where Tenenbaum is, and now I've got Lamb in my ear as well, and another sighting of a Big Sister taunting me up ahead isn't exactly what I need right now. In the distance I see a camera, so hack it because that's just what you do, right? I hack it real well, and it attracts the attention of the unfriendlies in the area. And then I make my approach.
That was how not to play BioShock 2. Looking back, I can see my health was too low going in, and while I had items to refill my health bar, I didn't use them. In truth, I forgot how it all worked and that I would have to actively use them. I assumed they'd be scoffed whenever the bar ran out until I had nothing left to scoff. What a silly idea that was. I blame Metal Gear Solid for that.
Final Word
It was a short session in the end, but I knew it always would be. Much like Mass Effect 2 and many other sequels in this 1001 list, I would prefer to play the first game first, especially when stories carry on so directly - though in fairness, I don't know how the two BioShock stories relate to each other.
The gameplay is as expected, it looks just as detailed and stylish as the first game, but again I haven't really seen anything that makes me sit up a little, or felt anything that has drawn me closer to the screen in BioShock 2.
I can see it is a solid game that does what the first game does, I can see it has been tweaked and built upon where necessary, and I've a hunch it'll be just as wordy as intellectual as the "Would you kindly"'s of the first game. But I only ever hear about BioShock these days and not a whole lot of BioShock 2.
Given its recent release at the time of the 1001 list, maybe the years haven't been as kind to BioShock 2 as they have been to the first BioShock. Perhaps we're only being told to play it because it's a fairly big title that you can rely on?
I don't know what went into the thinking behind many of the entries on this 1001 list. I can't comment on whether BioShock 2 should feature on it yet. My initial hunch is that it's more of the same with less of the impact, but if you liked what BioShock offered - and many did - then why cry over more?
I'll get around to playing some more at some point after BioShock has been either wrapped up or abandoned. As I say, it seems to be a reliable gaming experience, should you be interested in its setting and themes.
Fun Facts
Looking for the philosophy in this game? Brush up on your Karl Marx, your John Stuart Mill, and your collectivist ideals.
BioShock 2, developed by 2K Marin, first released in 2010.
Version played: PC, 2010.