BioShock 2

Preview from Luke - Friday, 04 December 2009 @ 9:57am

In 2007 BioShock was released upon the world and was to be later considered as one of the best games for that year. This is why fanboys of the original went into rage mode when BioShock 2 was announced, they did not believe a sequel could live up to the first. I was one of the concerned fans that was very worried, but also interested to see if 2K could pull it off and make another fantastic game that adds more to the world of Rapture. So I was very excited when 2K invited me along to their office to check out what we can expect from the game.

The single player for BioShock 2 is currently being developed by 2k Marin, and also 2k Australia. Taking place 10 years after the original you assume the role of the first Big Daddy. After awakening in the city you have no recollection of what has previously happened. Rapture now has a new antagonist, a women that goes by the name of Sophia Lamb. She has created an army of Big Sisters that have been sent out to abduct girls and drag them back to Rapture to be turned into Little Sisters.

Burn Baby Burn!

I played through a level called “Ryan Amusements”, it contained a very strange theme park filled with animatronics. Proceeding through the level these aninmatronics came to life and tell the story of why living in Rapture is so good compared to what there is to offer above the water. Exploring further on you encounter a Little Sister, after she rides shotgun on one of your shoulders the Little Sister is able to guide you to the closest resource of Adam.

As you are now a bad-ass Big Daddy, you have the ability to dual wield plasmids and weapons at the same time, this means no longer having to swap back and forth between the two. It makes a massive difference during combat enabling you to quickly combine your attacks and easily take on multiple enemies at once.

Just Drillin

A bunch of new weapons have been introduced, I got my hands on a Rivet Gun, Gatling Gun, Spear Gun and an enormous drill that creates a huge amount of devastation, this is now the new melee weapon. The weapons are also able to take different types of ammunition, this gives the player a little something more to work with in combat, plus adds more variety to the guns. An ability to also set up traps has been added, a helpful tool during the situations where the Little Sister collects Adam. This action alerts a collection of splicers to your current location, so setting up an area before performing this task could be very crucial to your survival.

My favourite weapon that I have seen so far would be the spear gun, it launches people off the ground and pins them to objects. The alternate ammunition mode for this gun is a rocket spear, yes I know your mind just exploded! One instance that I remember was I fired a rocket spear at a nearby Splicer, narrowly missing him by pixels, to my luck though the Splicer was standing in a puddle of oil. As the rocket sped past, flames shooting out of the back managed to ignite the oil on fire causing the Splicer to light up like a Christmas tree.

Strike A Pose!

Hacking devices has been changed a little, a tool is at your disposal that allows you to shoot darts from a distance. After a successful hit on the device, the mini game will popup on the screen, this is a different mini game compared to the first one where you had to join the pipes.

The Big Daddy battles make appearances in the game, you get to go head to head with one of your own kind. The Big Sister however is very different, a fast and acrobatic opponent means you have to change your strategy constantly and think much quicker.

So Thats A Big Sister

Choices are reintroduced into the game, the decisions that you make affect the overall story. I was left with the decision to either harvest, or rescue the Little Sister.... Being the greedy bastard that I am I was just interested in the Adam and didn't give a shit what happened to the Little Sister, so I went with harvest!

Multiplayer has been confirmed and it is currently being developed by Digital Extremes. This part of the game is actually set before the original BioShock, I didn't get a chance to see any of this in action so I cannot really comment much about it. But the way I see it if this multilayer component of the game works well, then its just an added bonus for everyone.

To Harvest Or Resuce?

From what I have seen so far, this very much feels like BioShock, the environments and sound within the game amazing. That combination helps bring Rapture to life once again and make it that epic character that we all remember and loved from the original. I am excited to see the final product and cant wait to be immersed in what is hopefully an extraordinary story, BioShock 2 is due out for release on the 9th of February, 2010