Like the first game, BioShock 2 will present you with a few moral quandaries along the way to make things interesting. The decision to harvest or save the Little Sisters returns and once again I prove myself the consummate pansy by rescuing every single one of the little rascals. I'm not sure if this is a character flaw or not but for whatever reason I still can't bring myself to save them. In addition to that decision there are a few other key decisions you can make in the game, specifically around killing or leaving certain characters alone. What I liked is that there's no press A to kill them press B to save them prompt you just make your decision and the game figures out your intent. This really worked for me as the game wasn't overt about forcing you to make a decision, rather it was a natural extension of the game.
Your decisions will lead you to one of four endings in the game. I can't spoil the ending but there's an interesting lesson on parenting in the game that might have more impact on someone who's a parent.
BioShock 2 inherited some fantastic audio design from the original game and realizing that you don't fix what already works the folks at 2K Games left it mostly intact. You still hear Big Daddies before you see them and there are a few other nice touches in the game. The musical score is also excellent and probably worth a purchase in and of itself.
Various life factors have kept me from finishing the review as soon as I would have liked to. The upside of that is that I've had some time to get some distance from the game and reflect upon my experience with it. As I stated in the lead of the review I had a very strong bias against the game and after playing it I can say that I did enjoy my second trip to Rapture as the game provided a lot more history about the world than the first did and broke some new ground. To be honest I'm uncomfortable about how much I enjoyed the game as there are a few plot holes and a few things that don't make a lot of sense upon reflection. The game is worth your time if you're a fan or the original and there's not denying the quality of the Bioshock 2. It's just a matter of question if this is the kind of thing you want to reward with your money or not.
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BioShock 2 Companies:
2K Games A | A sequel that surpasses the original. The folks at 2K have delivered a game with more emotional and intellectual punch than the original game although you might feel a bit dirty for enjoying the game so much. |
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