Corrects issues with Bioshock 1 while ignoring what it did right
What did everyone love about Bioshock 1? Personally I enjoyed the incredible story line (which I won't spoil if you haven't played it, I advise you do) and the atmosphere of Rapture created by the insane characters and the music. The actualy gameplay was average; solid but nothing new.
Bioshock 2, in comparison, is almost the opposite. The gameplay is brilliant, fights are more fun, weapons are fantastic with amusing upgrades. But that is where the good parts end for me. The first game bred in me a want to find out more and question all the details in rapture, the second however fails to deliver any sort of beliveable situations based on the first game. For example, where in the world did Lamb suddenly come from? No mention of her what so ever in the first game and despite the fact that she appears to be as famous as Ryan in the second I'd never heard of her before!
For me the major let down are the characters; Gil Alexander I do like, he's the kind of crazy that makes you feel edgy and nervous. All the other characters however are the kind of crazy that makes you hate them for the apparent ignorance! You could call Ryan ignorant but I imagine him to be more diluded by his love for his city, people like Lamb, Father Wales, etc. just seem plain and dull in comparison.
I wish now to comment about the endless audio diarys and annoucments made by Sofia Lamb, they are incredibly repetitive and their deliverance make her seem like someone who isn't human. Someone as intelligent as her should at some point question herself and an audio diary of her deny things to herself or perhaps if you'd saved Grace she could have seen that she was wrong, gotten more defensive and gone mad. Basically I wanted SOMETHING to happen with Lamb, what she says at the beginning is the same as what she was saying at the end. For me Sofia Lamb sums up what is wrong with Bioshock 2, it seems that they had a nice idea about playing a Big Daddy (something I was cautious about to begin with) but not wanting the entire game to be about your character they came up with some last minute characters with some half-arsed belief system to make you want to play the game.
Now to the plot. The emphasis from all the Somethinginthesea.com build-up was on the Big Sister and Mark Meltzer's daughter being kidnapped but this seems almost contrary to how the game pans out, Big Sisters (yes, plural) are occasional boss fights (not very interesting ones either, though their approaching sounds are good) and (not wanting to spoil anything) Mark Meltzer's outcome is very disappointing and on my first playthrough I actually didn't notice his presence at all.
Another element that seems slapped together at the last moment is the beginning, you momentarily have to defend Tennenbaum before she disappears for the rest of the game and pawns you of onto Sinclair (of Sinclair Solutions). This is not something I enjoyed, Tennenbaum was a brilliant character from the first game and a conflict between her and Lamb could've saved the entire plot! Mentioning Sinclair I'll say only that he just seems to be an average businessman almost unaware of the horrific conditon of rapture, he seems disconnected from Rapture entirely.
My last point on the plot is that there seems to be lots of little things that don't add up or get explained; why Elenor needs the little sisters at the end, how you were resurrected, how you possess the little sister, and many more.
I think that the delay in the release of Bio 2 was an omen of what it was to become, it seems to be unfinished with plot holes and a lack of depth to the characters.
The actual design of the game isn't too bad in general I'd say that the appearance was not as varied and interesting as in the first game but nothing to complain about, just nothing special. The music is a little lacking; it is not a stylish as the first game and seems a little generic horror in places.
In summary the game is good solid fun to play on but what drew me into the first game I found missing in the second. Some people prefer the second game (I think they are in the minority) but I'd have to say I disagree, not that it is too bad a game. (Multiplayer is average and adds nothing of any interest)