After a month or so of a break from BioShock 2, I've finally hit level 50 in multiplayer. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I'm not the best of players so it might have taken an extra amount of time for me to hit this milestone.

I was brought back to BioShock 2 thanks to its latest and probably last piece of content, Minerva's Den. That's an incredible add-on that boasts an epic story arch that is concurrent with the story in BioShock 2 and in my opinion, far surpasses it. You'll read my review soon on it and hopefully you'll find it enough of an incentive to go ahead and get it. It's a blast.

Anyway, the reason I'm writing this blog post is to comment on BioShock 2's multiplayer. It's completely broken from a leveling point. There are fifty levels to complete, and every now and then you get little bonuses you can equip your character with. The thing is, at level 40, these rewards disappear, and the amount of experience required to level up takes a huge leap up.

Another problem is related to the map rotation in the various game modes. The maps in the game are very well designed and I like them a lot, but there just isn't enough of them at all. Even with the DLC, you'll hardly get to play on anything new thanks to an idiotic rotation system that is implemented. Unless everyone in your group has the DLC, you'll never get to play them. This is made worse when you're play in random matchmaking and was the bane of my existence when I reviewed the Rapture Metro Pack, which added a few more maps to the mix.

Game modes are an issue as well. There are quite a few that nobody plays. Some of these modes are quite interesting, but thanks to the level grind and the amount of experience they award, people just don't find it worth playing. One mode in particular, Adam Grab, which can be equated to a capture the flag mode from your usual Call of Duty game is basically free grouns for groups "boosting" in order to level up. I'm not going to be the hypocrite and say I never boosted, in fact, it's something that becomes necessary if you are not the sort of person who wants to play BioShock 2 multiplayer 24/7. Boosting is totally worth it since it nets you around four times the amount of experience a normally played match would.

In the mid to end of my leveling run, I stopped trying to find groups to boost levels with in order to enjoy the game in a normal fashion, taking around three days of short sessions in order to reach level 50. The major deal with reaching 50, as you might have guessed, is BioShock 2's version of prestige. Prestiging wipes your level clean and awards you with an achievement. Sure, I've more than once admitted that I like achievements. Not the numerical value of them, mind you, but as a way to see a game I liked as "completed".

Obviously, I don't try to 100% every game I play simply because as a downloadable content reviewer, I tend to get a lot of games in, most of which I wouldn't bother doing so. I liked BioShock 2 so much that I took the time to get this very very difficult achievement (at least for me). That's the reason for the post's title. I was level 50 for about a minute, then I hit the 'Rebirth' button. Would I have played the game online after level 50? Probably not. Now, if you ask me if I'll ever play it an start leveling again... you better like dodging stuff because I'll be throwing a sink at you rather quickly.