First Impressions: BioShock 2 goes back to Rapture
How do you follow up one of the most critically acclaimed video games in recent memory? 2K Games is facing that very challenge with its sequel to the 2007 hit BioShock. We recently sat down for an eyes-on preview of the upcoming BioShock 2 from the game's developers.
The original game succeeded by mixing a solid first-person shooter mechanic with a wildly imaginative fictional world, set in the ruined underwater city of Rapture. The art deco design of the 1940's city was a welcome break from the warehouses and space stations most games are set in, and the background story of a utopian social experiment gone wrong incorporated influences from Ayn Rand to Jules Verne--heady stuff for gamers used to a steady diet of zombies and elves.
The dangerous Big Sister, glimpsed in the darkness.
(Credit: 2K Games)BioShock 2 keeps the underwater setting from the first game, but shifts the point of view from an amnesiac plane crash survivor to a prototype Big Daddy, putting you in the oversized boots of one of the most fearsome adversaries from the first game. Playing as a hulking man-monster, we're concerned that audiences won't be able to identify with the protagonist, and not be drawn into the story. Fighting seemed very similar to the original game, but instead of using a gun along with his various "plasmid" powers (essentially genetic engineering that looks and works like a magic spell), your Big Daddy sports a giant drill on the end of his right arm.
The demo level we saw, which may or may not be in the final game, gave us a basic overview of the game, and involved a meeting with a new super-powered adversary, the Big Sister. If you're familiar with the original BioShock, she's a Little Sister (one of a community of creepy little girls who harvest energy from dead bodies), who has evolved into something much bigger and more dangerous.
Genetic powers, such as this fireball, return in BioShock 2.
(Credit: 2K Games)New plot aside, the settings, graphics, combat, and gameplay all seemed very familiar, and we could see BioShock 2 suffering from a case of sequelitis--without significant upgrades in the graphics, locations, and action, it feels at this point more like a downloadable add-on pack than a whole new game. Adding to our concern is that BioShock's original Creative Director, Ken Levine, apparently has only minimal involvement with this sequel.
Still, an overly familiar sequel to a great game is better than a sequel to a bad one, and we're looking forward to checking out more of BioShock 2, which should be available on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 later this year, with further details to be unveiled at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show in June.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
Ken Levine is not a part of the sequel's team, but there are quite a few faces from the old development team who are working on the new one. From the video interviews on gamespot.com, they seem to be as obsessed about the game and the world as anyone else. The level designer who created Fort Frolic in the first game is still there, which alone makes me optimistic.
There's a lot about the game that, for now, is being kept under wraps according to all the online sources I can find. Things like the story, what it will feel like to play as a Big Daddy throughout the game's duration (and how that changes), and what their online multiplayer mode actually does are all mysteries. But I think that many of the original game's fans loved the mystery of Rapture the first time around, and the fandom should be enough to pull in skeptics. Unexpected twists and events are what made Bioshock 1 unforgettable.
We won't know if the second game will be as impressive on those fronts until we play it - announcing things like new multiplayer options for an FPS or units like an RTS aren't really appropriate for such a narrative-driven experience. It will just take patience on our part, to wait until we can play through the final product, as well as a helping of faith that things will go as well as they have done in the past.
- by darkpoet25 April 26, 2009 6:57 PM PDT
- I can't wait to see how this one turns out. I really liked the original Bioshock, it was different than other FPS games out there. It had an original story, and lite RPG elements. Hopefully more will be revealed at E3 next month.
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