Bioshock 2 Playthrough

Channel:

proa007

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Published on March 21, 2022 11:00:26 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XudC4EiaxRE

Game:

BioShock 2 (2010)

Duration: 3:58:16

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2010, PS3, X360. Rating: 3 out of 4 stars

A sequel was perhaps inevitable given the success of the original Bioshock. And not just for its gameplay and visuals, which were first-rate, but for its ability to combine ideas and philosophical thought while the game is, of course, shooting everything or using plasmids. Given the formula, it made sense to go a little farther and examine other strands of the dystopian environment of Rapture and what happened before and after the first game.

If the first game was largely focused on the idea of objectivism and individualism run amok, the second game goes in the opposite direction with the concept of collectivism and utilitarianism. Instead of industrialist Andrew Ryan, we get psychologist Sofia Lamb and the “Family of Rapture.” Given how the first game went, it was inevitable the second game would follow a very different strand. If Andrew Ryan is a brilliant man gone insane with the death of his dream, Sofia Lamb is more about desperately clinging to control to what she has.

There’s a lot of interesting undercurrents here, particularly with her daughter, Eleanor, being the emotional lynchpin to the story and the protagonist, Delta, a proto-Big Daddy, but it feels very undercooked and underplayed. While the silent protagonist is a problem for first-person shooters in general, it really becomes a problem here. Whatever emotional stakes that could have been used here can’t be exploited because of the genre’s nature. Another narrative mistake occurs when a key character from the original is jettisoned from the narrative less than an hour into the proceedings, robbing the game of an emotional energy it might have otherwise had.

It's a shame because the rest of the game works quite well. The visuals and art direction remain first-rate. It does feel like some scenes and setpieces are recycled, but everything has a dirtier and nastier look than in the original, which makes sense given this game takes place eight years after the original. The action still works quite well, though there doesn’t seem to be as much use for plasmids in the sequel. The hacking is less onerous and irritating this time around and doesn’t grind the game to a halt like the first game. The characters Delta encounter are a little more well-rounded and feel less like insane caricatures. This makes the decisions regarding their fate a little stronger than they might be otherwise.

Bioshock 2 isn’t on par with the original in terms of pacing and doesn’t do enough to make itself stand out from the original. It’s not quite a copy-paste job, but there are moments when one wonders. Even with the similar feel, its gameplay and art direction remain first-rate and there is enough depth here to make it more than worthwhile. It does feel like they really could have made a much stronger statement, though. If nothing else, the concept of the protagonist saving a woman and changing destiny started in this game would carry over into a much better sequel.

0:00 Prologue
3:19 Ten Years Later
12:18 The Atlantic Express
29:46 Ryan Amusements
57:08 Pauper's Drop
1:31:04 Siren Alley
2:02:13 Dionysus Park
2:20:04 Fontaine Futuristics
2:43:40 Plasmid Lab
3:06:18 Persephone
3:12:11 Turning Eleanor Into Big Sister
3:20:27 Inner Persephone

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