This review contains spoilers
While Burial at Sea Episode 2 is a step up from the first part, I still find it to be just kind of mediocre.
I'll start with the positives. The change in gameplay is a nice change of pace from the repetitiveness of the first game, as stealth is the key to defeating your enemies instead of the same old "spray-and-prey" of the original game and Episode 1. The game also had a nice length, setting up for a nice ~3 hour gaming session on a late night. I felt Episode 1 was way too short so getting a little more out of this one was nice. Finally, I actually enjoyed how this one ended things off, unlike the original game. I felt as if it added a nice bow to the series, I thought it was well done.
On the other hand, I do have some notable flaws to point out. Firstly, while I appreciated the gameplay change, I didn't necessarily enjoy it. In all fairness, that in many ways comes down to my preferences, but I just felt it was too slow at times since Elizabeth is such a weak character. Next, I'll point out that while I did enjoy the ending, the rest of the story really fell flat for me. It continued the convoluted mess of a story from the end of the main game and Episode 1 for the majority of this game's runtime. Sometimes, I just like a nice and simple story, not a messy one. I felt like this was a messy one.
As a whole, I suppose I'd recommend it to Bioshock fans, but even then people who enjoyed the original might find this a bit insulting. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone else. Shoutout to Andrew Ryan though, loved seeing him in this since he is the series' best villain.
I'll start with the positives. The change in gameplay is a nice change of pace from the repetitiveness of the first game, as stealth is the key to defeating your enemies instead of the same old "spray-and-prey" of the original game and Episode 1. The game also had a nice length, setting up for a nice ~3 hour gaming session on a late night. I felt Episode 1 was way too short so getting a little more out of this one was nice. Finally, I actually enjoyed how this one ended things off, unlike the original game. I felt as if it added a nice bow to the series, I thought it was well done.
On the other hand, I do have some notable flaws to point out. Firstly, while I appreciated the gameplay change, I didn't necessarily enjoy it. In all fairness, that in many ways comes down to my preferences, but I just felt it was too slow at times since Elizabeth is such a weak character. Next, I'll point out that while I did enjoy the ending, the rest of the story really fell flat for me. It continued the convoluted mess of a story from the end of the main game and Episode 1 for the majority of this game's runtime. Sometimes, I just like a nice and simple story, not a messy one. I felt like this was a messy one.
As a whole, I suppose I'd recommend it to Bioshock fans, but even then people who enjoyed the original might find this a bit insulting. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone else. Shoutout to Andrew Ryan though, loved seeing him in this since he is the series' best villain.