The second entry in a trilogy(?), BioShock 2 picks everything BioShock 1 did right and amplifies it. This time you play (as you may know) as a Big Daddy, which the first game didn't let you do.
This will be spoiler free - much like my review of the first game.
So let's get some stuff out of the way first. This Remaster port is quite unstable, it crashed a few times for me during random scenes (two times at the ending, mind you), and I have some friends who experienced no problems with it. Given that it's not the best remaster and definitely not the best port - I won't bug too much on that.
Now, some problems from the first game are still in - like noise pollution and the fact most of the lore is explained through radio tapes. While that is not bad per se, combined with all the noise surrounding you, it gets hard to grasp fully what's happening. However, as I said in the other review, it's something you can see later on the internet, so it's not a big problem.
The gunplay got a lot better, now letting you hit enemies with melee attacks regardless of weapon - and you also get a drill, isn't that awesome? Plus, you can use both PLASMIDS and GUNS. Now that's awesome. For a 2010 game? This feels spectacular.
Much like the first game, the ambience is top-notch - it's hard to compare to the first game but I would say it's slightly better. Sound, OSTs and visuals are all pretty good, and they improved on what they already had- so it's still unique.
You see some returning foes, and some new ones - like the infamous Big Sisters, your mortal enemy. But overall, not much changed from the first game in regards to combat - except for some QoL changes, like making all your passive plasmids just one big group.
... Unfortunately, changing between plasmids and guns can get pretty confusing on the computer, for they took out our precious weapon wheel from the first game. Good luck changing plasmids mid-fight.
Hacking was also changed for a much better alternative, and there's not a huge difficulty spike from early to the late game here like it happens in BS1.
And, bear with me on this, the story is much better than the first game. It still uses the foundation of what was shown - even mentioning the events of the first game - but it's on a totally different level here. Maybe someday I will elaborate on it, but my personal opinion is that there's much more gold inside BS2 than there is on the first game.
If you liked the first game, you will love this one. Maybe you will prefer the first one, maybe not. Just play it if you haven't already.
This will be spoiler free - much like my review of the first game.
So let's get some stuff out of the way first. This Remaster port is quite unstable, it crashed a few times for me during random scenes (two times at the ending, mind you), and I have some friends who experienced no problems with it. Given that it's not the best remaster and definitely not the best port - I won't bug too much on that.
Now, some problems from the first game are still in - like noise pollution and the fact most of the lore is explained through radio tapes. While that is not bad per se, combined with all the noise surrounding you, it gets hard to grasp fully what's happening. However, as I said in the other review, it's something you can see later on the internet, so it's not a big problem.
The gunplay got a lot better, now letting you hit enemies with melee attacks regardless of weapon - and you also get a drill, isn't that awesome? Plus, you can use both PLASMIDS and GUNS. Now that's awesome. For a 2010 game? This feels spectacular.
Much like the first game, the ambience is top-notch - it's hard to compare to the first game but I would say it's slightly better. Sound, OSTs and visuals are all pretty good, and they improved on what they already had- so it's still unique.
You see some returning foes, and some new ones - like the infamous Big Sisters, your mortal enemy. But overall, not much changed from the first game in regards to combat - except for some QoL changes, like making all your passive plasmids just one big group.
... Unfortunately, changing between plasmids and guns can get pretty confusing on the computer, for they took out our precious weapon wheel from the first game. Good luck changing plasmids mid-fight.
Hacking was also changed for a much better alternative, and there's not a huge difficulty spike from early to the late game here like it happens in BS1.
And, bear with me on this, the story is much better than the first game. It still uses the foundation of what was shown - even mentioning the events of the first game - but it's on a totally different level here. Maybe someday I will elaborate on it, but my personal opinion is that there's much more gold inside BS2 than there is on the first game.
If you liked the first game, you will love this one. Maybe you will prefer the first one, maybe not. Just play it if you haven't already.