The underwater dystopia of Rapture is a place very familiar to players of the 2007 hit, Bioshock. Finding yourself stranded in this crumbing undersea world was an experience unlike anything else and the mix of action mixed with great storytelling made Bioshock a hit despite numerous small flaws. The good news is that for Bioshock 2 almost all of the wrinkles have been ironed out but the bad news is that Rapture is starting to feel way too familiar

Bioshock 2 picks up nearly ten years after the events of the last game and places you in the clunking shoes of a "Big Daddy". Don't think you'll be as tough as the hulking behemoths you are familiar with, "Subject Delta" is actually a forerunner of them and as such isn't nearly as formidable. You …show more content…
No more fumbling around during combat to get effective combos going. This is a good thing as the game feels much more action oriented than the first. You'll still stumble across diaries that are scattered about willy nilly and reveals more about the characters motivations but use a little sister to harvest Adam for you and watch as all hell breaks loose. That's right you can now kill a rival Big Daddy and besides saving or harvesting their little sisters, adopt them and put them to work for yourself. This is especially handy as with the increased amount of plasmids and tonic slots you'll want as much Adam as you can find to buy all the upgrades. Of course choosing the easy option of just harvesting the little sisters directly will have consequences so think carefully before you …show more content…
I wish I could say the same about the mandatory Games For Windows Live feature which you have to install if you want' to save your game even if you have no interest in Microsoft and their plans for world domination. All went well until my offline profile mysteriously disappeared rending my savegames useless and forcing me to start over. I blame Microsoft for this nonsense and not the game. The games graphics are good but clearly held back by its console roots which unfortunately is a common occurrence.

Bioshock 2 is proof of the importance of a good story as even with all the improvements and enhancements to the gameplay it doesn't have quite the same impact as the first title. It's still a brilliant albeit somewhat short experience that's essential to all Bioshock fans. The difficulty has been ramped up, the action more intense and the setting more twisted but its a pity that all the best parts have been squashed into the last few hours of the game. Bioshock 3 is really going to have to be pretty spectacular to keep the franchise from sliding into mediocrity. A great game but not as great as the