BioShock 2
BioShock 2 is the sequel to the first-person shooter video game, BioShock. It was announced on March 11 2008 and is scheduled to be released on February 9 2010. The game is developed by 2K Marin, Digital Extremes for the multiplayer mode and Arkane Sutiod for art design assistance. It is published by 2K Games for the PlayStation 3 game console and runs on an Unreal Engine 2.5 (modified) engine. BioShock 2 falls under the genre of shooter and survival horror, in which players take the role of the first Big Daddy, a prototype for the Big Daddies seen in the prequel. Compared to the other Big Daddies, the main character possesses superior speed and intelligence as well as free will. Weapons that are available to players include Big Daddy’s drill and rive gun, although the drill tends to get overheated if used continuously. Similar to the original game, the rivet gun will have several types of ammo. Not only that, players can also opt to use other plasmids which serve as alternatives to other Big Daddies, while ‘upgrade trees’ will provide unique ways to upgrade them. In contrast to the original game, players also have the ability to dual-wield plasmids and weapons at the same time. However, further Big Daddy abilities as found in the prequel will also be made available, such as performing a shoulder dash. The player’s mission as a “rogue” Big Daddy is to capture the Little Sisters from other Big Daddies who roam Rapture. Not only that, due to the diving suit that the Big Daddy wears, players will also be able to step outside the city Rapture into the ocean where players can explore the ocean floor, recover from fights, marvel at the city from the outside and pick up special items.
Reviews
As compared to the original BioShock single-player game, BioShock 2 will also be used as a venue for showcasing its multiplayer element, since the first game did not have any kind of multiplayer. The story of the main takes place years after the events of the prequel, with the multiplayer component taking place as more of a prequel, in which the conflict that the free-for-all and team free-for-all mode take place is set right around the time of Rapture’s fall, just as the populace of the underwater city was starting to bow down to splicing-induced psychosis. In the multiplayer suite, players take the role as a human, instead of a Big Daddy like in the single-player mode, employed by Sinclair Solutions, a company investigating the side effects of splicing. This mode contains more narrative background and requires the humans to gather information by getting the Big Daddies to engage in combat. Players will also have a nice apartment in Rapture’s underbelly which serves as a fancy multiplayer lobby in which players are free to roam around, check out the view to the water below, wander over to the bookshelves, into the bathroom, listen to changing recordings from Sinclair and browse match menus. Not only that, players will also be allowed to customize their load out which changes as the game progresses through out the multiplayer game. New plasmids, weapons and upgrades can be unlocked and loaded into custom presets for use in battle by participating in matches, getting kills and performing specific actions that will rank up your character. As the plot of the game is set before things go haywire in Rapture, the overall art style tends to reflect a world that is still good in shape, with vending machines scattered around although they cannot be used to purchase things. However, items will just be sitting in the tray at the bottom ready to be picked up.
“The action in the multiplayer mode looks pretty hectic, and when the Big Daddy shows up, it just gets crazy. But what really strikes us most about BioShock 2’s multiplayer mode, at this point, is just how much effort Digital Extremes and 2K have put into making it an interesting part of the BioShock universe, and the fact that it’s just not a multiplayer version of the single-player game. There’s an entire narrative designed around the multiplayer, explaining why all of these people are fighting and how you have access to weapons and plasmids. It makes us interested to see other facets of the multiplayer, including the other modes, Survival of the Fittest and a team-based match called Civil War. BioShock 2 is scheduled for release in November, but check back for more coverage on the game in the near future.” (GameSpot, 2009)
