After nearly not finishing the first Bioshock, is the second one any better?  Is the dreaded DRM (digital rights management) nastier than the first?  Join me in this review to find out what I thought about the game, Bioshock 2!

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            Bioshock 2 takes place once again in the ruined city of Rapture, only this time you are not playing an unnamed protagonist as you were in the first one.  In this one, you play (surprise surprise) a Big Daddy.  Unlike the previous storyline, this one is straight out makes more sense.  The game takes place ten years later, you as a Big Daddy awaken somewhere in Rapture.  You find out that your little sister (or daughter in this case) is missing and it’s up to you to find her.

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            Do not let the straight storyline fool you, the game fills you in on other great details about the history of Rapture and what events took place in the previous game.  You’ll find displays and tape recordings to interact with giving you more insight about what’s going on.  Bioshock 2 remains strong in this element and doesn’t falter one bit.  I felt at every moment I was playing a game similar to F.E.A.R.

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            Just like in the first title, the same elements are in this one.  You still collect plasmids (and there are MANY of them) and a few of them are new abilities and upgrades that your Big Daddy can incorporate.  There’s not much changed in the way of obtaining new abilities, although the control takes a bit of time to get use to as they swapped the way you attack.  If you played (or was able to play) Bioshock to it fullest end without any “issues”, you might experience this problem.  Eventually, the learning curve will kick in and you’ll get right into the action.  Everything is pretty much the same, the noticeable differences I saw was a new map system and the hacking system (which is used to obtained new items and discounts) was changed.  The hacking mini-game has been more simplified (just stop the needle in the right spot) which is unlike the first one, were you played connect the pipes game.  It’s less innovative but self explanatory.  Additionally, hacking machines successfully will grant you extra bonuses depending how you hack the machine.  This can lead to additional ammo to extra health packs.

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            You are not the only Big Daddy that is roaming Rapture.  Just like in the first Bioshock, there is Big Daddy’s roaming around trying to protect their little sisters (who look a bit older in this game).  Just like last time you have to rescue or harvest the little sisters after you defeat a big daddy.  Big daddies are still very formidable opponents so be prepared before you take one on.  In Bioshock 2, you can adopt a little sister.  When you adopt a little sister, you can lead her to more dead bodies that have ADAM in it which gives you more ADAM if you harvest or rescue her.  Getting more ADAM isn’t always easy, as you must defend the little sister as she collects ADAM.  When she begins collecting, it attracts waves of enemies and sometimes it’s not easy.

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            You also have one new type of opponent to deal with, and these are called Big Sisters.  Unlike big daddies, the game will warn you when a big sister is on her way to fight you.  They fight you to the death and they are one of the hardest enemies in the game.  At some points, it took me nearly all my resources to take just one big sister out. When the game says, “A big sister is coming for you, get ready!” be on your toes!  Big Sisters can attack randomly at anytime although they are known to only attack you after you rescue or harvest a little sister.

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            With all these new features to Bioshock 2, what about DRM?  Is it as bad?  Unlike the first Bioshock, the only DRM issue I had to deal with was I had to create a Games for Windows Live account.  This account allows you to record your stats and achievements to be posted on the web.  You HAVE to make an account, if you don’t, you won’t be able to save or load your game.  This isn’t a hassle and it’s easy to create an account. If you don’t want your achievements posted, you can create a local account and the game will let you play on from there.  I looked into the achievements a bit, it’s nothing compared to the 360 version of the game.  If you want achievements and strut your stuff, I suggest you get the 360 version of the game.  For myself, I enjoy the single storyline game play of a first person shooter rather than its multiplayer.  However, other than that, I only had three hang ups and that was when I tried to save my game.  The game would just crash.  I did not experience any slow downs, glitches, bugs, or hiccups through out the entire game.  At the time of writing this review (4/8/10), there was no forced update to get unlike the first Bioshock.  Needless to say, Bioshock 2 is VERY stable and I was able to complete from start to finish without the passing of any unwanted gas.

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Graphics: 1.000/1.000:  The game got a great touch up and the water effects are done great.  Enemies look smoother than before and the ‘ruined’ effect of what has happened to the world of Rapture is greatly detailed.

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Sound: 1.000/1.000:  Pretty much the same as it was in the original Bioshock.  You have that same 1960’s feel and everything animated (from music to enemies) has been touched up.  Excellent voices over acting just like the first one, it made me want to finish it all the way through.

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Control: .800/1.000:  The control is a tad rougher than the previous game but not by much.  It took sometime to get use to the reversed controls (plasmids and regular attack). Map system is a tad complicated.  The new hacking system is more simplified.

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Storyline 1.000/1.000:  The storyline makes more sense in this sequel and very straight forward.  Don’t let the simplified storyline fool you though as being something “simple”, it’s not.  You’ll see many cut scenes and there are many recordings to discover through out exploring the ruined Rapture.

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Gameplay:  1.000/1.000:  I had no issues this time around playing Bioshock 2.  Bioshock deserved a 1.000 in this scoring section, but it didn’t, due to terrible DRM that plagued the game, hurting it in so many ways.  Other than your usual hang-ups that can occasionally happen in any video game, I enjoyed this game from start to finish.

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