Bioshock 2: Impressions

I am a huge fan of the first Bioshock game. To prove this point, I must have played the game at least four times over in the attempt to unlock all the achievements. (I missed just two… damn!) When news of the second installment in the series reached me, I was understandably giddy and excited.

Big Sister

From what I’ve gathered so far, the mechanics, graphics, sound and all-around technology surrounding the sequel is not all that different from the first game. In fact if somebody unfamiliar with the franchise were to look at screens from the first game and second game, side by side, I would expect that he’d think they were from the same game. That said, Bioshock really is not your typical FPS. If advancements in speeds, gameplay, graphics and such really made a game like Call of Duty 4 that much better than other previous CODs, it’s the story and atmosphere that really makes Bioshock a cut above the rest.

Gimme That!

Jordan Thomas, the Creative Director of Bioshock 2, described the game’s genre best – narrative FPS. I personally would never have expected a great narrative to be covered in the skin of an FPS. I’d expect this from RPGs or adventure games. But I guess that’s one of the things that really makes Bioshock such an evolution in gaming. Great atmosphere and gameplay combined with amazing game mechanics. Other games would have settled to do either one, but the developers at 2K really upped the ante and polished both aspects almost to perfection.

While 2K has gone on record and said that the gameplay will remain pretty much the same with some new additions here and there, what we know little about is the story of the game. All that’s been revealed is that Bioshock 2 takes place ten years after the events of the first game and that the player takes on the role of the very first Big Daddy. This new perspective that the player takes, in itself, gives the story of the game so many possibilities. From where I stand, the story of Bioshock 2, while still connected to the first game, will be refreshingly different from the first game’s. Enough of these episodic stories that leave you hanging after every episode. I applaud 2K for taking the game into a completely different direction, story wise. They could so easily continued the story of Jack from the first game, but thankfully they didn’t.

As a narrative FPS, the story of Bioshock 2 is really the meat of the game. I’m so glad we know next to nothing about it. That’ll make playing the game, when it comes out fall of this year, so much more satisfying.