2K Games really created something special with Bioshock 1 winning bag loads of game of the year awards. So they really had their work cut out for them when it came to make that “difficult second album”. And while the game is very very good it does suffer from the success of its predecessor. 

The changes from Bioshock 1. First up is the main character Jack from the first game is gone. This time you take on the role of the Big Daddy but not just any big daddy the original big daddy. 10 years have passed since the ending of the first game. Andrew Ryan is gone but he is still heard from through audio tapes bellowing out his speeches making an uncanny resemblance to O’Brien from George Orwell’s 1984.

Sofia Lamb is now in charge she has changed the thinking from Ryan’s individualistic ideals to a more family orientated collective consciousness.

What’s still in from the first game? The main character Rapture the underwater utopia is back it is still laying in ruins over run by the crazed splicers. The Plasmids, the Weapons, the bots, the hacking, the puzzles etc. In fact it is very similar to the first game. Setting the game back in Rapture (where else would it go) does pose a problem in that the location is no longer the amazing surprise it once was. You do visit new locations and you do go outside the city onto the sea bed but none of it has that wow factor.  


The story so, 10 years have passed Sofia Lamb is now in charge and has managed to collect the splicers and a few others into a collective called the family. They are still wild but now it seems that they have a common direction. As you are a Big Daddy you are linked to the little sisters. One in particular who you are attached to she leaves you presents and messages to help you find her. Along the way you can adopt other little sisters once you have dispatched the other Big Daddy of course. The difference this time is when you find a harvestable corpse you leave the little sister do her extraction. This causes floods of splicers to come running trying to kill her and collect the precious ADAM. It’s your job to protect her and fend off the splicers. Of course you are still faced with the ethical questions of harvest of set free. Each with their own rewards. But seeing as you are viewed as a cold hearted killing machine making the right choice will effect those around you greatly.

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The game looks amazing and has a nice mix of enemies and weapons this time include the drill the Rivet gun a machine gun a shot gun and of course the plasmids are back. Pretty much everything you loved about the first game is back plus some tweaks and that’s where some of the problems stem from. It lacks the wow factor the first one had and it takes a few hours to shake that off and get into the new story. The addition of going outside of Rapture was mooted as a good addition but in fact it offers nothing more than a slow walk around collecting a few items and going back inside.

Overall a very enjoyable game you won’t be disappointed but you may be a little under whelmed by it now. At times this is more like Bioshock 1.5 rather than 2. The lack of any follow on from what happened to Jack from the first game also left me a little disappointed too. I struggled with this review as the game if it was a stand alone game would be brilliant but because of their own good work in the first game this suffers a little. Still well worth the money and a welcome change from the normal shooter.


SCORE 89%