Plunge yourself into the depths for a second dose of Rapture
The first Bioshock game was always going to be a tough act to follow. A critical and commercial hit, the BAFTA award-winning 2007 original blended an unusually literate science-fiction plot (which referenced, among other things, the work of Russian philosopher Ayn Rand) with a refreshingly intelligent take on first-person shooter and survival horror gameplay styles. Not only that, but the whole thing was topped off by some highly distinctive Art Deco visuals and a mournfully atmospheric sound design.
Thankfully, Bioshock 2 manages to avoid the fate of many other sequels, exceeding expectation to match or improve upon its predecessor in almost every way.
Once again, the action takes place in Rapture, a vast city built beneath the sea by Andrew Ryan, an idealistic philanthropist with a vision for an underwater Utopia, free from the tyrannies of religion, politics and censorship. At some point before the events of either game, however, a combination of cabin fever and genetic drug abuse appears to have sent Rapture's population into meltdown. By the time you begin playing, most inhabitants have devolved into narcotic-crazed mutant loons known as Splicers and Rapture itself lies in ruins. Only a few unaffected survivors are left skulking around the city's leaky, barnacle-encrusted corridors. Some of Rapture’s citizens will attempt to help you but the majority are out to stop you at all costs.
Bioshock 2 is set 10 years after the first instalment and this time around you play a prototype Big Daddy, which were one of the most fearsome foes in the previous game. While you don't necessarily need to have played the first game to enjoy Bioshock 2, it helps to appreciate some aspects of the story if you’ve already had experience of being on the other side.
Bioshock 2 is as a shooter that allows you to wield two weapons at a time, a series of traditional projectile weapons (rifles, shotguns and so on) in your right hand, and a range of ingenious genetically-enhanced powers (called plasmids) in the left. You can freeze an enemy into a block of ice with a zap from your left hand before shattering them into a hundred pieces with a grenade from a launcher in your right. As a Big Daddy you also get to fend off aggressors with your deadly drill attack, should they get too close.
