The other purchasing factor decision has to do with the fact that I bought the first Bioshock game not so long ago and was blown away by what an amazing game the first instalment is.
I can say unequivocally that the Bioshock series has some of the best narrative I have come across in a video game and that is saying a lot. I recommend these titles based on that fact alone. The story is fantastical, but topical, and you will get involved with the characters and their stories.
I don't want to put in any spoilers, so the basic premise of the story revolves around a huge city under the ocean called Rapture in the 1950's. Rapture is the creation of Andrew Ryan, a meglomaniac industrialist who wants a society where art, industry, and science belong to the person, and as one of the great opening lines in the first Bioshock goes, "Am I not entitled to the sweat off my brow?", Rapture is supposed to be an ideal utopia, though greed, control, abuse of eugenics, and cruelty usurp the utopia and plunge Rapture into civil chaos and crime.
In the first Bioshock, you are a survivor of a plane crash over the ocean and come upon the entrance to Rapture. Again, no spoilers! Play the first instalment as there is a nice kicker at the end!
Bioshock 2 takes place 10 years after the first Bioshock. In the second Bioshock you play as a Big Daddy, the guardians of the Little Sisters that go around Rapture finding Adam in corpses. Yes, creepy I know! And that alone should intrigue you into getting into the story of both games.
So what you say? What about graphics and sound? Comparatively, Bioshock 1 and 2 are pretty much identical graphically. The first Bioshock has great detail in everything from the weapons to the surrounding environments and that is maintained in the sequel.
Sound wise, you get some cool effects of gunfire, plasmids that defy physics and biology, and a musical score that kicks in at the right times to heighten the mood.
The weapon system is virtually identical in terms of being able to upgrade weapons as the game progresses in both instalments. What has changed is that you can't invent ammo and items, which was a neat feature in the first instalment, though not direly necessary, and the ability to hack cameras and turrets is made easier in the sequel via a tool that allows you to fire a hacking 'dart' and hack from a distance.
There are familiar enemies via the splicers of different varieties of crazy looking, with an addition of a 'Hulk' like splicer and the scary Big Sisters which sound like a cross between the Ring Wraiths in LOTR and the Raptors in Jurassic Park.
Play control is smooth and responsive in both instalments and depending on whether you decide to save or harvest the little sisters in both instalments, you will get a varied ending after completing the game which adds a little more to the replay value.
Is there a Bioshock 3 in the works? Well, based on the ending to Bioshock 2 I would say that another instalment is possible. We can only hope that the developers at 2K put "the sweat off their brows" into another instalment with the fervour for which they put in the first two instalments!
GRAPHICS: 4.5 out of 5
(Only a hair lower because there wasn't anything vastly improved graphically as compared to the first Bioshock)
SOUND: 5 out of 5
CONTROL: 5 out of 5
I love the first BioShock and I'm so-so on the second one. Still, even watered down BioShock still rules...
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