[9.0]

Concept
Take one of the greatest games ever made and further the game play and story.

Graphics
Top notch environments, Unique art style, and amazing textures blended with great lighting effects come together to make Bioshock 2 sparkle.

Sound
The voice work is grade A. When exploring the environments the music is an errie score mixed with sounds off in the distance and when in combat the music is appropriate for the action.

Playability
Everything from gunplay to hacking is sharp as can be.

Entertainment
Another great story to  get sucked into, and playing as a big daddy guarentees some action.

The Good
Great story, Beautifully atomspheric environments, Sharp and improved combat, Plenty to explore.

The Bad
The multiplayer could be better, There is no back tracking to previous levels in the game, A lot of the game is the same as the first Bioshock.

The Summary
Rapture was a dangerous place in the original Bioshock. Now we are 10 years in the future and things have been going downhill since. One of the biggest changes this time around is that you are no longer an outsider struggling through an unknown world with little clue as to whats happening. This time around you are a Big Daddy and not just any big daddy, your the original big daddy. Your dilemma is that a sinister cult leader known as Lamb is now in control of rapture and has your little sister. You yourself will die if you cannot be reunited with her in a certain amount of time. Apart from the story that I’d rather not spoil for you their has been a number of improvements this time around. Combat is a prime example and thankfully this time around you can dual wield plasmids and guns at the same time. The old hacking system has been removed and replaced with a real-time system so you can hack on the fly but this also makes you vulnerable to splicers or even the machines your hacking. This time around your equipped with more moral choices to make then the first and they can come at a cost. In the original Bioshock gathering adam and your moral choices consisted of what you did with the little sisters. This time around the little sisters are a different story. You still must battle and defeat their big daddy before you can deal with them but this time around you have the choice to adopt then as your own. When you adopt a little sister, much like they do while walking around, you have the option to go around and harvest adam with them. Doing so involves defending your little sister and yourself from the hordes of enemies looking to score some adam. After you have finished with your gathering you have the options to deal with the little sister as you did in the first game. This time it won’t come without consequence. Very powerful new foes known as the Big Sisters are in charge of maintaining the new rapture run by Lamb and messing with the little sisters is guaranteed to get one of these sisters angry at you.

New with Bioshock 2 is multiplayer. While its not the next Halo or Call of Duty there is still some fun to be had playing it. Similar to Call of duty you earn reward such as gun, plasmids, and perks as you rank up through the ranking system. This also allows you to create classes known as load-outs. At the beginning of the match your prompted to choose your load-outs and then your off to playing multiplayer types that you’ve come to expect with multiplayer games such as deathmatches and capture the flag.

All in all this time around Bioshock 2 has lost some the magic that made the original so memorable. Most of the game is noticeably familiar to veterans of the original but that doesn’t exclude it from being a great game. Numerous additions to the game, mostly good, have made Bioshock 2 yet another great game and a must play for fans of the original Bioshock.