Leveling Down

BioShock 2’s campaign plays like the original, but is it as good as the first?

I beat BioShock 2 about a week ago, so this review is a litle bit overdue. Of course, if you’ve been following my gaming exploits as of late, you’ll know that I’ve been currently enamored with acquiring a PS3 and have already traded in my copy of BioShock 2 to help fund its purchase. Perhaps me getting rid of the game might be a strong indication of it not being a good game, but that’s not quite true. At the right price, I think anyone is willing to sell anything. If I were offered $25 for it, I would have kept the game, but read on for why I felt BioShock 2 deserved to be sold for $40.
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BioShock 2’s multiplayer is about to take a turn for the worst.

Earlier this week, Take-Two announced that the first of several DLC packs for BioShock 2 would be released starting in March. I’ve been digging BioShock 2’s campaign so far, even if it does feel a bit unnecessary, but multiplayer is still up in the air for me. If you’ve read my initial impressions on the game, you’ll remember that I thought the multiplayer was playable as it’s set up just like Modern Warfare’s rank progression and unlock system, but it still doesn’t compare with Modern Warfare 2. Take-Two’s recent announcement of DLC has sort of infuriated me in a way, on two counts. Read on to to see what gets me to proclaim that this series has sold out.

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In BioShock 2, you get to play the role of a Big Daddy

I finally got to spend several hours with BioShock 2 these last few days, so I’m ready to share my impressions. If you’ve been following Leveling Down for a while, you’re probably aware that my Game of the Year in 2007 was BioShock. That was a crazy good year in gaming, so for it to beat out Halo 3, The Orange Box, Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4 for me that meant it was ridiculously good. The sequel has been handed off to 4 different developers, and there’s even multiplayer now which has learned a thing or two from Modern Warfare. Does the sequel look to carry the quality of the first or even surpass it? Read on for my impressions of BioShock 2 after playing through about a quarter of the campaign and an hour of the multiplayer.
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If you can tell, the little black box on the right side of this shot is my mailbox. The snow was practically up to that level.

For many of you around the country (and world!), this was a normal work-week, but if you were in the DC metro area like I was, you had a blizzard that had you stuck at home for practically this entire week. The blizzard got things off to a bad start for me by knocking electricity out early on last weekend, but it was restored by Sunday and I can’t imagine if I were stuck at home with no power for the rest of the week. Otherwise, it was pretty much a nice extended little 6-day weekend. I’m not going to complain about being home for so many days (I”m grumbling that I actually have to go into work today since it took me 4 nearly hours to get in), but I will mention one problem that this blizzard has caused: I still cannot get my hands on BioShock 2. Instead, I’ve settled for playing Brutal Legend. Read on for my “BioShock 2″ wait and initial thoughts of Brutal Legend.

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Please Valve, do not release Left 4 Dead 3 in 2010!

With cmfl3x and me going on a blogging holiday break starting tomorrow, this entry will be our last post for 2009! Similar to cmfl3x, I also several holiday wishes for 2010 but I’ve narrowed it down to three possible wishes that would make me a happy gamer next year and they all relate to sequels: BioShock 2, Starcraft 2, and Left 4 Dead 3 (well, Left 4 Dead 2, to be more exact).
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The first trailer for Bioshock 2’s multiplayer was released last week, and “Wha?” was the first thing I could mutter after I saw it. Suffice to say, I’m actually not digging it. While the trailer does seem to highlight that the general gameplay mechanics of the original game are included accurately (photo taking, turrets, plasmids, a Big Daddy), it’s far too frenetic with everyone running all over the place and killing each other.

What makes Bioshock such a great game in the first place is the slow pace you could take to explore the game, and then forced to react when you come upon the crazed splicers. Do I want to actually play as a splicer though? Not in particular. I’m afraid Bioshock 2’s multiplayer is just going to consist of people all running around like crazy and shooting each other with no real gameplay depth. What are we, 12 years old? This was the case with Grand Theft Auto 4’s adversarial multiplayer – an addon that was not only unnecessary, but not well implemented either.

Will Bioshock 2’s multiplayer follow in Grand Theft Auto 4’s footsteps? I hope not, but isn’t a trailer supposed to want to make you want to play the game more and not less? Bioshock’s strengths lie in its storytelling and exploration – not its combat engine. Grand Theft Auto 4’s strengths lies in its open-world quests and characters – again not in its combat engine. Yet for some reason or another, someone thinks that these types of games need adversarial multiplayer. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, and BioShock 2 multiplayer ends up with some innovative adversarial modes or features like in Call of Duty 4 or Shadowrun. I just hope BioShock 2’s single player is still good, as that is all that really matters.

A few months ago, the 2009 fall/holiday lineup looked something like this: Splinter Cell: Conviction, BioShock 2, Guitar Hero 5, Halo 3: ODST, Forza 3, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2, Ghost Recon 4, Heavy Rain, Brutal Legend, Red Steel 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Bayonetta, Dark Void, etc. etc. etc. On top of all that, optimistic gamers were hopeful that Starcraft 2’s first installment would hit before Christmas as well. Alas, it was not meant to be. In what can only be described as an epidemic, title after title has been delayed until 2010 and beyond.

Whether it’s the economy, publishers wanting to avoid the glut of games at the holidays, or both, for some reason everyone has been pushing back their release dates. Frankly, that’s just fine with me. Last year’s holiday was a complete overload and overkill, there were so many amazing games out that I had to push some games like Mirror’s Edge back four months. Other games, like Dead Space, I never ended up getting around to finish. I was worried that I’d have to pick and choose a lot again this fall, but luckily a lot of those decisions have been made for me. Now I can concentrate on 2 or 3 games (or just Modern Warfare 2) without feeling like I’m missing out.

So, for the record:

Games I’m definitely getting: Halo 3: ODST, Modern Warfare 2, Beatles Rock Band (no more plastic tho), Tales of Monkey Island (when the complete season is done), Uncharted 2 (woops, I don’t have a PS3 but I’d get it if I did)

Games I want but aren’t must have: Left 4 Dead 2, Guitar Hero 5, Brutal Legend

Games I’m interested in: Borderlands, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Mario and Luigi DS

Games I’m sad to see get pushed back: Starcraft 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Heavy Rain (again, PS3 only), Bioshock 2

Hopefully, all the games that got pushed back will be better off for it. Ultimately, I think these delays are probably good for games, more spread out releases means less gems getting lost in the shuffle. I’ll just have to learn some patience in the mean time.

P.S. – If you’re interested, 1up has compiled a list of the notable delays. Also if I’ve forgotten anything please point it out!