BioShock 2
BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010; Feral Interactive released an OS X version on March 30, 2012. The game takes place in the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, eight years after the events of BioShock. In the single-player campaign, players control the armored protagonist Subject Delta as he fights through Splicers—the psychotic human population of the city—using weapons and an array of genetic modifications. The game includes a story-driven multiplayer mode that takes place before the events of BioShock, during Rapture's civil war.
After the success of BioShock, 2K Games formed a new studio, 2K Marin, to create the sequel. 2K Australia, Arkane Studios, and Digital Extremes provided additional support. The developers focused on improving gameplay elements from the first game, and return to the Rapture setting to explore a new perspective of the city. The story received major changes throughout development. Garry Schyman, who composed BioShocks soundtrack, returned for the sequel; he expanded the game's sonic palette to include more blues and religious music to parallel its themes.
BioShock 2 received positive reviews, with praise directed at its narrative, themes, art style, characters, endings and gameplay. Criticisms included a slow start and failure to distinguish itself from its predecessor. Retrospective reviews have been more positive, with some considering it the best in the series. The multiplayer mode was supported with downloadable content, and a single-player campaign expansion, Minerva's Den, released in August 2010. The game sold more than 3 million copies, but did not meet the publisher's sales expectations. A remastered version titled BioShock 2 Remastered was released as part of BioShock: The Collection for PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Synopsis
Setting
BioShock 2 takes place in the city of Rapture, an underwater metropolis hidden from the world. Rapture was founded in the 1940s by billionaire Andrew Ryan to establish a city free from religious influences and government regulation. The city's citizens began "splicing"—genetically modifying themselves using ADAM, a substance derived from sea slugs. ADAM was used to create "plasmids" that enable superpowers, such as the ability to create lightning or control fire. Class conflict and civil war were exacerbated by the side effects of ADAM abuse. Modified and conditioned children, called "Little Sisters", collected scarce ADAM from corpses and recycled it under the protection of armed and armored "Big Daddies". Rapture descended into civil war and became a crumbling dystopia populated by Splicers, the spliced remains of the citizenry. In the aftermath of Ryan's death during the first BioShock, the dissident collectivist Sofia Lamb and her followers, known as "the Rapture Family", assume control of the city.Plot
BioShock 2 begins on New Year's Eve, 1958. Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, patrols Rapture with his Little Sister Eleanor. Sofia Lamb, Eleanor's mother, separates the pair and forces Delta to kill himself. Delta awakens in 1968, resurrected by a Little Sister under Eleanor's direction. Delta is informed by Brigid Tenenbaum, the custodian of the rehabilitated Little Sisters, that because he has a physiological bond with Eleanor, he will die unless he finds her. Helped by Tenenbaum's ally Augustus Sinclair, Delta makes his way to Eleanor, who is trapped in Sofia Lamb's stronghold. Lamb plans to use ADAM to transfer the minds and memories of all of Rapture's inhabitants into Eleanor, to create a selfless leader. Traveling through the city, Delta encounters members of Lamb's Rapture Family and can choose whether to kill or spare them.Delta arrives at the containment chamber where Eleanor is held, but Lamb captures him and severs his bond to Eleanor by temporarily stopping Eleanor's heart. Delta begins to weaken as the bond cannot be re-established. Eleanor transforms herself into a Big Sister to free Delta. Together they head for an escape pod Sinclair prepared to escape the city. They find that Lamb has converted Sinclair into a Big Daddy and are forced to kill him. Eleanor and Delta make it to the escape pod, but Delta is mortally wounded by a trap set by Lamb.
The ending is influenced by how the player interacted with Little Sisters and the fates of the Rapture Family's members. Eleanor can either save her mother or leave her to drown. Delta succumbs to his wounds; Eleanor either absorbs his ADAM, personality and memories and leaves Rapture with the Little Sisters to better the world at large, or forcibly extracts Delta's ADAM and becomes bent on world domination.
Gameplay
BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter. The player assumes the character of silent protagonist Subject Delta eight years after the events of BioShock. The player explores Rapture and fights off Splicers using weapons, environmental hazards, and plasmids. Plasmids grant powers such as telekinesis and must be recharged with "EVE" before further use. The player can equip tonics—passive bonuses varying from increased speed to reduced EVE usage. Several weapons in BioShock 2 are unique to the Big Daddy, including a powerful drill and a rivet gun. The player can use each weapon in a close-range melee attack, and may simultaneously equip a weapon and a plasmid. If the player is killed, they are revived via a Vita-Chamber.Players scavenge ammunition and supplies as they explore Rapture, and may purchase items at vending machines scattered throughout the city. Weapons can be loaded with various types of ammunition for greater effectiveness against certain types of foes. They can be upgraded at certain machines; three cumulative upgrades enable a special weapon effect—for example, the modified rivet gun shoots super-heated projectiles that ignite enemies.
Some game mechanics were streamlined from BioShock, such as hacking into security systems and turrets. This is represented by a lengthy Pipe Mania–style minigame in BioShock, but a shorter timing puzzle in BioShock 2. The player stops a needle on a colored gauge; stopping on the gauge's green area completes the hack, and hitting small blue areas gives a bonus. If the needle lands on the white or red portions, the hack fails and damages the player or triggers an alarm. The research camera mechanic was altered, recording video instead of stills. Using it while damaging enemies in creative ways gives players bonuses or new abilities.
ADAM is used to upgrade the player's plasmids and tonics. Upgraded plasmids bestow additional abilities for more tactical usage; for example, an upgraded Electro Bolt plasmid inflicts chains of electric damage between enemies, rather than affecting only a single target. As a Big Daddy, the player can defeat other Big Daddies and either adopt their Little Sisters—having them gather ADAM for the player—or harvest the Sisters for their ADAM outright. After adopting a Little Sister, the player escorts her to corpses littered around Rapture and must protect her while she harvests more ADAM. Once the Little Sister has collected enough ADAM, the player can choose to either harvest or save her. Harvesting or saving Little Sisters will provoke attacks from Big Sisters. ADAM can also be collected from slugs when venturing into the open ocean surrounding Rapture.
Multiplayer
BioShock 2 features a story-driven multiplayer mode called Fall of Rapture, in which the player plays one of Rapture's citizens during the 1959–1960 civil war. Plasmid manufacturer Sinclair Solutions asks the citizen to test out their weapons and plasmids as part of a rewards program. The mode shares many of BioShock weapons and plasmids, alongside new ones such as a chain gun and the Aero Dash plasmid. Players customize their character and equipped weapons and plasmids from their apartment, which serves as an optional visual representation of the game's menus.Multiplayer features seven different game modes. These include the deathmatch modes "Survival of the Fittest" and "Civil War"; "Capture the Sister", a capture the flag mode in which the objective to capture or defend is a Little Sister; and "Turf War", in which teams compete to control specific areas of a map. Maps are based on locations from BioShock. As the player progresses, new weapons, tonics, and plasmids are unlocked, and story-related audio diaries become available in the player's apartment.
Development
2K Boston and Irrational Games's BioShock was released to critical acclaim and strong sales. Publisher 2K executive Christoph Hartmann envisioned BioShock as the first entry in a franchise, and the publisher approached 2K Boston about whether they wanted to produce a BioShock sequel in the fall of 2007. Levine and 2K Boston decided to pass on the project. Instead, several ex-BioShock developers formed a new studio based in Novato, California in late 2007, called 2K Marin. 2K Marin began work on BioShock 2 with a core team of eight in November 2007, with 78 additional personnel at the peak of development. The developers were given three mandates: that the game would ship for PlayStation 3, that it would feature a multiplayer mode, and that it would be delivered within two and a half years. It was developed in five countries across five time zones. 2K Marin was assisted by 2K Australia, 2K China, Arkane Studios, and Digital Extremes, who was responsible for the multiplayer component.Jordan Thomas was in BioShocks "design pit" at 2K Boston and made its "Fort Frolic" level. He worked alongside Alyssa Finley, who became executive producer at 2K Marin and subsequently hired him as BioShock 2s creative director. Thomas said that the first concern with a sequel was, "where do you go with this? How do you bring people back to an experience and terrify them and shock them in a way that they're not expecting, but also fulfill the many expectations they're projecting onto it?" Early on, Thomas decided on the inclusion of the city of Rapture, which could harbor many previously unseen locations and untold stories. The developers wanted to balance surprising old players with introducing the setting to newcomers. Thomas and environmental artist Hogarth De La Plante agreed that the setting of Rapture was fertile for new ideas and that, as veterans of BioShock, they were excited to add never-before-seen parts of the city and continue their art style. "Any idea was out on the table at that point, and I think nobody has played BioShock more than the developers that made it, so I feel like in one respect we are a pretty good litmus test for whether it's still an interesting place or not," La Plante recalled. "And if that doesn't bore us and we're the people that played it for thousands upon thousands of hours, then I think we have a pretty good perspective on how interesting that location really is." The developers decided to make the player a Big Daddy to make BioShock 2 story to be one of an insider, rather than that of a stranger stumbling across Rapture as in BioShock.