HomeFeaturesBioShock 2
The best BioShock game turned 10 yesterdayIt’s not Infinite
It’s not Infinite
It doesn’t have anything to match the first game’s memorable twist, but in all other waysBioShock 2is the best of the threeBioShockgames. It returned you to the underwater city of Rapture as a prototype Big Daddy, one of the drill-handed protectors you spend the first game hunting. It had better fights, better or equally as memorable world design, and never hits any of the low lows of its predecessor or sequel. (E.g. it doesn’t end with you fighting a big blue man.) We rightly champion games which undertake the heavy work of creating something new, as the first BioShock did, but moment to moment,BioShock 2is simply more fun.
I feel like I’m supposed to get fancy and start talking about how BioShock 2’s exploration of collectivism is more nuanced than the original’s objectivism, but it’s not the skewering of political ideologies that makes my Big Daddy heart pump. I’m more interested in the game’s rivet gun, which with its default ammo lets you skewer splicers to Rapture’s damp walls. It’s the closest the series ever came to giving you a bow and arrow, which is every game’s best weapon. The rivets kill most enemies with a single headshot, and you can even pick them up again after they’ve done their work.
Watch on YouTube
Watch on YouTube
The Big Sister looks and acts like a more agile version of the Big Daddy, diving helmet included, but the fights against her are the best fights in the entire BioShock series. They are difficult every time, meaning you never stop being tense in the build up to them. You will want to prepare as much as possible, lay down rivets and other traps wherever you can, and being the lumbering hulk facing down a faster, hoppier opponent feels like a reversal of the first game.
If BioShock 2 was just better fights in some re-treaded locations, it’d still be a good if forgettable game. It’s better than that though, and still worth revisiting today because a lot of its level design lives up to the first game. An early highlight for me is Ryan Amusements, which features animatronic Andrew Ryans introducing you to Rapture and its history. Except, of course, this is not the actual history, but the version Ryan wants its residents to believe. It’s level design which delivers backstory, character and criticism all at the same time.
For my purposes, the why doesn’t matter. I hear regular complaints about how many games released each year are sequels to other work, but BioShock 2 is a strong argument for every game to have a second go around.
