BIOSHOCK 2 PREVIEW
By Rachel Gosling
“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?” asks one of the first and most memorable quotes from the original BioShock. “No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor. No, says the man in the Vatican. It belongs to God. No, says the man in Moscow. It belongs to everyone. I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose… Rapture. A city where the artist would not fear the censor. Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small. And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well.”
Whether you’re from Washington, the Vatican, Moscow or Rapture itself, one thing is certain from the publicity and rumors circulating the internet: the brows at 2K Games have been sweating hard over the upcoming release of BioShock 2.
Set once again in the corrupt underwater city of Rapture, ten years after the events of the first game, this is one of the most anticipated titles of the new year, and one that is sure to engage hardcore fans of the original. Be prepared to welcome back old familiarities like the gene altering plasmids and tonics, insane and violent ‘splicers’, tight security systems and vending machines to hack, creepy little sisters to save (or harvest) and, of course, their groaning, mindless, protective Big Daddies.
This time around, however, you must don the diving suit and become a Big Daddy yourself; a concept which was only very briefly playable in the first game and has now been expanded entirely for the sequel. You awaken from a long state of hibernation as Subject Delta, the very first successful Big Daddy prototype. Unlike the other models, you are able to use plasmids and multiple weapons (including the drill and rivet gun) and can even combine them together for powerful combo attacks.
There are plenty of new areas in Rapture to explore, all of which are designed and created in explicit and artistic detail including Ryan’s Amusements (a twisted theme park full of mechanised propaganda intended to frighten citizens into staying in Rapture), Siren Alley (the city’s red light district, where the lower classes haunt brothels and bordellos, and where cult fanatics have set up shrines and temples dedicated to a warped new religion) and The Adonis Luxury Resort (a lavish, Greek-themed spa center where the rich and powerful could relax in pools and receive relaxing plasmid treatment and therapy).
Blasting splicers and taking down fellow Big Daddies in these chilling new environments seems enough to worry about, but the biggest challenge comes from an all-new enemy: the gangling, seven-foot-tall, needle-wielding Big Sisters. These are the little girls, once brainwashed to gather ADAM from the corpses of Rapture with their Big Daddy bodyguards, that have now grown up. They wear their own diving suits, scavenged and salvaged from wreckage, and carry cages on their backs to transport Little Sisters to safety.
Gameplay footage has already shown that the Big Sisters are incredibly difficult to defeat, but BioShock 2 isn’t all about clashing oxygen tanks and clunky helmets knocking together. Another huge and exciting new prospect of this game is the online multiplayer mode, developed by Digital Extremes.
This mode is set in an alternative storyline to the main ‘campaign’ mode. The year is 1959 –the year things really started to go wrong under the sea- and the citizens of Rapture are preparing for civil war. Side with either Andrew Ryan and join Team Fascist or become a part of The Parasites with Atlas and the gang.
"Something that we’re really excited about is the Apartment," says Digital Extremes. "This is essentially the player’s central hub that can be explored. Here, the player will get story elements, be able to change and customize their character, and will be able to listen to special recorded messages. This is a space that isn’t typically seen in a multiplayer environment, and we feel it really brings story elements to life in a mode that doesn’t normally have such things."
There are plenty of characters, weapons, plasmids and tonics to play around with (the Houdini plasmid looks particularly useful for stealth and escape), and as you continue to play, your character will level up, increasing the upgrades that will become available for you. Also, your personal splicer appears more and more deformed with each round of gene-altering drugs, so if you come across any reeeeeallly ugly players in the game, I’d try not to mess with them. They’ve probably been playing non-stop since the game’s release.
There are seven different games to play in multiplayer mode: Survival of the Fittest (shoot anything that moves), Civil War (shoot anything that moves as long as they’re not on your team), Last Splicer Standing (self-explanatory, really), Turf War (take control over enemy territory for as long as possible), Capture The Sister (the traditional flag is replaced with a creepy little girl), ADAM Grab (drain the creepy little girl of ADAM for as long as possible) and Team ADAM Grab.
A Big Daddy suit will be spawned randomly in each game, meaning that almost anyone can improve their odds during the action. Although by the sounds of it, with health increasing but unable to be replenished, your plasmids disabled and an enormous bounty of ADAM on your head, it seems like becoming a Big Daddy will be more trouble than it’s worth.
According to Digital Extremes: "The most difficult aspect of development was trying to make everything work. There were some things from BioShock 1 that we really wanted to include in the game, but just couldn’t because it didn’t work in a multiplayer environment. For instance, you’ll see that multiplayer has Big Daddies. However, only the Rosies make an appearance in multiplayer; not Bouncers. We had Bouncers in our game at one point, but found it was too difficult to make them work in multiplayer given that their attack is so close range."
The multiplayer modes take place in the settings of the original BioShock, meaning that memorable locations such as the Medical Pavilion, Arcadia, Hephaestus and, my favourite, Fort Frolic will all be returning with their conditions slightly improved since we last saw them, as these games are set before the chaos of the first game had even begun.
"Our team was extremely excited to work on BioShock 2 multiplayer from day one, and that excitement never ended. I hope that fans will be able to see our passion come through in the game that we’ve made. Digital Extremes is very proud to have been a part of BioShock 2, and we’re thrilled with the final result. We can’t wait to start reading the reviews and hearing fan reactions!"
Aside from the iconic settings and characters of Rapture, one of the strongest atmospheric features of the original BioShock was its orchestral score. Therefore, fans will be delighted to hear that the composer, Garry Schyman, has returned to work on the upcoming sequel.
“I was working directly with the audio director [of the first game] Emily Ridgway and she was asking me to do something very, very different for the score,” says Schyman, when I very giddily interviewed him in a star struck, fangirlish daze. “Because I had worked with her before, I knew she was serious and I started experimenting with different ideas. She kept rejecting them and I knew she was right but I just wasn't coming up with the right approach. Then one day, I was experimenting around with some very eerie dissonant atmospheric - though organic - sounds and added a solo violin over it and I had a bit of an epiphany and immediately sent the demo to Emily. She was very excited and loved it and said ‘That's the BioShock sound!’”
The ‘BioShock sound’ will be returning to Rapture, with a few changes here and there. According to Schyman, “I think most listeners will find it familiar and yet quite new and fresh. I hope so anyways. There are just different opportunities in this game to go in some new and interesting places with the score. The stylistic differences are dictated by the direction of the game and the differences between BioShock 1 and 2. There are some lovely emotional moments in Bioshock 2 and some very intense combat.”
The collector’s edition of BioShock 2 comes with an exclusive vinyl LP of Schyman’s score, as well as a CD of the soundtrack also. You can hear more of Schyman’s work in the upcoming Dante’s Inferno, which looks just as promising. Any game where you steal Death’s scythe and rip his face off with it is a-okay by me.
Needless to say, I have my copy of Bioshock 2 on pre-order for February 9th, ready for a multi-review with Eric Cummings. And if you’re just as excited as we are about this new title and are planning on some multiplayer action, then add our gamertags (BlushfulGecko and Merciless365). Maybe we’ll bump into you in some dark corner of Rapture.
