Bioshock 2 review plus tips and tricks

By goukijones — March 4, 2010
Tags: 2k-games Bioshock-2 review tips-and-tricks xbox-360

Death to all little sisters! I'd like to bang a Big Sister. Seriously though, this series is circling the drain. Pun intended. Jimah!

I've played through and have beaten Bioshock 2 twice now on normal and hard difficulties. The game is fun, a few changes from the original which are good and bad in the long run. The graphics and sound design are spot on. At first, I thought the graphics were a little weaker than the original, but that won't make a difference as you play Bioshock 2.

So when I say it's easier the second time through on hard, what I mean is ... it's easier. The second time through I killed every Little Sister. Killing them gets you plenty of extra Adam(Adam is what you use to buy new or upgrade your plasmids(plasmids is the stuff you shoot out of your left hand.)) That's for the noobs. Anyway killing every Little Sister will get you plenty of Adam to level up. I was so powerful at the end of my second run through I was just standing there watching everyone else fight each other. First off I would turn invisible when I stood still for a second. Then I always had two of my own security bots flying around, doing a perimeter check and their stats were maxed out. I had the Swarm plasmid maxed out and a swarm of bees would seek out any splicer in the room and eat them up. Also, the bees would lay dormant in the dead bodies waiting for another splicer to walk by to attack them. Finally, my other ally was a Big Daddy. The level three Hypnotize can take control of Big Daddies, So I had two flying security bots, a swarm of killer bees and a Big Daddy running around the room killing everything while I ate a sandwich.

Something that I really missed from the original Bioshock is that the hacking has been completely changed. The original Bioshock hacking was a puzzle of pipes that you had to rearrange and connect the power flow from one end to the other. Now in Bioshock 2 hacking is just a twitch mini-game of a needle flying by and you have to hit the A button at the right time. Sucks. Also, the machines don't talk anymore which I thought was cool for the environment from Bioshock 1, it also helped to find a machine when you could hear it screaming "Welcome to the circus of values!" from around the corner.

If you played the original Bioshock you remember that you could go back to almost the very beginning of the game and travel to any level at any time before you started the end sequence. So if you missed something, especially a Big Daddy you could go back. Bioshock 2 is extremely linear and there really is no free roam at all. Some of the levels are big *Tips and Tricks - Make sure you have an area completely cleaned out before you take any train, there is no return!

You can't assign plasmids to specific slots and when you upgrade them they move around. That's just stupid game design there. *Tips and Tricks - You need to use fire and electricity throughout the entire game, but you only really need to level up one element. Use your Adam on Security command, Hypnotize or Target Dummy. Those are super fun when they are leveled up.

The weapons in Bioshock 2 do not compare well to anything really. The Rivet gun is a piece of shit, I understand it's the "pistol" of the game, but c'mon it's not cool at all. *Tips and Tricks - Do not upgrade the Rivet gun at the "Power to the People" weapon upgrade station. It's worthless. Speaking of the Power to the People weapon upgrades, in Bioshock 2 the physical changes to the guns don't look as cool as they did in the original Bioshock. Jimmy don't like that!

Research Camera upgrade! Now it's a video camera. I think I'm a photographer so in the original Bioshock, I was trying to set up scenes and get action shots to get a high rating for my pictures. Just another fun mini-game that has been pulled from guts in Bioshock 2. With the new video camera, you just quickly turn on the camera and it will automatically switch to the last gun you had equipped. Raip the shit out of whatever you were going to kill anyway and easily get an A++. *Tips and Tricks - Always walk around with the camera-equipped first so you remember to film enemies. Works well especially with Houdini Splicers and security.

Gene Tonics, Tonics? We talkin' about Tonics? Jimmy? Well, I don't know if they do shit. Sports Boost does not do anything. I swear to the almighty Cliffy B! The Sports Boost tonic in Bioshock 2 does not do anything. You get a second upgrade to speed and movement and you still don't notice a significant change in your rate of speed. Although I was standing still, invisible (via the Camouflage tonic) and in water regenerating all of my health and Eve (via the Fountain of Youth tonic.) *Tips and Tricks - Hacking is pointless, you can stand at a machine, invisible and take all the time you want, the security bots will not see you. Don't waste Tonic slots on Hacking or Camera research. Unlike the original Bioshock in Bioshock 2 the research camera has unlimited film, so just record everything constantly. Don't be a Jimmy!

There is at least two different endings. Nothing to be excited about though. I don' t like the direction the series is going. We didn't need a multiplayer. I didn't buy Bioshock 2 for multiplayer. It's too easy ... You are a Big Daddy! You have a swarm of bees for a pet, two security robots patrol the area around you and any Big Daddy can be befriended by you and fight alongside you. Go get some Big Brass Balls Jimmy! Beat it on hard with no Vita-chamber active! Don't forget to save.

Rent it! I beat it twice very fast. I played the multiplayer once.

Bioshock 2

Bioshock 2 review plus tips and tricks

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