All that said, I picked up the game at midnight (EST) at my local wal-mart tonight, have been playing the past 4 hours and DAMN…Its fucking good. Thats all I will say, I won’t compare it to the original yet or leave any impressions but I think you will be VERY pleasantly surprised. Most importantly it stays respectable to the solid groundwork laid down in first.

Yes! This was my whole concern with the game. I didn’t mind multiplayer too much, but the whole idea of playing as a Big Daddy throughout the game just didn’t sit well with me. Sure I’m hyped for tomorrow, but I’m afraid of not enjoying the game.

You’re a Big Daddy, specifically a one that can use the drill, the rivet gun, AND you can use plasmids. You’re the toughest guy in Rapture. The Big Sister doesn’t concern me as a threat. Remember Big Daddies in the first? We were scared shitless by them. We thought they’d be the toughest things in the game to kill. Yeah well Trap Bolts and Prox Mines have something to say about that. I’m not going to have that sense of fear or worry anymore. I’m a Big Daddy, nothings going to scare or harm me.

As for the Big Sister..

I feel that the Big Sister will appear in encounters with you, do some kind of event, and then run away, or maybe fight you in a fixed battle until you do enough damage to her for her to run away. All in all, I don’t think she’s going to be as threatening as everyone thinks.

I’m most likely not going to play the multiplayer for a few days because to me it honestly doesn’t sound very fun, and lately I’ve mainly been drawn to my single-player games or the single-player part of my games.

I know it’s not going to be near as good as the first, but it will be good. No doubt about it.

http://gameinformer.com/games/bioshock_2/b/ps3/archive/2010/02/08/review.aspx

2. Arguably, Rapture could be considered the biggest character in all of the Bioshock lore. Having seen it’s already decrepit appearance after the fall of Andrew Ryan’s Utopia vision and being absorbed in it, it’s no wonder that they would have chosen the same place again only 10 years later. Seeing Rapture now, from a completely different perspective, both in terms of main character and philosophical viewpoint of Altruism, makes for a very interesting new take on the city. Sure, it’s the same art-deco style atmosphere and has the same people in it, but thats the point. It’s about the transformation, from good to bad and the attempt back to good again from the views of Sofia Lamb, Andrew Ryan and Sinclair. Out of many, one, and out of one, many.

3. While the multiplayer does seem ‘tacked on’ so to speak, the concept of it remains very interesting. Having at least an original approach to the online experience, you take on the roll of someone before and during the major events of the Fall of Rapture. This makes for an intriguing sort of prequel within a sequel aspect. You see and interact with parts and areas of Rapture not seen before Bioshock 1. The inclusion of plasmids and weapons also seems fresh, although we’ll see how it is gameplay wise. Certainly it doesn’t compete with Modern Warfare 2 or Bad Compnay , etc, but maybe thats not the point. A Single player story within an online multiplayer is something to try to embrace.

4. The Good ol’ Big Daddy. You play as the very first one, and the suit design is less than ‘Big’. You are the first prototype. You’re tied to a little sister that still lives in Rapture. It may seem like there isn’t story there, but it can be pulled off. Perhaps a story about the driving force of being selfless while entrapped in the new Sofia Lamb Society of All over One can work? It may prove to be a sad tale, about hopeless redemption in sight of everything failing. That last push to save things, even if the Big Daddy is emotionless or whatever….who knows..

5. I kind of agree on this part. The biggest draw of Bioshock is indeed in how it tell it’s sorrowful tale through recordings and the environment. Of course, the big daddy is going to be more action- oriented than Jack from the first game, but that doesn’t mean it should be all about combat. Who knows on that. We’ll see.

I also wish to say that the multiplayer component as you have most likely hear is being developed by a different devoloper and thus will not drastically effect the quality of the single player.

Bioshock 2 will appeal to more people, but will alienate the fans of the original. But I must wonder if they had stayed true to the experience and made the game like they did the first one, would fans still like it or would they be tired of the formula?