The biggest change for Bioshock vets is that the Wrench has been replaced with an all purpose melee with all weapons. So no need to swap to a melee weapon to use it. Since you play the role of a Big Daddy this time around, the Drill becomes an effective melee tool as well. It works as you would think, run up to bad guys and drill on them till death does them part. They've also limited the Drill usage to how much fuel you have left, which can easily be regarded as ammo. Everything else is as you last imagined, guns feel the same. The Rivet gun is super powerful just like in the first game. Splicers drop in just three or four hits easily.
Now I have to rap on some stuff that I didn't find as impressive. If you were planning on returning to Rapture and seeing a somewhat of a utopian, clean society you can leave those thoughts at the door. Everything has a broken and destroyed feel to it but with due reason as the story does take place 10 years after the events of the first Bioshock. Splicers have overrun Rapture and chaos is seen everywhere. It's almost as if the game takes one too many queues from Fallout 3 in it's post-apocalyptic themes. Since one of the biggest characters in the first game was Rapture itself, it's only fitting to think that the city has become more mature and wreck less. That said, Rapture's new facelift does grow with you over time. It just takes a bit getting used to.
Another problem that I found, that I hope it's just an issue on the consoles, is that I found there to be much more pop in than the first Bioshock. When you first pull up the Drill you'll notice it takes a while for the textures to load. Wall textures look extremely low poly and seem to pop in more frequently than before. Again that said, you won't be looking at the deails when you are bashing peoples heads in with a Rivet Gun, and some of the smoke and fire effects look absolutly incredible. It's just I was hoping to see some major improvements or upgrades. I will say though the water effects are just stunning. There never seems to be a shortage of waterfalls in Rapture as the game almost goes out it's way to show off the water flowing down the players screen. It almost gets annoying, especially in a firefight when you don't need your vision to be impaired.
The newly upgraded Little Sister system seems like a great addition to the series. the rules is the same as before, you kill the Big Daddy watching over the Little Sister to have a chance at more ADAM. This time around they've added an Adopt feature. When you Adopt a Little Sister you carry her around and when you find a dead enemy body filled with ADAM, you can send the Little Sister to do what she does best. The gameplay then becomes sort of a Defend the Objective style gameplay. As the Little Sis does her thing, you'll get swarmed with all kinds of Splicers in attempt to take the ADAM that the Little Sister is harvesting. Succeed and you will be rewarded for more ADAM. After about two or three bodies you can then return the Little Sister to one of the many vents in Rapture and here is where the gameplay shifts back to the original Bioshock. You have either the choice of Rescuing the girl or Harvesting her. When you Harvest the girl, you get not only the ADAM that she collected during her blood spree, but a sizable amount of ADAM but in return she will not survive. Rescuing the Little Sister will turn her back into an innocent little child and just barley enough ADAM to get you by. Of course, whichever option you pick, Big Sister will be right behind you. These upgraded Big Daddy wannabes are nothing to be messed around with. Think of Spider-man, but with a Drill for a hand, and the same kind of Plasmids (and Tonics?) that you have. Thankfully there is enough of a warning apon their arrival for you to prepare for the fight.
The Tonic and Plasmid system seems unchanged from the first game. You get Plasmids and Tonics and you equip them. If you need more slots, you spend more ADAM. I've not played through far enough to enjoy any of the new Plasmids, but there are a few notable new Tonics that I will always have equipped. One of which negates the Eve eating features of alcohol. It's been too many times when I've accidentally picked up one too many Gin bottles and having it eat all my EVE.
In short over my first few hours of the game, I am enjoying my return to Rapture, although there are a few bumps along the road. I probably won't do a review of the game seeing as how everyone else will be. I'll pride myself in doing games that no one probably will be playing. Something like maybe Shadow of Destiny for the PSP...
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