Bioshock 2 - A few hours in

1st off,  I played the original Bioshock and it was the first game that really hooked me into playing FPS games on the console. The game offered compelling colorful characters and intriguing story line that kept me going till the end. 

Ok now onto what the new game gets right and wrong so far.

I'll start with something noted by reviewers and the concept of being a Big Daddy. The games sound and huge drill motion really befits a huge lumbering character. You'll here huge thumps stepping down from high places and hear water spilling over your helmet and suit - very nice audio details. Despite this you are unnervingly vulnerable to simple melee attacks. I mention this because one would imagine a wooden bat would not crack your skull in four swings by a splicer. Makes one wonder what exactly your suit is made of. I'll get into what 2K should have done in a minute, but I'll get into some of the changes that are better.

Hacking of defenses and dispensers is a welcome game mechanic. Doing it just right rewards the player with added benefits. The Plasmid powers seem to have a bit more punch and the environment welcomes well placed shock and fire usage. Laying a bolt in water or fireball in an oil slick is adds a level of strategy that you can lure enemies into. The opportunities here are more than there were in the first title and help to balance the soft helmet you appear to be wearing.

As mentioned earlier - What's with your suits vulnerability?
It doesn't give much away to say that you are a humanoid character in this suit. An early in game animated sequence in the game has your character put his suit on from a 1st person view.

What would better have made the vulnerability easier to play would have been if your character were to acquire his suit as he made his way through Rapture. Far easier to explain getting struck on the head with a stick three times and being killed. Since the first game treated Plasmids as a transformation on the human level, the suit would have been an easy build up process.

Instead, like the first game you are soft and your powers and durability are enhanced as you progress through the game. Being a Big Daddy is not as bad ass as it could have been. Having a large drill and deep sea diving suit is a visual and less functional. I guess being an early prototype Big Daddy explains it, but had it been a gradual build up of the suit it would have made much more sense and possibly more rewarding.

I'm only a few hours in and the game and it still has my attention for now. It's hard to ignore some story line decisions. It's less compelling this time around, but the game play has some marked improvements from the first game. When I finish I'll do a follow up recap.