The first BioShock - one of the most critically acclaimed games of the generation - didn't leave much open for a sequel. Story-wise it's got enough plot twists to fill an entire season of Lost and the rock-solid conclusion wraps things up pretty satisfyingly for Jack and the Little Sisters. But despite all that - and even without the original developer at the helm - 2K's bravely going back to Rapture for the sequel.
Ken Levine and 2K Boston have set sail. In their place is newly formed 2K Marin, a team comprised of both a handful of BioShock veterans and other "enthusiastic" newcomers, all led by the designer of the first game's best level.
"BioShock is a hard act to follow," proclaims creative director Jordan Thomas, maker of the excellent Fort Frolic and Thief's famous Cradle. "We wanted to make sure that we could surprise you no matter what you were expecting. BioShock had a unity with the systems of play underneath it that hadn't really been seen before and it also offered hard choices to the first-person shooter player.
"So for BioShock 2 we had to trust you with more difficult moral decisions and allow you to shape your own role in the narrative in a way that is new and surprising - and that means adding new mystery to Rapture."
It's been ten years since the events of the first BioShock, and the remaining inhabitants have slipped even further into the depths of desperation. The once underwater utopia has become even more flooded, ruined and full of absolute mentalists struggling to survive and desperate for ADAM.
But after a 'monster' runs amok kidnapping little girls along the Atlantic coast, Rapture's sprung back to life again... and there's another story to tell.
Thomas is talking to us via the magic of technology in 2K's plush London offices, where we're visiting to take a first look at the 2K Marin-developed sequel via a pre-recorded gameplay demo, including extended scenes from this released footage.
Our demo kicks off with the distinctive, haunting sound of a little sister's song; "Mr. Bubbles, Mr. Bubbles, are you there?" As the player character comes to we realise he's face down on the floor, a puddle revealing his true face... it's a Big Daddy.
A radio crackles in our ear. It's Dr. Tenenbaum, the guilty guardian of the Little Sisters from our first voyage to Rapture. "Hello? Hello? You can hear me, yes? Wake up, your time for sleeping is over." Our Big Daddy climbs to his feet, his yellow visor reflecting in the watery floor as he regains his focus.
"As you can see, BioShock 2 allows you to step into the boots of a Big Daddy," pipes in Thomas. "One of the things that allows you to do is master the Big Daddy's signature weapons, the best known of which is the drill," he says, as the main character smashes through a wooden door with his man-sized toy.
Off the bat BioShock 2's undoubtedly a better looking game than the first. Lighting in particular has advanced well beyond the last time we saw the city and flashing lights and streaky shadows ooze the kind of atmosphere Rapture thrives on.
There also seems to be more detail lavished on this decayed section of town. In the first room our Daddy comes stomping into, a huge section of the splintered, wooden floor is missing. A group of Splicers are huddled directly below.
"As a Big Daddy, garden variety Splicers like these guys are not as much as a challenge for you, they have to attack you in large groups," says Thomas - and he's not joking. With a roar and a thud we drop down into the room below, a beautiful but battered art deco wonder that's distinctly BioShock.
In a visceral multi-man fight our Daddy launches himself across the room, battering disfigured Rapture freaks through the air, flinging fireballs with his left hand and then piercing others in a huge bloody explosion with his drill.
Fighting as a Big Daddy is definitely a visceral experience and looks to fit right in with their role in the first game. With a violent spin of the drill our character scares the bejesus out of the remaining Splicer who swiftly legs it and escapes off into the darkness. Hard as nails.
"As you probably noticed from all of that fire coming out of his hand, you don't just play any Big Daddy in BioShock 2, you play the very first. A kind of prototype who's able to think for himself and is able to use the Plasmid tools."
This time around, Thomas explains, not only can you use the fiery, icy and often sparking Plasmids from the first game, but you can also use them in conjunction with your more traditional Big Daddy guns and drills. This teaming of gunplay and mutant powers makes possible "exciting new combinations of punishment," 2K claims, though few examples have actually been revealed.
In one example demonstrated to us, in a battle shown off in the above linked footage, the Daddy sets wind-infused cyclone traps, and then blasts them with fire to create flaming tornadoes of death.
So there's the opportunity for some generally exciting and strategic combat combos in our second visit to Rapture. But even as Mr. Driller's giant, angry uncle, there's still something for you to be afraid of in this new Rapture.
As our Daddy progresses through the leaking, broken city streets, the encounter starts with a noise. A clank and a scrape signals a skeleton silhouette scrambling through the shadows at lightning speed. We enter the darkness to investigate, a flashlight revealing upturned tables and endless, rusting ruin. Then, as he turns the corner, we get our first glimpse...
She's the Big Sister. A twisted hybrid of Little Sister and Big Daddy. An ominous red light glares from her scratched and rusted helmet and rows of leather straps cover her unnaturally thin body.
On her shoulder is a cage used for carrying little sisters, and stretching from her arm is a long, bloodied needle used for extracting fresh ADAM from corpses.
Moving at freakishly swift speed the Big Sister slashes across the huge viewing window at the front of the room in a single jump, piercing the glass and causing the ocean to come exploding into the room. Chairs, tables and everything else whoosh around the Daddy's head as he's submerged by the ocean. Then, unlike the footage released on the net, he steps back up. He's underwater.
"As you can see, being a Big Daddy has its advantages," pipes in Thomas. "Among them is being able to go outside and explore the ocean surrounding Rapture."
It's a beautiful sequence. Floating room ornaments are knocked aside as the Daddy exits Rapture through the broken window and steps out into the ocean. Hundreds of tiny bubbles and particles surround the Big Daddy's vision, dancing with his every movement.
A comforting string soundtrack accompanies our discovery of a giant sunken ship, its huge propeller standing erect in the seabed. Tiny fish swim in groups through the picturesque undergrowth, and a small cove is home for sunken plunder - presumably from the downed boat - including a video recording by Tenenbaum. "She is taking girls and turning them into creatures like here. All of this... it is my fault."
"In BioShock 1, the ocean was very much a character," says Thomas. "It's always with you, but at a distance. In BioShock 2 you finally get to meet it face to face."
As our Daddy stomps across the seabed, kicking up dirt and bubbles, we notice a viewing window displaying a familiar sight. It's the statue of Atlas Jack discovered in the opening of the first game, this time even more ruined than it was ten years ago.
With his watery adventure over, the Daddy enters an airlock to re-enter Rapture as the liquid's drained from around his head. Here's our first glimpse of another key feature in BioShock; the Little Sister's themselves.
"A Big Daddy is a pretty special role to play in the BioShock ecology. It changes the way that the world responds to you and the way that you have to act to it. But the most important change is in the way that you interact with the Little Sisters. We call it adoption."
A Splicer is wrestling with a young girl, desperate to harvest her ample supply of ADAM. A quick drilling to the head puts an end to that encounter and at first, the little one is startled. "Mr.... Mr. B? It's you! You're all better again!"
In BioShock 2 players have the option to harvest the Little Sisters but now you can also make the choice to adopt them. Usually you do this by taking on other, traditional and mind-conditioned Big Daddies in battle and nicking their little friends. However, this particular Little Sister seems to have already lost her guardian...
In a touching interaction the Daddy hauls the Little Sister onto his back, and now you're off to go ADAM farming for yourself. "Let's go find an angel Mr. Bubbles..."
In the neighbouring room he discovers a glowing corpse, indicating that it's fresh and full of mutant goodness. With a press of X the Little Sister hops down and gets to work, leaving the Daddy to protect her from the Splicer onslaught it initiates.
The resulting battle is another seen in the released footage. The Daddy discovers a huge Rivet Gun - the one used by the Rosie variety of Big Daddies in the first game. It's another visceral, angry fight with fire-flinging, shots to the head and a drill that Black and Decker could only dream of.
As the fire burns down and the ADAM needle fills to capacity, a dinosaur roar shakes the room. "But there's someone else in Rapture who has a special relationship to the Little Sisters," pipes in our voiceover. "... And she's always watching."
Almost out of nowhere the furious Big Sister moves above our heads at terrifying speed. She's in Rapture to make sure that relationship between Rapture's homegrown Big Daddies and newly-introduced Little Sisters isn't interrupted... and your character (not a proper Big Daddy remember) is doing just that.
"Mr. B... Mr. B... Big Sister doesn't want you playing with me..."
A piercing roar sends books, chairs and room ornaments spinning around the Big Sister's body in an awesome psychic wave. One by one she projects them directly towards the Big Daddy's visor and with a final, lightning-fast tackle he's knocked unconscious. The BioShock 2 logo appears. The demo is over. We need a cigarette, even though we don't smoke.
BioShock didn't need a sequel. But from the impressive scenes we were shown in our demo - and the undercover features promised for the final game, including a more horrific story and deeper Plasmid trees - we're glad Rapture's up for a revisit.
With the undeniably talented Jordan Thomas at the helm, there's a good chance the sequel won't disappoint. But there are still plenty of questions to be answered. Look out for our exclusive chat with the 2K Marin team online shortly.
Good preview. But am I the only one who thinks these long articles should be split up into pages? The number of times I lost my place when being interrupted by work...
One part of this game that worries me is the swimming sections. I have a fear of playing games which require you to swim. Take Ecco the Dolphin for example, I remember not playing any of the levels until some games mag released the maps showing where the enemies were!
I'm severely disappointed that the devs have taken this route, as I'm currently playing the first game and it's scary enough without these hellish swimming sections. I'll probably skip it now :(
I expect Big Daddy doesn't swim, but stomps around instead. It's been mentioned that there are no baddies in these submerged sections, you're given a break to admire their work. :)
let me give this thread some positivity. all this yapping about it being crap and the under water sections possibly sucking are premature.
Firstly it's looking incredible, improved lighting is a definite plus. I like the emphasis on moral choice and how it alters your story. apparently there is going to be loads of interaction, leading to consequence (not just with little sister).
Also, I am aware of people moaning about big daddy being slow in the last game, but for anyone who has read all the articles on BS2, you will know that big daddy is much much lighter on his feet. So just chill.
The underwater sections are a good thing if done showing where you are and need to be, to avoid getting lost. I wanted to step out and see the buildings and the creatures in the sea, now I finally can. I hear there are deformed formations of plant and rocks etc... sounds really interesting.
Can't wait to see more at E3, i'm next to sure that big sister is going to be the highlight of the show.
Well I'll be buying it that's for sure (unless it sucks, in which case I won't) but I'm not sure I'm convinced by the promise of gunplay and plasmids combining to make new and interesting options for the player. You had guns and plasmids first time around so how's that aspect going to be so different?
Regarding the underwater sections, the Big Daddies wear massive deep-sea diving suits, so I'm pretty sure running out of air won't illicit the same levels of tense frustration often felt by games of old. Sonic collecting air-bubbles in Labyrinth Zone with that countdown music springs to mind.
If that's the case, Bioshock 2 might as well have generic ice and desert levels too!
Uh.... What about the guns? It would seem you're given a Drill and Rivet-Gun instead of the multiple guns that you could customise in the 1st game.
Game still sounds good, but not the step forward I would have hoped. If they really plan to make Bioshock a franchise I think #2 would have to had explored new ideas and locations, then #3 would bring you back to the nostalgia of Rapture.
It sounds promising,will it be very challenging though? by the sounds of things it'll only be the big sister or big daddy fights that are going to be difficult, the ordinary splicers look like they will be no match for the big daddy you control
There's a lot that could go wrong, but it seems like it won't suck. Which is good. Adoption annoys me though, I despised that single escort mission in the first, and have no wish to play it through hundreds of times.
Also, here's hoping that the underwater sections will be based a lot on mind-blowing scenes and story.
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