We've got BioShock 2; it's sitting on our desk right now. Not the full game, but a single- and multi-player preview - which is more than enough to justify taking the debug Xbox 360 home for Christmas... and perhaps not bring it back until February.
We've played sections of the BioShock 2's single-player story before (read our last BioShock 2 hands-on) and have every impression that the team at 2K Marin is capable of constructing a worthy sequel. But this is the first time we've been able to experience BioShock 2 as a near-final package; opening cinematics, spoilers and surprising multiplayer mode included - and it's looking very good.
Our second visit to Rapture starts in a daze, as our new protagonist, Delta lifts himself up off of the ground, getting a glimpse of his large yet slimmed-down Big Daddy suit reflected in the wet floor.
Immediately we can see that Rapture's taken a beating since the last time we saw it; in this corner of the city ('Adonis Luxury Resort') water leaks from every surface and nature's slowly started its reclamation as sea coral and other growth spreads across the walls and floor.
Armed with just a drill, we battle our way through the water rock to escape our sleep chamber to - just 60 seconds into the game - get our first glimpse of a Big Sister, who screams and clatters across the ceiling and into the darkness.
BioShock 2 definitely doesn't believe in gentle introductions; we know Rapture, it's an iconic, instantly familiar locale, and 2K Marin goes about teasing us into the new rules - and rulers - of the once-beautiful dystopia.
Very quickly you pick up your first plasmid - Electro Bolt - lying in a Gatherer's Garden and a small story sequence (which we won't mention) makes Delta's motivations clear.
As a Big Daddy, Little Sisters pay a big role in BioShock 2, gathering Adam on your behalf and of course acting as the main source of moral string-pulling. In the first few minutes of the game you meet your first little one, before she's swiftly snatched by the ever-present Big Sister.
In pursuit, we make our way through the corridors and courtyards of Adonis, which suggest that Rapture's even more beautiful in its decaying state. It's also reassuring to see the subtle environmental cues from the original return, with graffiti and audio diaries alluding to the presence of Rapture's new overlord, Sophia lamb.
We also hear from an old friend, Doctor Tenenbaum, the Little Sister guardian from the first game, who urges us to meet here at Atlantic Express train station.
But despite the huge amount of story detail in the environment, BioShock 2's opening doesn't drop the tempo, and soon we stumble upon our Little Sister - but Big Sister doesn't want us playing with her.
With a scream the Big Sister jumps acrobatically across the scenery and comes smashing down on our head. A visceral, fire and electricity-filled battle ensues, and we're left barely standing as our skinny foes smashing into the next room.
On pursuit it's clear we're not ready to take on one of these speedy flame-hurlers just yet, as the Sister dashes across and cracks the massive viewing window and the front of the room, causing the Atlantic Ocean to intrude all around us.
It's a fast-paced, eventful opening to what at the very least is likely to be another great story in the BioShock universe. What really surprised us though is the well-presented multiplayer mode, which takes place during the initial downfall of Rapture before the original game.
Initially, you're asked to choose from six different mentalist player characters including Jacob Norris ("a gifted wielder"), Barbara Johnson ("a dutiful housewife") and Danny Wilkins ("a naturally gifted athlete").
Much to our pleasure, the multiplayer mode is presented almost entirely within the game universe and initially at least is an impressively immersive experience. Players are inducted into events with a new years broadcast from Andrew Ryan, shortly before walking around you own, pre-war apartment, customising your weapon loadout, checking the newspaper box for rankings and even swapping items of clothing from your wardrobe.
Soon it's announced over the telecom that there's been an incident at the Kashmir Restaurant (where the civil war and downfall of Rapture began), and it's off to the local bathysphere to get your hands dirty.
Our experience of actual multiplayer gameplay is limited so far (there aren't exactly many journalists taking the preview code fight online) but what we've seen is promising and it's pleasing that Digital Extremes isn't afraid to change the BioShock formula to streamline the online experience.
Battered sentry guns are littered around the ten included multiplayer maps, which consist of mostly-untouched locations from the original game. Instead of a complex hacking mini-game though, putting your stamp on a sentry is a simple task of holding down the A button - and you can even boobytrap vending machines to snare other players.
The final online experience promises frequent player progression such as the unlocking of strategy-altering tonics and plasmids, plus new bunny masks to put on your mental wielder's bonce.
It's not going to replace Modern Warfare on the Xbox Live most-played charts, but we fancy you'll be pleasantly surprised by Rapture's online offerings none the less. Now, how can we fit this debug machine in our bag?
I know the original has some extremely hardcore fans and I understand any criticism of the sequel based purely on previews and journalists articles seems futile, but I'm a little disappointed already. First off, probably like everyone who played Bioshock I think it looked beautiful. The setting and design was very original for a videogame. I liked the customisation available and the upgrading system. The voice-acting, game-engine, sights and sounds were all very good.
Where the game completely fell apart for me was in the combat. As it was effectively impossible to die because of being transported to the life-pod-things, there wasn't any sense of doom or fright as I never actually felt in peril. I also didn't find the combat particularly exciting or enjoyable in so far as most of the enemy moved so fast, and more often than not just rushed you without much care for self-preservation. Because of the annoyance of the combat system I literally spent the majority of the game using the spanner. Yes I died a few times, but I always came back of course. Using the spanner for the majority of the game also had the advantage of saving my ammo and credits for purchasing more for later in the game when it came in handy to speed up a fight or take down a more difficult enemy.
So my criticism with the sequel is identical to that of Modern Warfare 2 insofar as had the original been twice as long the sequel would simply have been the second part. I guess this argument could be used for many sequels, but with so much originality in the first game I expected that creativity to extend to the sequel too.
In daydreaming about what Bioshock 2 could have been I had these ideas. I actually thought the game could have been based on the Irish fella who helped us along with in the original. With an established character it could have been fun and interesting to learn more about him and learn his motives behind the story of the first game. To differentiate the game from the original I imagined how the game could start on land, then lead to a short time on a ship, before sending us below the sea to Rapture. From there we'd see Rapture in all it's glory, populated and thriving. I also had the idea that to mix things up a little perhaps your role, your job could change through the course of the game. Perhaps one section could involve a small submarine, another would justify moving around Rapture and seeing many elements that made up life in the underwater city. The game would have had elements of GTA/Mass Effect/Oblivion before leading to the downfall and collapse of Rapture.
Instead it seems we've ended up with typical sequel, using the exact same game mechanics... lone hero, out to kill everything with everything out to kill us. Collect stuff so that the killing equipment improves with the difficult of those that we need to kill. Perhaps I'm completely wrong and all people want are slightly different adversaries and maps in a sequel. I had hoped with the popularity, guaranteed sales, and more importantly, profits made from the original we'd have ended up with something that could literally blow anything else out of the water (pun intended).
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