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Bioshock 2 Review
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Manufacturer: 2K Games
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ESRB Rating: Mature
Platform(s): Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Release Date: February 9, 2010
Average Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
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Retail Price: $19.99
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User Submitted Bioshock 2 Reviews
Date: 2010-09-09
Once burned, twice shy.
I still can't believe they're shoving Windows Live down our throats like this. You have to be connected to Windows Live to save your game? WTF???? I'll never buy another Windows Live game. Once burned, twice shy.
Date: 2010-07-18
Avoid PC version
Headaches, headaches, headaches!
The first time I installed the game, I spent an hour just trying to create a Windows Live account.
I formated my drive and reinstalled the game. It has taken me another hour trying to update Windows Gamer Live.
Why do I have to go through this nonsense? I buy the game, I install it, I play it...1,2,3. This DRM crap has goto go. Shame on 2k!
Date: 2010-07-18
What. The. Heck.
I have had this game open on my computer FOR AN HOUR and still have not been able to play it; Windows Live is apparently having server issues today, and won't let me log into Games for Windows, so I can authenticate the game.
The question I have is why the heck am I being asked to log into Games for Windows so I can play a single player game? Seriously? On what planet is an internet connection necessary and required to play a solo game -- I mean, that's the point of solo games. What about people who have awful internet connections? This is the US, guys, you've got a major rural population that may not have reliable high speed internet.
Either way, I'm annoyed. Even getting into Windows Live, I'm stuck waiting for Windows Live to update.
RIDICULOUS! Absolutely pointless. STOP including DRM that makes the game too hard to play in the first place!
Date: 2010-07-12
More of the same, only worse
Let me begin by saying that I heartily endorse BioShock 1. It's a well-made game, highly imaginative and with a great sense of literary and cinematic style; an unfolding mystery within an enigma, well-balanced, and fun as all-get-out.
BioShock 2 uses much of the same environmental cues, swiping the greatest majority of enemies and weapons directly from 1. The story is considerably weaker, though, and (with a few bright spots, like when you get to control a Little Sister) pretty much the definition of "rehash." The reason I bought it was that I loved the first game so much-- and, like most sequels, this one was aimed at people without high expectations. "Mildly entertaining" springs to mind, but after such a great first game, that's a let-down.
I went into this one knowing the anti-usercentric installation and play issues; I had to log into Windows Live twice every time it was played. (Turns out I was using the wrong launcher. If there was an option to install the single-player-game launcher, which would only have had you log in to WL once, I didn't find it while playing.) Even then, I was frustrated and annoyed at all the nonsense you have to go through just to play a game.
Although SecuROM (the digital rights management software that secretly installs itself on your computer and runs in the background) was said to free users from the need to keep the DVD in the drive, I still had to insert the disk to play; and (being a high-school graduate) I was shocked at the poor language skills evident in the SecuROM ReadMe file. Uneducated people may be fine human beings, but I don't want them writing software that I'm required to run on my computer.
The multiplayer version looks like it was slapped on at the last minute. Despite having an ATi Radeon 5850, very nearly the best single-GPU graphics card currently available, and a motherboard & processor that are no slouches, there was still flickering and jumpiness. You also have to work your way up to the better weapons, devoid of any rank-matching system; so newbies with a pistol and shotgun are thrown up against hardcore gamers with every weapon and plasmid in the book. Not a lot of thought went into the play design there.
The good news is that I've been cured of my Rapture fandom, so I don't have to buy the inevitable BioShock 3. (Unless something changes drastically.) BioShock 1 is available paired with one of those unending Elder Scrolls games for $20, so I highly recommend that. This one? If you can get it for ten smackers, sure, put up with the nonsense and get a mild amount of pleasure from it. If they take out the Windows Live and related crud, call it a $20 deal. But for what you get, the price just is not worth it.
Date: 2010-07-10
Disapointing
One of the most disappointing games I've played in a long time. It's not awful: the graphics are serviceable, and the combat mechanics are pretty good. However, it's a severe drop in quality from the original Bioshock. The story is confused and uncompelling; the environments and characters are far less interesting, particularly the main villain; and there's certainly no moment that even approaches the power of the encounter in Andrew Ryan's office. Not only that, but I personally found Games For Windows Live to be a huge pain to use. It took forever to set up, and wouldn't let me save my game unless I was signed in. It's a totally unnecessary process, and it put me in a bad mood before I even started.
Again, if you just like RPG shooters this is a fine one, but it has none of the greatness of the first one, and it has the added bonus of extremely annoying DRM.
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