Like the gentleman above me, I agree with most if not all points made here, especially the one about Big Daddies not being that interesting. Honestly, when I first heard that you would be playing as one in the sequel, my reaction was one of disappointment followed by a hearty ho-hum. One of the reasons I enjoyed Bioshock as much as I did was due to the fact that I felt so vulnerable; I wasn’t some giant, lumbering tank. Oh but wait! This Big Daddy can apparently move with cat-like grace and can use plasmids! Wow, that’s a relief! Oh and I can “finally” use the drill hand (which, as cool as it looks, is probably one of the most impractical weapons you could have in a shooter)! Whoop-dee-fucking-do!

Props to the art team; the Little Sister looks pretty badass with all the buckles and the red porthole and shit (oh and did you notice that cute little pink ribbon tied to the cage on her back? Man, dude that is so warped it is like BLOWING MY MIND!!)

In all fairness though, if they can keep the environments interesting and the gameplay varied (the two main things that carried me through the first game), that’ll be enough for me. But so help me if one more person refers to this series any kind of “evolutionary step forward for the genre” I am going to TP their house and slash their fucking tires.

A propos of nothing: I have a Big Daddy “collectible figurine” (let’s be honest here fellow ManChildren it’s an action figure) gathering dust in my office cubicle. I have dressed it up with one of those little cocktail umbreallas and those plastic balloons you stick in birthday cakes. I believe he looks much more sinister now.

It is sad that game developers today are being pinned down to reskinning their prize pony rather than investing their time/money in selling us a new experience. I can see how money, and time restrict the schedule of such a large scale production and hinder their ability to make new experiences possible. Companies like Valve seem to know this and produce good games sacrificing time and not obiding to any annual schedules.

Having said all that, Bioshock 2 looks good and may be a innovation over the first but by how much who knows? Right off the bat Rapture doesn’t seem to be as in much decay as you’d expect for 9 years later. I was expected to see some severely disfigured splicers and things that should no longer to appear to be human running around.

Judging by what I’ve seen in the video the gameplay looks to be fun even though it’s using the same elements from the first game that kept me playing. Bioshock presented the player with exploration and incredible visuals, a means to mix plasmids and weapons with enviroment and a story that lures the player to move forward. If the sequel can match that or surpass it I’ll be happy. I still have my copy on pre-order!