BioShock 2 Details Emerge

More details have emerged on 2K Marin's big sequel, BioShock 2: Sea of Dreams, according to a cover story in issue 192 of Game Informer. The game is set in Rapture after the events of the first BioShock. It seems after the protagonist from the first game took off with all the Little Sisters, the city panicked, at least until a Big Sister came along to quiet things down try to return things to normal, or at least normal by Rapture standards. According to the article, you'll play as a Big Daddy in this reinvigorated underwater society.

Apparently the Big Sister was actually a Little Sister at one point, and the Big Daddy you play as, which BioShock 2 creative director Jordan Thomas describes as the 'first ever,' is an outlaw. The article points out that even though players were able to don the equipment of a Big Daddy toward the end of the first game, the full range of the beings' abilities weren't taken advantage of. In BioShock 2, instead of a wrench, you'll get a drill arm which can be used to whack splicers, who'll still serve as your enemies. It can also be turned on, though the time it can spin will be limited by an overheat meter.

Other options for dealing damage include a shoulder dash as well a flamethrower and grenade launchers engineered specifically for Big Daddies. An upgradeable rivet gun will also be made available. The article points out that since your Big Daddy model is a prototype, it'll be able to utilize plasmids too, which will upgrade in more significant ways. It's mentioned that the incinerate ability can eventually be upgraded to allow for a fireball attack to be charged and unleashed, and at its maximum upgrade level let you blast out a constant stream of flame. Relationships with hacked security bots will also differ, as the game will permit you to heal them to some degree.

New tonics and plasmids will create more possibilities for ability combos in BioShock 2. The article gives the example of combining incinerate with the cyclone trap plasmid to create a fiery wind blast. More options for this type of thing may open up as the article says you'll be able to utilize plasmids and weapons simultaneously instead of switching between the two. The developers also want to ensure players who progress down the upgrade paths wind up with different strengths and weaknesses by the end of the game, instead of everyone having roughly the same power-up setup.

Little Sisters will still be walking around the game world and you'll still have to wipe out Big Daddies to get at them, though now, since you're a Big Daddy, you'll have the ability to adopt one in addition to harvesting for Adam. If you choose to adopt, the Little Sister will ride around with you, calling out bodies around Rapture from which Adam can be harvested. While this might net more of the stuff, it seems a Little Sister in the process of harvesting will trigger an attack sequence where you'll need to defend her as splicers attack. The article states that the most effective method of acquiring Adam will still be to harvest or help the Little Sisters escape.

It seems since you're a more powerful being in BioShock 2, dealing with individual splicers won't be as big a deal. The Big Sister, on the other hand, will be a lot tougher to deal with. From the shots in the article, she appears to be a skinnier version of a Big Daddy with a basket on her back and a gigantic needle strapped to one arm. She directly absorbs the Adam she harvests, powering her up as the game progresses. She's trying to restore Rapture to the picture she has in mind from when she was a Little Sister, and apparently doesn't like it when you screw around with her restoration efforts. She'll chase you if you start to become too powerful, says the article, and she can find you anywhere. There willl be a warning given to you when you've dealt with enough Little Sisters to catch the Big one's attention, and then it's only a matter of time until she's bearing down on you.

The rest of the article deals with the storyline, something about which the developers were understandably being intentionally vague. Thomas did offer a bit on whether players can expect similar kinds of twists as were encountered in the first. "It wouldn't be BioShock if it didn't surprise you," he told Game Informer. "It wouldn't be BioShock if the mechanical experience you're having and the fictional experience you're having weren't kind of married in the themes."

To tell parts of the story, players will still pick up audio logs scattered around the world. Respawn points will also be included to some degree, though they won't necessarily be in the form of Vita-Chambers.

The article lists the game to be a '1-player action' title for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. It also mentions that multiplayer is to be announced. The release window for BioShock 2 is this fall.

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