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(More customer reviews)This review is intended to help educate potential buyers of Bioshock 2 about a few of the major downsides of the way 2K has decided to sell the game. If you've already made up your mind to buy it, or already own it, this review isn't for you. If on the other hand you're on the fence, I'd love to point out a few things that are very troubling about Bioshock 2:
1) The game REQUIRES online activation. If you are a serviceman/servicewoman stationed in Baghdad (or anywhere in the field without internet) you're totally screwed. Requiring an internet connection to activate is offensive in itself, but coupled with the other major issues with this game's DRM scheme, it just keeps getting worse.
2) The game limits the number of times you can install it. I don't care if they give me 1,000 installs, any limit on how long I can use a game I paid for simply isn't acceptable. I'm not paying for the 'privilege' of installing how ever many times 2K or anyone else thinks is appropriate. If I buy a game, I want to actually BUY it, meaning I OWN IT and CAN DO WHAT I WANT WITH IT. If I buy the game and don't like it, how can I resell it? How can I verify to the person I'm selling it to that it has installations left? This is just a petty and insulting way to treat paying customers. I don't want to have to come crawling back to 2K or Microsoft to explain why I might need more installations for a game I already gave them forty or more dollar for. And what if they close their doors at some point in the future? How can I be guaranteed I'll still have access to my game?
3) Securom, the DRM package used by Bioware, installs with the game and there is no option to install it without Securom. That means you get a program running in the background when you play the game that can create issues for other programs on your computer. Don't believe me? I experienced all sorts of issues with the Securom that installed with Mass Effect I including it screwing up my drivers for my optical drives because it didn't like the fact that I has DeamonTools on my computer. I don't want crapware or potential security threats loading on my computer alongside the game!
4) You MUST create a WindowsLive account if you want to access certain parts of the game. I hate WindowsLive and everything to do with it and don't want to create accounts to play my game. I want to install it, run the game, and be on my merry way. Forcing creation of an account is what marketers call "forced opt-in" and it opens you up to all sorts of information mining so that Microsoft or whoever collects the data can sell it to marketing companies. Forced opt-ins just flat out suck and I hate when companies force you to jump through their hoops to play their game.
SO WHY DOES THE GAME COME LOADED UP WITH THIS NONSENSE????
2K would say its to fight piracy. I say bull-****. DRM doesn't affect pirates as they're already downloading the widely available and free versions of this (and any other game) from torrent sites. To the inevitable idiots who will spam the comments of this review accusing me of being either a pirate or too poor to buy the game: 1) I own literally hundreds of games and paid for every single one of theme and 2) if I was a pirate I'd already be playing the game from a torrent site without any of the limitations of DRM. Bottom line: if you want to pirate the game, it's pretty amazingly easy. I don't pirate because I'm honest, but neither do I give my money to game makers who like to insult my intelligence by telling me DRM is 'necessary' or that force me to install crapware on my computer.
Thanks but no thanks. I'll take a pass on this one.
**********UPDATE 02/17/2010**********
I had the opportunity to play Bioshock II on my friend's Xbox. Frankly I wasn't impressed with the game itself. It's very much a copy of the original game with very little that is new. I thought the game would center around being an all powerful Big Daddy. You do play as a Big Daddy, but you're not any stronger than the human character starting out in Bioshock I. I expected them to let you be more powerful but also introduce more powerful / numerous opponents. Instead, the same collection of splicers come in twos and threes just like the original game. So as a Big Daddy, it takes 2-3 melee hits (with a huge-*** drill bit mind you) to kill a splicer. It takes them 4-5 melee hits to kill you. That's just simply stupid considering when you fight another Big Daddy it takes a HUGE amount of firepower to bring one down. The whole concept of being a Big Daddy is diminished because you really are not any more powerful.
It's like they took EVERYTHING from the first game, just tweaked it a bit, and called it a new game. There is nothing new that feels significant. The weapons are not exciting, and some of them feel almost useless (the shotgun for one). Only the spear gun and rivet gun have a satisfying quality to them.
You still have the same simplistic moral choice (harvest or rescue Little Sisters), the same voice over the radio guiding you, and the same antagonistic voice prodding you along as you progress through the game. You get plasmids in the same order (electricity, then fire, then ice) and use them to solve the same problems as before (opening doors with electricity, melting snow with fire, etc...). Really it feels like they just redid the first game with less compelling characters and a less compelling storyline.
I'm actually VERY glad I didn't buy this game, even if it were DRM free because it isn't that interesting. It's a rehash of the first and doesn't have anything really remarkable to distinguish it. Honestly, I've played MODS that were free that provided a better gaming experience than this. A good example would be the BT MOD for Oblivion which made Oblivion feel like an entirely new game. For the price 2k is asking (full retail for a new game!) it's just ridiculous.
There are much better options out there. Go get Mass Effect II if you don't have it yet, or even Call of Pripyat from the venerable STALKER series. Both are a lot better than this.
Final thoughts:
It doesn't bother me if you want to buy this game and install it. I just want you to have all the facts before you do. If you don't agree with my perspective that's fine--this is a free country (assuming you live in the USA). Bottom line: some people do care about protecting consumer rights and I'm one of those people. Agree or disagree, I think everyone should have the right to information about the product they're buying. Especially when the game itself isn't even that great.
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Bioshock 2The Story Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster - somehow familiar, yet still quite different from anything ever seen - has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city. It is a Big Sister, new denizens of Rapture who were once one of the forgotten little girls known as Little Sisters, known to inhabit the city's dank halls. No longer a pawn used to harvest ADAM, the dangerously powerful gene-altering lifeblood of Rapture, from the bodies of others and in turn run the risk of being harvested herself, the Big Sister is now the fastest and most powerful thing in Rapture. You, on the other hand are the very first Big Daddy, in fact the prototype, that for some reason has reactivated. You are similar to the Big Daddies familiar from the original BioShock, but also very different in that you possess free will and no memory of the events of the past ten years. The question is, as you travel through the decrepit and beautiful fallen city beneath the waves, hunting for answers and the solution to your own survival, are you really the hunter, or the hunted? Gameplay and Multiplayer In BioShock 2 players will take on the role of the original BigDaddy, not that of game one protagonist, Jack. As a Big Daddy you willhave access to all the strengths and weapons of a standard Big Daddy,including the drill and rivet gun. More importantly you also possess freewill and the ability to use plasmids and gene tonics - genetic modificationsallowed for through ADAM, a stem cell harvested from conquered enemies,or sea slugs outside the Rapture air lock, and powered by the in-gameinjectable serum known as EVE, which can be found, captured or purchased.Plasmids and gene tonics provide a wide range of aggressive and passiveabilities which can be upgraded and arranged for quick use. The abilityto use plasmids and tonics gives you a decided edge over other Big Daddiesand most other denizens of Rapture, excluding the powerful Big Sisters.In addition, due to their role as a Big Daddy, players will experiencea new relation to the Little Sisters. Upon defeating standard Big Daddysyou are given the familiar choice as to whether to harvest or adopt them.Harvesting gains you ADAM immediately, but could alter your path throughthe game, while adopting makes you responsible for Little Sisters, whothen accompany you through Rapture, but also provide aid and warning intimes of danger. Additional gameplay features include: new plasmids, weaponsand the ability to combine these two. The game also features the anticipated multiplayer modes. Several of these are team-based, allowing up to 10 players. Within these players are provided with a rich prequel experience that expands the origins of the BioShock fiction, and allows you to play as one of several characters pulled from Rapture's history before the events of the first game. Key Features
The Big Sister - No longer just something to be harvested or not, the Big Sister is the most powerful resident in Rapture.
You Are the Big Daddy - Take control with the original prototype Big Daddy, and experience the power and raw strength of Rapture's most feared denizens as you battle powerful new enemies.
New Plasmids - New plasmids such as "Aero Dash" allowing for bursts of speed over short distances, and "Geyser Trap" a stream of water used as a jump pad and electrical conductor, join the ample list of Plasmids from the original game.
New Game Mechanics - BioShock 2 contains many new gameplay mechanics. Just a few of these are: the ability to wield plasmids and weapons simultaneously; flashback missions detailing how you became the Big Daddy; the ability to walk outside the airlocks of Rapture to discover new play areas, and many more.
New Locations - Just a few of the locations and environments debuting in BioShock 2 are Fontaine Futuristics, headquarters of Fontaine's business empire and the Kashmir Restaurant.
Evolution of the Genetically Enhanced Shooter - Innovative advances bring new depth and dimension to each encounter, allowing players to create exciting combinations to fit their style of gameplay.
Return to Rapture - Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the story continues with an epic, more intense journey through one of the most captivating and terrifying fictional worlds ever created.
Genetically Enhanced Multiplayer - Earn experience points during gameplay to earn access to new weapons, plasmids and tonics that can be used to create hundreds of different combinations.
Experience Rapture's Civil War - Players will step into the shoes of Rapture's citizens and take direct part in the civil war that tore Rapture apart.
See Rapture Before the Fall - Experience Rapture before it was reclaimed by the ocean and engage in combat over iconic environments in locations such as Kashmir Restaurant and Mercury Suites, all of which have been reworked from the ground up for multiplayer.
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