Has anyone else started playing this yet? My very rough, initial thoughts are: (no spoilers included.... I think!) -I like the new premise. Defending the little sister while she is harvesting is a great spin on the experience. -I miss the little jingles from Circus of Value and ammo shop. -Many of the enemies seem to be MUCH more accurate with their aim than in the first one. -Its nice that they dip the music/sfx audio when listening to audio diaries now. Helps really make it clear what they're saying. -I don't have a super fancy, large TV so I find some of the font to be pretty small. Smaller than the first BioShock anyway because I could read that just fine. -Very excited about the game and where it's going to lead me next! -The basic control scheme is still there, although you now have to push the right arrow key instead of B for first aid on the 360 version. That took a little getting used to. There are a few other slight differences but nothing major. I haven't tried the multi-player at all yet. Could be cool but I'm much more excited about diving back into the world of Rapture as a solo venture. What are your initial reactions? Nate

I've only played the first one up to the first boss, but I was fairly disappointed with the lack of "immersion" I was getting (for lack of a better word) as opposed to System Shock 2 (to which I still consider Bioshock to be a sequel) and even Unreal. To me the first one felt kinda aloof and I remember thinking - I don't want to be in this level, let me out of here, now (as in in a bad, "I don't feel captivated at all and I wish this thing were over already" kind of way). Hence I only sampled it at a friend's place and decided against spending money on it. Have they managed to improve the game in that respect?

I know I sound decadent and quaint, but - seriously - for me there's a lesson to be learnt from SS2. And the lesson is quite simple: you don't need to reduce the number of gameplay elements or options (eg dumb everything down) - you just need to use them well.

Or perhaps it's just that the setting didn't suit me that well.

I bought it off of steam. So far so good. I just wish you weren't so damn fragile. You're supposed to be a big daddy, but splicers can take way more hits then you.

Quote: Original post by tstrimp
I bought it off of steam. So far so good. I just wish you weren't so damn fragile. You're supposed to be a big daddy, but splicers can take way more hits then you.

Exactly. My thoughts are perhaps since you're an earlier version of a Big Daddy you're more vulnerable? It doesn't feel balanced in relation to how the first game was set up at all. But perhaps things will change and develop more as we play further into the game?

The first Bioshock was a boring, generic FPS with interesting art direction. Is the second any different?

Quote: Original post by Fiddler
The first Bioshock was a boring, generic FPS with interesting art direction. Is the second any different?

Yeah, I was about to buy Bioshock I, but thank god I had the sense to play the demo first...the environments were quite nice, but there wasn't anything really interesting to do...I got bored quickly and didn't even finish the demo.

Quote: Original post by Fiddler
The first Bioshock was a boring, generic FPS with interesting art direction. Is the second any different?

Quote: Original post by mikeman
Yeah, I was about to buy Bioshock I, but thank god I had the sense to play the demo first...the environments were quite nice, but there wasn't anything really interesting to do...I got bored quickly and didn't even finish the demo.

To each their own I guess. I hadn't played any of the games before BioShock and what really drew me in was the story. I also liked how the enemies had a variety of dialog, all of which showcased how completely mad they were. I found the story, especially the plot twists in BioShock 1 thrilling, but we'll see how I like the sequel.

I'm pretty far into it and I'm enjoying it a lot. I loved the first one. The combat and strategy for attacking situations is fun. I love the drill. Just putting down the guns and going full in owning everyone is fun. Especially the charge drill is awesome (you get it pretty quick in the game after the first area).

I was wondering if they got rid of the camera feature, but it's still there. It's kind of fun and easy to use.

About being fragile it seems perfect for an FPS. I love having to use skill when defeating enemies. The game wouldn't be interesting if you were invulnerable. When I showed my brother the game quickly I started an easy game and that's about what it would be like to be a real big daddy. You can almost run through everything no problem unlike in hard where mistakes are deadly.

I have no problems with a difficult game. I'm playing on the hardest difficulty setting. My problem is it never really feels like I'm playing as a big daddy. I'm just some weakling with a drill!

Even in difficult games, say Call of Duty on veteran, you don't expect your tank to be blown up by a few shots of small arms fire.

I haven't seen the actual game, but the television commercials for BioShock 2 are better than the commercials for Mass Effect 2, imo.