Jolt Country

...I just played it all the way through, on easy, and it took me around 10 hours. Started around 9 and just finished it up at 7.

I'll try to do a proper review later but here's a quickie:
-must be fairly enjoyable because I never finish a game in one sitting
-Most everything is unchanged. I guess they didn't want to mess with a good thing. This could have been Bioshock 1.5..
-It has multiplayer now... this is probably where most of the work went
-Shittiest last level EVER. It was just more of the same shit, no boss, and the "solution" didn't even make a lick of sense.

It was pretty damn good up until the last couple levels. Maybe it's just the contrast of how stellar the first level was..

What good is a game without a huge boss beatdown at the end?



Hmmph!

Well, the first one's boss battle was pretty lame too but at least there WAS a boss, not simply extra waves of the same guys you've been fighting the whole game.

Just the contrast between the first level and the last level really illustrates the point. The first level was by far the best, and the last was by far the worst. It went up and down throughout the game like "the wife" and "the girlfriend" take turns going up and down on "the cock" but it seems like they ran out of time or something with the last level. Like they MEANT to put a boss in there, but they had to get the game out by release date so focused on getting multiplayer working right instead.

I wouldn't doubt it, in this day and age of Xbox Live kiddies fawning over the latest Call of Doody....

The main issue I had with the game was that you were never compelled to do anything, as opposed to the original. It just feels like you're running around completing errands just BECAUSE that's what the next goal is. In the first game, you had a great story unfolding as you played, and you actually WANTED to have a purpose to what you're doing. This time, it's like they just say "Do this, just cuz we say so."

There are some more moral decisions and such to make, but it still feels forced. "on rails", literally. ;) That was a joke if you couldn't tell from the stupid smiley. You'll see what I'm talking about when you play it.

The underlying first person shooter mechanics are great, fun, etc. It definitely scratched my FPS itch... but so did the original Unreal, which it pulls its engine from....

with that said, just like the first game, I am planning on replaying it on normal (or harder) to follow a different plot. (harvesting vs. saving the little sisters, for instance)

However, this
-cannot be done in one sitting and
-whatever plot twists there may be, I can't forsee one that magically makes a final boss fight appear

The ending was so anticlimactic and lazy that it really soured my review/impressions. The whole game you build up and improve your plasmids/weapons and for what? I was saving all my good shit for the "big guy" and just using the same old offense for the same old "normal" baddies that flood the room in the last scene. And then, joke's on me, I didn't NEED to save all those heat seeking rockets and such. Could have just hid in a corner and spewed all my good stuff; no penalty for blowing your load early in Bioshock 2.

Also, (being very careful to not post spoilers here), there are some really gory parts in the game - even from the outset.

BUT. What it is missing, what it does NOT have.. is any scary/tense/shit that makes your skin crawl like in the original when you come up around the corner on the splicer woman singing to what appears to be a baby in a carriage...

Because of these crucial things, it falls short of a classic like the original and is relegated to simply another solid first person shooter.

This is what kills me about the video game industry.

So, I pre-purchased the game over Steam. Went in with three other guys, got it for a good price. Valve and Irrational had our money three weeks ago. We are their most loyal consumers.

Valve didn't offer a pre-load. (Meaning, you load a lot of the content ahead of time, and it "unlocks" it the day it's released.

I had to work today. Steam has no concept of "begin downloading when it's activated." Meaning, I would have had to have had a remote desktop connection with my home PC in place. I would have had to have paid attention to when Valve decided it was OK to play. And so forth. But I am working. I cannot and will not do those things.

More, the game was PIRATED TWO DAYS AGO. It was on Usenet two days ago.

I got home around 6:30. I told Steam to start downloading the game and went out for the night. I got back an hour ago and it wasn't finished downloading. Even though I showed them the most customer loyalty possible - giving them money weeks in advance - I'll be the person who is able to play it last.

Fuckin' video game industry.

Fuckin' video game fuckin' industry. They want to know why people pirate, it's because of this. Make Steam recognize when a game has been activated and have it automatically start downloading it. Show some fucking respect to the people who work for a living and buy this shit.

Them COCKSUCKERS ROBB!

Seriously loved the guest post.

This thread needs more COCK!

Waaaaaaaaaaay too fucking difficult on "hard." It's a fucking joke, and honestly makes me not want to play it.

Aside from the ridiculousness of the first big daddy fight (why did they rehash a bit from the first game?) the first time you defend the little sister is laughably terrible.

I initially thought the game was good but not great, but it's clearly in "shitty" territory for me now. I'm contemplating throwing all my progress away and playing it on medium. Fighting a foe that sloooooows you down and tower defense are not two genres I give a shit about. OK, the first isn't a genre. Whatever. This game is absolutely terrible so far, only marginally playable because of the art design.

You can switch difficulty mid-game. My complaints have melted away.

Well, sort of.

The animation that goes from running out of fuel to being able to use the drill as a weapon is interminably long. I'm already at a disadvantage and desperate using the drill. It shouldn't penalize me for having to go to melee in the middle of a fight like that.

I can't find out how long I've been playing BioShock 2 in Steam, which is ... is just... Christ, they keep ALL this data. Anyway, I've heard that for the first hour you're likely to think, "I've played all this before." I'd guess I'm three hours in. I've played all this before. All of it.

Ah, I found it. It says I've been playing BioShock for 1.4 hours.

What happened to the damn little jingles that played when you were near the Circus of Values machines and such in the game. I loved that little tune in Bio 1. Seriously added fun to the game.

Is it me or is the hacking abilities in this game a little to easy. I hated the fluid tube crap in Bio 1, but man this is easy. The one positive is the damn turrets and such are fun to use to your advantage more often in this game.

I love being able to use the Big Daddy drill to penetrate every damn thing in sight. I am a hooker with that thing, but I find the running out of fuel to be annoying. But, there is an app for that, start hacking them damn safes all over the place and load up and party!

Being a Haunted House designer, I notice every little detail in a game. In fact, designing a haunted house is like designing a game. This game does yet again blow me away with the little details. Loved the part where you could push the buttons and get a little animatronic display from Mr. Ryan. Felt like I was in demented Disneyland, which I have always dreamed of. That was damn cool. I love it when games have little things that the player can watch and do within the game. Left 4 Dead 2 is like this as well where you get to set off fireworks and such at a concert to kill zombies. That is great creativity to me. The colors, the details, the movement of objects, the more in depth ocean details is top notch. I have to make me a Big Daddy costume STAT!
If you want to see what I do, please allow this shameless plug: www.cityofthedeadhaunt.com = Haunted House I am in debt building ;) so games I buy better be good :)

The door codes in the game are fricken listed right there for you to input. Come on, make me search for the code to unlock doors in obscure places, don't just give me the code. Maybe this changes in higher difficulty settings, but the code is just given to you to input. Now that is lame. Why even have doors that have lock codes on them.

My one glaring issue is when you are in the ocean walking around and such it just feels like an after thought. What is the purpose? I mean it is cool and all, but at least let me battle some dudes. Throw something at me rather then just making me walk to the next location. I need more input. Throw a damn shark at me or something.

I was super glad to have finally found a lot of the stuff that was annoying me was configurable in the options menu. The helmet view had to go right off the bat and man was I glad I found the controller sensitivity option. It felt like crap with the out of box sensitivity settings.

I agree, I feel like I have played all this before, but I will be honest, I wanted more after Bio 1. I am intrigued to find out what this Lamb gal is all about. To me, the story line and extreme attention to detail in the game does make this a great game. In my top 3 but combined with Bio 1. Does not warrant an individual spot on it's own. It inspired me creatively and that is what I truly enjoy in games that I like and will play again.

I think the codes only show up if you've listened to an audio recording that says the code. At least on "medium" difficulty.