Ah, so you're still with us. Good. Well then, let's get the biggest surprise out of the way first: There is no Big Sister. There are Big Sisters -- plural. That's right, they got us. All early signs pointed toward the Big Sister being a sole menacing entity that would stalk players throughout the sequel. No: Rapture is lousy with them, but encountering one is still genuinely frightening.
There is no Big Sister. There are Big Sisters -- plural. |
You'll also encounter multiple Big Daddy iterations within the sprawling undersea complex, but they won't attack unless provoked. You can walk right past them and they won't even bat an eyelash -- er, blink a headlamp. Mess with their Little Sister and it's another story. Take down the Big Daddy and his Little Sister clings to you for protection. (More on that in a bit.)
We met another formidable foe while playing: a Splicer "brute" -- big, angry and very strong. Picture
Left 4 Dead's Tank "zombie" and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from this enemy type. (Pro Tip: If you're faced with a Big Sister and a brute at the same time, don't run. Use the Hypnotize Plasmid on the brute, and he'll take out his aggression on the sister instead.)
The area of the game we played in wasn't custom-built for this demo, as our previous encounter had been. No, "Ryan Amusements" is a fully fleshed-out theme park, the star attraction of which is a sort of "journey to the surface!" experience, where the children of Rapture had once been exposed to snippets of life above the waves by means of animatronic scenes presented through Rapture creator Andrew Ryan's anti-government, anti-religion, anti-
surface filter.
The scenes reminded us of similar designs we'd seen used in
Fallout 3 and really went a long way to show the creativity going into the all-important melding of
BioShock 2's environment and story. This "attraction," along with the still-present, pre-recorded announcements from Ryan played over the city's public address system, suggested that we'll get even more acquainted with the man's philosophy this time around.
We were taking all of this in playing as the very first, prototype Big Daddy, known as "Subject Delta" (we're already placing bets on the likelihood of subjects Alpha, Beta and Gamma appearing as bosses). 2K is still keeping the main character's backstory a closely guarded secret, but would say that you're searching for your own missing Little Sister; with the over-the-radio help of this game's "Atlas," an olde-timey, accent-sporting gent named Sinclair.
When you've taken down another Big Daddy and "adopted" his Little Sister, a button press will send a glowing wisp off as a guide to the nearest ADAM-rich body. Once you put her to work harvesting ADAM, a "siege" of Splicers out to kill the little girl begins, so examining the immediate surroundings for doors and choke points, planting traps and hacking turrets to work for you is essential before doing anything. We encountered two such scenarios while playing: One took place in a larger, lobby area with multiple staircases, while the second was very close-quarters. Both were challenging, even with strategies in place.
Like the first game, each area of the sequel has a set number of Little Sisters. When you've "spent" one, there's the choice to harvest them for every last drop of ADAM or return them to untainted human form and deliver them safely to a vent for escape. We're told that, as in the original, whether you choose to be a savior or killer of the Little Sisters will affect some element of the story's outcome.
While all this was going on, we were making our way through areas of Rapture not seen in the first title -- but the art direction and atmosphere was so faithful we'd be hard-pressed to say it "looked better" or really very different, save for a few new special effects. Our trek along the corridors of Ryan Amusements also provided opportunities to try out some new play mechanics and weapons. Our favorite was the remote hacking dart. As its name suggests, this gizmo can be fired at any hackable electronics (turrets, door controls, etc.) from a distance. (We encountered at least one situation where we had to remotely hack a door to progress.) When the dart hits, the new hacking minigame begins. Unlike the original game's "pipe puzzle," this one's a more simple timing-based challenge where you must stop a fast-moving arrow on the green portion of a meter. The harder the hack, the smaller the green area.
At one point, we rounded a corner and noticed two Splicers arguing next to a security turret. We were able to remotely hack it, with them none the wiser, and watch as they realized the turret had been activated -- and programmed to kill them.
Before moving on to multiplayer, we played around with one of the new weapons -- a spear gun which, as one of its ammo types, has a "rocket spear" that sticks into Splicers and sends them knocking around the room before exploding. We also defeated a Big Sister. We'd already picked up the Winter Blast Plasmid, so freezing her and then blasting her with explosive rounds (or using the Big Daddy's trademark arm drill, which consumes fuel -- a new pick-up) worked a treat. We got 100 ADAM as a victory bonus and then got set for multiplayer.
