BioShock 2’s multiplayer is a bit of a guilty pleasure. It isn’t like other shooters at all. It may have similarities, but it’s unique blend of plasmids and traditional shooter weaponry results in some of the most interesting multiplayer games I’ve ever played. If only the technical issues would kindly step aside and let me enjoy it consistently.
Is it video lag or network lag? BioShock 2’s multiplayer has both. The netcode isn’t especially strong and the framerate isn’t all their either. These would be real deal breakers if it were any other shooter, but BioShock 2 multiplayer. For you see, it doesn’t matter if you’re a great shot or not. BioShock 2 allows the clever to reap more rewards than the twitch marksman.
It’s the end of February. While in year’s past, this would be gaming business as usual, 2010’s March lineup rivals the best holiday lineups ever.
I placed my order for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, my Final Fantasy XIII order was placed earlier this year and God of War III was in the queue since mid-2009.
Unfortunately, I still have games I wish to spend with including BioShock 2’s multiplayer which I will do a write up about later this week. I also have Trine to complete; I would have been a bit disappointed with if I had spent the full $19.99 for it. Then there’s Starship Defense, which didn’t particularly wow me, but I did just finish it with all “Perfect” medals. I did want to spend more time with Marvel vs Capcom 2 as well. After all these years, I really wanted to spend time into executing an “Air Combo” consistently.
I’d like to thank GameStop/EB Games for giving me the opportunity to pick up BioShock 2. Without their “Power Trade” promotion, I wouldn’t have given it the time of day. I wasn’t hankering for a sequel to BioShock; it felt like a complete experience and I was satiated from a narrative perspective. I also didn’t want a sequel which wasn’t handled by the original development team, Irrational Games. Discovering that the sequel was being handled by five developers and will include a multiplayer mode certainly didn’t calm those worries for quality either. But alas, for the most part, those fears were quickly put to rest once I stepped foot onto Rapture.
Whoops. I completely forgot about this week’s Checkpoint. Sunday came and went, and I didn’t flinch.
It was Chinese New Year and thus there was a whole lot of nothing going on. I finished BioShock the other day and it was still creepy all these years later. I was also still impressed with the technical and artistic work overall. The character models were a bit disturbing though; too doll like.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday 2010. This is the first NFL season which I’ve paid significant attention to, but it’s still superficial compared to the dedicated fans out there. Nevertheless, I do have a preference and want the Indianapolis Colts to achieve victory.
Just when I thought they couldn’t ruin my perception of BioShock 2 anymore, they release more multiplayer footage.
“Check it out, kids! It’s “Capture the Sister”. It’s our own twist to the classic gametype.”
Really? They shouldn’t have. They really shouldn’t have. If they want to sell this game, they need to spend less time pimping their awful looking multiplayer and more time establishing a unique identity for the product as a whole. Because as of this moment, all I’m seeing is a design by committee sequel.
Are you looking forward to BioShock 2? I’m not sure I am or not. BioShock was a fantastic game and after finishing it, I didn’t feel the need for a sequel.
This latest video shows off the action of things and it looks fine if not familiar. But the inclusion of the awful looking multiplayer has me worried for the product as whole and it doesn’t help knowing this game isn’t being handled by the original developers, 2K Boston. We shall see early next year when the game launches.
