BioShock 2

Join The Family

This is spelled out in the first minutes of our demo, dubbed “Hunting the Big Sister,” as we gradually awake to the radio nagging of one of Rapture’s few survivors — Dr. Tenenbaum. Older, more tired, and still just as guiltstricken, she’s your advisor as you take your first tottering steps.

And they’re big steps, because you’re an integral part of Rapture. You’re no normal Big Daddy — you’re the very first. The prototype, left in a puddle somewhere in the back of Dr. Suchong’s lab, capable of much more than your dimmer successors. You’re leaner, faster, and can use Plasmids as well as the monstrous mining tools equipped as standard. Both can be upgraded as in the original game, although the Plasmid system is more gratifying. Every upgrade you make gives a new Plasmid ability; so updating Incinerate, for instance, takes you from launching fireballs to wielding a built-in flamethrower.

You’re more than capable of taking down other Big Daddies (though once again, they’re no pushovers), which begs the question: Why? Another secret, we’re told. “As the prototype, you’re part of Rapture’s history. A lot of things make you special,” explains Thomas. “Suffice to say, they decided to simplify. I can’t really tell you about the incidents that lead to that…”

Regardless, you’re still one of the toughest things in Rapture, as the demo shows by dropping the player into a group of normal, short-lived Splicers. BioShock players will recognize the sudden rush with drill outstretched, and see that it’s much more satisfying from this side of the diving helmet — luckless Splicers just expire in a screeching, blood-splattering explosion like a pre-dentist nightmare. Another is quickly flamegrilled; turning to the third, a mere gesture with the drill makes him turn and run.

“The Splicers fleeing from you is something that actually can occur when they get pared down enough,” says Thomas. “It’s an important part of the fantasy of being a Big Daddy.”

A less obvious plus is the ability to go outside Rapture, as you can now survive underwater. You can use this to sneak peeks into internal areas (some recognizable from the first game) and harvest Adam-carrying slugs straight from the seabed, but it’s also the best way to take a break and just marvel at the wonderland you’re playing in. This is the money shot of the demo, trudging through the plant life and marine debris while the sea rumbles and roars around you, the stunning structures of Rapture rising overhead. It’s breathtaking.

PREV1234NEXT