Bioshock

Bioshock 2 opens with an explosive beginning; it’s 1960, and you are in a plane over the Atlantic Ocean. With no warning, your plane is suddenly in the waves, and being the lone survivor, you search desperately for a way out – and see a lighthouse. A lighthouse? In the middle of the sea? Despite your reasoning, you swim towards it, where you find a small submarine waiting for you. As you climb into it to seek shelter, it submerges, and you are exposed to the beautiful underwater city, Rapture.

In the story, Rapture is a “country” managed by egomaniac businessman Andrew Ryan, with the principle that a city run without the restraints of government or religion can pursue its own ambitions with unlimited prospects. However, when you reach the underwater paradise, you find that everything has gone horribly wrong. As you try to discover the truth, you are exposed to ADAM, a corrupt substance which gives you superpowers. Wow.

Character customization is the strength of this game. Having superpowers, you are able to shoot lightning from your fingertips, burn your enemies’ eyeballs at will, and fling people you don’t like at sharp objects using telekinesis. You can also lead an army of insects against your opponents, or if you prefer, set up traps for them to step on. Indeed, the amount of ways you can torture your enemies here is limited only by your imagination, and that makes for a cool game to play. The world of Rapture is huge, so you will have a lot to play with here.

Without giving too much away, you can basically gain these skills by harvesting the aforementioned ADAM, or using plasmid energies called EVE. But superpowers are not the only means to wreak havoc and destruction in Rapture. You are also given a whole arsenal of weapons to choose from, from the humble wrench to the noisy but awesomely powerful machine gun. Since the game is set in the 1960s, your superpowers will often be of much better use than your real-life weapons, but that isn’t to say that the guns aren’t pretty.

The enemies in the game are, however, a disappointment. Sure, there are a whole array of enemies to fight, each with their respective unique ways of trying to kill you, but after a while they all feel the same. The bosses aren’t much of an eye opener either, they’re just like the normal enemies with tons more health and kilograms more damage. And if you happen to die, don’t fret. Bioshock 2’s system of death is especially noteworthy, as you don’t just get a chance to try again without penalty; you even get to retain whatever items you were holding plus damage already dealt to the enemies. So if you’re facing a boss which you just can’t kill, don’t worry, because you can just get up over and over again until you show him that the good guys always win.

However, the game has is known to have audio issues. Some gamers have complained of having no sound whatsoever. The graphics though, are awesome. So if you’re looking for a way to kill time and are willing to tinker around the hood, Bioshock 2 is just your kind of game.

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