Hacking a turret or camera is no longer FUN.

I've got a couple of hours in so far, and my biggest complaint is that hacking is TOO easy.
WAY too easy.
I really liked the hacking minigame of the original, so the new system feels really dumbed down to me.

As for the rest of the game, well, it's pretty much what every review has said so far: familiar but good.

The atmosphere, graphics and music are still top notch, and the gameplay is rock solid, but there's this pervasive feeling of "been there done that", even down to the events that take place.
It's playing things safe, which also makes it kinda hard to care for the story this time.
The wonder and excitement of the original are gone, because we already KNOW this place and what has been going on.

In terms of gameplay too, it's what you expect, which is still really really good and miles beyond most FPSs, just don't expect too many surprises. It is, for all intents and purposes, BioShock part 2. It kinda feels more like extended DLC than an actual new game so far.
It's certainly not as daringly different from the original as, say, Mass Effect 2.

But like I said, the original was just so damn good that more of the same still means a fantastic, fun experience.

The only other thing besides hacking that I don't like is the fact that there are several Online Achievements.
I had hoped Multiplayer mode was a nice extra and that it wouldn't interfere with the single player experience, and in terms of gameplay it doesn't, but including it in the achievements severely dampens my desire to replay and to try and get everything.

Spoken as someone who always opted for auto-hacking in the original, this new system is definitely welcome.  Love its total ease of use.  The new remote hack tool gun is really sweet too.

The game's pretty excellent so far.  Just exploring the various new avenues of Rapture is a joy; the attention to the world's detail and environments begs one to search out every nook and cranny, gather every obtainable item, and gaze at the various posters and cryptic messages sprawled everywhere.  Oh, and I got giddy chills when, early on in the game (like maybe fifteen minutes in), the reveal of..... the city's exterior of Rapture is shown from down below on the ocean floor, a la the original's introduction from within the bathysphere.  Another Easter egg: look out for the wreckage of Jack's fallen plane.  Very cool.

In terms of combat, I'm seriously missing the wrench.  You can still conceivably use the drill or other firearms-based weapon as a melee, but somehow it's not quite as viscerally satisfying to use.  I like the dual wielding of plasmids and weapons, and the targeting reticule appears to either be more accurate now, or the hit box is considerably more generous, as I've been nailing a lot more successful single-shot attempts.  It's been a while since I played the original, but now it seems the reticule turns a helpful red color once you've locked onto an enemy. 

Still wished they allowed for the selecting of plasmids and weapons with the d-pad in the pop-up menu -- like the first game, it can be cumbersome navigating with the analog stick.  They could've set up the ring formation into, I dunno..... a square?

The framerate on the 360 version has been steady so far.  No real complaints, but I can't shake the feeling that drops are going to look seriously awful when the action begins to heat up.  I can just imagine how it'll look during a Gathering session when Splicers, a Big Daddy, and your animation-intensive drill attack all fill the screen at once.  I'm even thinking of opting out of the Adopt/Gathering sessions all together for this very reason, and just stick to straight-up Saves or Harvests.

And on that note.  Your first playthrough: all Saves, or all Harvests?

So I've been investing quite a number of hours into the game, but it seems I'm still fairly early on in the game.  (Currently at the fourth major area, ...... Pauper's Drop.)  As said, I've been searching out every nook and cranny, sometimes doing more than four or five sweeps of every area.  Like Uncharted 2's treasure collecting, I'm adamant in my quest to get all 128 Audio Diaries, and earn the Rapture Historian Achievement on my first run through.  There's no backtracking once you leave an area in this game, so you need to pretty much do everything right then and there.

The Diaries themselves are, as always, a joy to listen to.  The public political debates between Ryan and Lamb are the most entertaining to listen to, and there was one resident's journey, Nina Carnegie, spread across tapes, that led to a sad and heartrending conclusion.  Really, the Diaries go a long way toward enriching the game's story and world.

I'm being a bastard of a bitch, and doing the Adopt ---> Gather ---> Harvest line of dealing.  The ADAM payoff is a significant 240 as a result, but it looks like I'll be missing out on the "Proud Parent" tonic (which ups the percentage of ADAM gained per sister) on this playthrough as a result.  The Gathering sessions are definitely tough, and preemptively setting up the combat area in your favor is a must.  Forcing one to go tactical, and then all-out ballistic in battles is definitely part of the fun in this game.   

If it's worth mentioning anymore, I will say that the framerate has been terrific.  Like the first game, it's held up extremely well, even during the action-intensive Gathering sessions and Big Daddy/Big Sister encounters.  Color me extremely impressed.

Did you set it to 60fps, or did you keep the original 30?
I've been playing on 30, which is perfectly adequate, and I don't really want the game to suffer from being forced to run in 60.

Like the first game, I always keep it locked at 30.  At 60, at least on my telly, I notice quite a bit of screen-tearing, especially when making sharp left or right movements.

I don't know about you guys, but the more time I'm putting into this, the less I feel I am enjoying myself.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a good game, definitely up in the higher eschelons of the FPS genre, but it's just....everything they added/changed from the original is just not as good.

I don't like the new hacking system, I don't like the addition of Big Sisters, I don't like the high enemy respawn rate (did enemies even respawn in the prequel in the first place?), all of it just seems a step back to me. I played the original, like, 5 times in a row, but I don't feel the least bit enticed to play this through even only a second time.

I'm inclined to compare this to Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect in that they were all released at the end of 2007 and have recently had a sequel released, and I can't help but think that BioShock is the only of the 3 that has NOT improved.

Still good mind you, just not better.

Finally finished this guy and I had a great time.

I went the savior route and rescued all the little sisters and spared the "villains" when given the option. The ending was very fulfilling. I honestly wasn't expecting such satisfactory end. I always thought the end of the first BioShock was a little lame. Not really sure why, but it just didn't make any sort of impression on me.

Overall I think the sequel really improved on BioShock. Granted, I never jumped on the "BioShock in the greatest game EVER" bandwagon. I thought it was a 7 out of 10 at best. Fun, but I've played better FPS games. BioShock 2 wasn't perfect, but it did iron out quite a few of the issues from the first installment. There were still some gameplay issues. Specifically, I felt there were some issues with balance, pacing, and the "smoothness" of the gameplay. My mind is telling me that I should really give BioShock 2 an 8 out of 10. I'm feeling generous though and really enjoyed the story so my final verdict will be a solid 9. Not perfect, but definitely one of the better FPS games I've played in a while.

Did anyone else feel that Sofia Lamb wasn't portrayed quite as favorably as she could have been? Maybe it's just me and my bias, but I thought that Andrew Ryan and his ideals were portrayed in a somewhat sympathetic light in the first game. When I thought about Ryan, I thought "Oh, he's crazy, but I can see where he's coming from." I didn't get that feeling with Lamb this time around. She seemed a little more over-the-top and harder to relate to.

Anyway, good times! I got most of the achievements, but I'll have to fire up another playthrough to get the rest. Not sure yet if I'll go for all of the online ones. I'm no good at multiplayer. >.<;

Finally left Pauper's Drop.  I spared.... Grace, which certainly had a more fulfilling payoff than allowing, say, the first BioShock's.... Sander Cohen to live.  It'll be curious to see how different the endings turn out based on the correlation of being merciful to the villains over the Little Sisters you choose to save or harvest.

Of course they did.  Stick around in a single area long enough, or backtrack to one, and new Splicers would always respawn.  Thank goodness for that, too; otherwise the opportunity to max out the Research Camera bonuses would drop off exponentially.

What I am noticing is that enemies definitely take a bigger toll on your health and resources.  Even on Normal difficulty, the Gathering sessions are almost always a fight to the death.  I can't begin to imagine how they're going to be on Hard mode.

Picture normal, but with twice as many deaths and exponentially more angry cursing (I don't think my sister has ever heard me say some of those things before). Te be fair though, I probably should have chosen normal instead of hard. I'm really not very good at shooters. ^.^; The weapon upgrades, plasmids, and gene tonics help out a ton though. As does research. After a while I kind of found my groove and started to fare better against my attackers. There were still plenty of hairy situations though (a couple of late game Big Sister encounters were especially frustrating).

Without spoiling anything, for those of you wanting the Savior achievement: make sure to spare everyone when given the option. Even if said person has left a message instructing / begging you to do otherwise. I nearly had a close call in said situation, but ended up making the right choice. Just keep that in mind.

The flooding of Siren's Alley was definitely a sight to behold.  All that water, and not a lick of slowdown.  Mad props, 2K Games.  Mad props.

Devoted the weekend to finishing up BioShock 2.  I got what's undoubtedly considered the bad ending.  (And it really is pretty sinister, but conclusively justified, given your behavioral choices throughout.)  While I spared all the central characters (even that dip-shit, Stanley Poole), I dealt and harvested every Little Sister, which naturally means I didn't earn the Savior achievement. That's what I'll be aiming for next, but more than anything, I'm dying to experience the good ending, since the alternative leaves one feeling so downhearted and guilt-ridden as to immediately want to make amends.  I'm especially curious to see just how much the events that take place in..... Inner Persephone change up.

On the plus side, I did earn the bulk of the major single-player Achievements on this first playthrough.  Got the "Rapture Historian" achievement, of which only 100 of the 128 diaries are required, but I still went the whole nine yards and got 'em all anyway.  Located all fourteen Power To The People machines, so that takes care of "All Weapon Upgrades", as well as maxing out all nine of the research camera subjects, earning myself the "Research Master" achievement.  (I thought I was coming perilously close to not earning this one, since I started researching the Big Sisters fairly late into the game.  For some reason, I didn't think they applied to the research, but luckily, quite a few more come your way, even near the end.)

My overall impression of the game?  Loved it, my enjoyment about on par with the first BioShock.  The initial "wow" factor of Rapture might have worn off some, but the varying locations and avenues are as inventive and lovingly detailed as they were prior.  The collect-a-thon nature of the game is on full display, and is again the perfect excuse in wanting to immerse one's self in this insanely crafted world.

The story is a solid one, and I'm glad they made the smart decision to not repeat certain plot twists and elements from the first game.  There comes a point when you'll be cheering for the...... the Pairbond team of Delta and Eleanor.  The daddy/daughter team-up is a great idea, especially in battle, with some ridiculously cool skirmishes toward the latter half of the game as a result.  I wished they dove into Delta's past a little more, but I'll reserve a final judgment call until I check out the good ending.  Lamb makes a decent villain, her antagonistically political views at its intriguing best when stacked up against Ryan's.  Her psychobabble motives do go a bit south once they eventually tie into the somewhat muddy vendetta she has with Delta, and what she wants to do with Eleanor.  I half-expected..... Gil or even Sinclair to be the ultimate baddies.  Also, what happened to Tenenbaum, I wonder?  After the intro, she never does appear again.

I suppose my only other qualms with the game are the spiked difficulty levels and skewered balancing.  As mentioned, even Normal saw something of an artificial augmentation in challenge -- this is made especially transparent during the Gathering sessions and Big Sister encounters, which aren't easy to get through in the least.  In terms of balancing, the game's insistence at bombarding you with so many items, ammo, and money still remains as problematic as before.  You're practically tripping over yourself in trying to unload enough of them to make room in your inventory.  Despite that, no matter how well you plan, you'll still often find yourself in situations where you have too little or too many resources at the most inopportune times.

And, one last complaint: the subtitle syncing is still WAY borked.

This. All of it.

I was playing again for a couple of hours yesterday, after a bit of a hiatus, and I was instantly reminded of why there had been a hiatus in the first place.

Put short: I'm simply NOT enjoying it.

Every single new addition serves only to annoy me. The Gatherings I can still muster up to some point, although having to redo them from start when you die is really annoying. The addition of Big Sisters is a HUGE pain in the ass, and just makes me reluctant to deal with Little Sisters in the first place.

Even though I had little to no trouble getting through the hardest difficulty in the first game, even Normal has me dying time and time again, and of the main reasons for this, and I keep insisting on this, is that the respawn rate HAS to be higher than the original, I'm sure of it.
Like I said, I don't even remember enemies respawning in the original, but here they are all over the place every single time you step out of a Vita Chamber, it just pisses me off.

I see that the original game I loved so much is still in here somewhere; graphics, presentation and atmosphere are still second to none, but I'm finding it just too much of a chore to play.

Once again, I think Yahtzee does a spot on job in his review:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ … BioShock-2

Agreed with every single word.

lol... I finished the game last night without completing research on the thuggish splicers. I just now read in the guide book that they don't exist on any level past Pauper's Drop. It's Metroid Prime all over again for me. I also managed to miss at least one Power to the People machine. How in the world do you miss one of those?! At least I got the good ending. I may have to be a real jerk if I play through on hard difficulty.

That's not necessarily true.  There are a handful of Thuggish Splicers that show up toward the end of the game.  You just need to keep an eye out for them.

While I admit I bum-rushed through it, I managed to nab the "Savior" and "Big Brass Balls" achievements on my second Normal difficulty playthrough.  Like the first game, I don't think I'm ambitious enough to strive for the "Against All Odds" achievement.

The biggest pain-in-the-ass achievement to earn was the "Master Protector."  Countless attempts and a zillion Trap Rivets later, I finally earned it.  God.

Thuggish Splicers were the last type of enemy I completed as well. As Angie said, they do show up near the end again, but only a couple of them. I was fortunate enough to manage to complete what little was left of my research on two of them.

As for Master Protector, there's a nice spot in Fontaine Futuristics (I think). There's a body in a room that's filled with water, and a big window looking into the room that the majority of Splicers will jump through once you start harvesting.
If you equip the Electric Flesh Tonic and Fountain of Youth and Eve Saver 2, and just hide in the corner under the window you will be able to zap any enemy that jumps through the window into oblivion, before they are able to touch the Little Sister. Make sure to not spam your Plasmid attacks too quickly and the Eve regeneration effect should be quick enough to allow you to keep shocking enemies without having to stop to use a Hypo. Intersperse with some gunfire, and put some Trap Rivets/Gun Turrets near the only door into the room, and you should be fine.

I didn't even get halfway through researching them. Unless several show up at the docking port during the last battle, I'll have to do it on my next playthrough.

Hypnotize 3 became my plasmid of choice for gathers when I upgraded to it. Yeah, trap rivets and proximity mines helped quite a bit, too. Ain't no way in hell I'll get that achievement on Hard, though.

So, anyone picked up the Minerva's Den DLC yet?  I hadn't even known it was out since August 31st -- and likely wouldn't have still if it weren't for Kotaku's review today.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be out yet for PC (or at least it wasn't when I last checked). I'm dying to play it though.

Finished up Minerva's Den last night.  Kotaku's review more or less nails it: it's a nicely condensed version of BioShock 2, instantly familiar and packing every single weapon, plasmid, and upgrade into a lean, five hour mission.  (About the only thing different is that the 'The Power To The People' weapon upgrades were taken out; upgrades are now automatically found throughout key locales during the quest.)  The Ion Laser and its ammo variations are a nice new addition, though the Gravity Well plasmid is mostly a throwaway.

There are audio diaries aplenty, embellishing the plot of this self-contained adventure, while also giving just a bit more insight into the politics and underpinnings of Rapture.  There's resolution for Tenenbaum now, which effectively ties into what she was doing for the bulk of the original BioShock 2.  But her story is secondary to the plight that circles the new protagonist, Subject Sigma -- there's a twist at the end, and it's a pretty good one.

For good and for bad, this is another hearty helping of BioShock 2.  The quest is challenging, but the game still bombards you with a stupid amount of items, ammo, and money that you're always racing to unload them all.  If you've played through the original BS2, you'll know how to better pace yourself for every confrontation; that mold is almost exactly the same, with the Splicer types being gradually introduced, the Gathering sessions, and the Big Sister confrontations.  I saved all the Little Sisters, but for those wondering about Achievements or Trophies, it seems you can either Save or Harvest to earn the "Adam Addict" award, just by 'resolving all the Little Sisters'.  I don't think the ending changes either way as well.