Platforms
- PCFeb 09, 20108.4playscore9.18 Critics8.712.2K Players
- PlayStation 3Feb 09, 20108.5playscore8.516 Critics8.89.91K Players
- Xbox 360Feb 09, 20108.6playscore8.718 Critics9.088.6K Players
25 critic reviews · 40 community reviews across all platforms
Critic Reviews
- Every weapon in BioShock 2 is more impressive and more satisfying than its equivalent in BioShock 1. The shotgun is now a double-barreled shotgun. The basic pistol has been replaced by a lethal rivet gun that treats Splicer flesh as scrapyard metal. The machine gun has been upgraded to a turret-sized Gatling gun that couldn’t fit in human hands, let alone be carried by them.
Charlie Barratt · Jun 24, 2012 Reviewed on PC, PS3, X360Read full review - There's a certain straight-to-DVD feel with this sequel, which constantly evokes the original without ever eclipsing it. But perhaps it's callous to stack it up too harshly against its brilliant predecessor. BioShock 2 houses great combat, an entertaining multiplayer game, some truly standout set pieces, and a story you'll want to see through to the end. Yes, it's certainly overshadowed by the one that came before it, but it's worth experiencing on its own merits.
Game Trailers · May 12, 2010 Reviewed on X360 - By tweaking the gameplay for the better, Bioshock 2 is in many ways an improvement over the original. Those who've played the original game will find the return to Rapture less engaging second time around, but the secrets the world hordes should be enough to tempt any fan.
Sammy Barker · Feb 15, 2010 Reviewed on PS3Read full review - Bioshock 2 is a good game but it is not a great game; it’s not a Game of the Year type such as the first one was. The game didn’t do enough in my eyes to improve on what made the first game so great. It’s a great time playing as a Big Daddy and it adds an interesting twist to Rapture but more story telling would have been lovely as the story didn’t hook me in like the first did.
Cameron Teague · Feb 15, 2010 Reviewed on PS3Read full review - Anyone looking for a first-person shooter that offers more than flat, stereotypical characters and copy-and-paste supersoldier plots, one that attempts to establish a sense of right and wrong and loops you into the decision making process, and one that's set in one of the most vividly realized settings around should pick up BioShock 2. It's a game in which story, setting, and gameplay are expertly blended to create an experience that's as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
Charles Onyett · Feb 09, 2010 Reviewed on PC, PS3, X360Read full review - In many ways BioShock 2 is a game about refinements, rather than wholesale changes. Combat is better, thanks to the dual wielding, better enemy variety and larger scale encounters; hacking has been simplified, now making use of a timing-based button pressing mechanic that fits far better than the tubes seen in the previous game; and replay value has been enhanced by the sheer number of ways you can customise your character through use of Adam and upgrade stations.
Tom Orry · Feb 08, 2010 Reviewed on PC, PS3, X360Read full review - Precisely what you choose to do when you are beholden only to yourself and your own moral constraints is the backbone of BioShock 2. Rapture may not be as mysterious and intriguing this second time around, but it is nonetheless host to a powerful and moving tale that allows you to better realize--or pervert--Ryan's principles at your own discretion. Regardless of whether or not this is a return visit to paradise lost, there is plenty to be found here to make it a worthwhile, meaningful, and compelling one.
Lark Anderson · Feb 08, 2010 Reviewed on PS3, X360Read full review - When this game recognizes its true potential, it shines. It’s just a shame that it wanders misguidedly for so long. The first 10 hours are not bad or forgettable, they just don’t branch out from the safe confines of the first BioShock. The controls are just as tight as they are in the first game, and the explosive plasmid play once again makes brutality against splicer nation an undeniable blast.
Andrew Reiner · Feb 08, 2010 Reviewed on PS3, X360 - It's hard to make too many direct comparisons to the first BioShock when talking about this sequel, because such a big part of the first game was seeing Rapture for the first time and experiencing a real sense of discovery as you went deeper and deeper into its fiction. Returning to Rapture--even a different part of the city--is naturally going to be less impressive. But the smart additions on the gameplay side make BioShock 2 rewarding in a different way, while those who want to know more about Andrew Ryan's underwater city will find just enough to make the return trip worthwhile.
Jeff Gerstmann · Feb 08, 2010 Reviewed on PS3, X360Read full review - That said, the gameplay is more about luck than strategy. BioShock 2 plays more like early PS2 multiplayer titles such as TimeSplitters rather than technical, multi-faceted experiences like the Call of Duty games. There's a lot of visual noise: with a chaotic room of plasmids going off, the screen can get pretty crazy, and you might have to resorting to merely melee-ing anything that happens to stumble in front of you.
Jim Sterling · Feb 08, 2010 Reviewed on X360Read full review
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Community Reviews
- Reviewed on PC
- Reviewed on PS3
- Reviewed on PC
- Rated on X360
- Rated on X360
- Rated on PC
- Rated on PC
- Rated on PC
About the game
Trailers & Screenshots:
Set approximately 10 years after the events of the original BioShock, the halls of Rapture once again echo with sins of the past. Along the Atlantic coastline, a monster — somehow familiar, yet still quite different from anything ever seen — has been snatching little girls and bringing them back to the undersea city. It is a Big Sister, new denizens of Rapture who were once one of the forgotten little girls known as Little Sisters, known to inhabit the city's dank halls. No longer a pawn used to harvest ADAM, the dangerously powerful gene-altering lifeblood of Rapture, from the bodies of others and in turn run the risk of being harvested herself, the Big Sister is now the fastest and most powerful thing in Rapture.
Developer: 2K Marin