BioShock vs BioShock 2

I thought that Bio Shock and Bio Shock 2 are overall great games. I understand the relevence of the first story, but I did not understand the need for a sequel. Overall I think they are both amazing games.

Gameplay: I find that the game play in the second installment to be more refined than in the first. There are more gene tonics, more stages for plasmids and there newer uses for gene upgrades. Being a Big Daddy has its advantages over playing Jack, a tool for the Fontain Corporation. Delta gets to carry more more money and more Adam than Jack in Bio Shock. The gameplay is slightly more cohesive, and the player has more to do. However, in the second game, I did experience some audio skipping, some clipping and some freezing. These issues seemed more addressed in the first installment than the second. I don't know if I can really blame it on the developers for being so crunched for time when they are about to release these games.

Storyline: The storyline in the first installment makes more sense than in the second game. At the end of the first game, the develeopers gave us gamers the impression that the Rapture story has ended. I'm not going to discredit the second game. BioShock 2 picks up where the first games leaves off. If you're a gamer who is more concerned about story than gameplay, like I am, then you will understand that you want questions from the first game answered like "Who rules Rapture now?", "What will happen to the Little Sisters and Big Daddies?" and "What kind of government will take control of Rapture now that Andrew Ryan is dead?" The second game pretty much answers those questions with a story now told by an old-generation Big Daddy and a more aggressive, and more tyranical villain (Sophia Lamb), who is after him.

As I played both games, I noticed that there is a sense of duality with both of them. In the first game, the leader of Rapture (Andrew Ryan) pushed for a society based solely on rationalism and self-preservation. The second installment, the people of Rapture are lost and they are search for the opposite which is a sense of belief and collectivism through a new leader (Sophia Lamb). So, pretty much, the story went from being an Ayn Rand-esque libertarian based story to a socialistic dream of citizens being members of a family. As someone who will be minoring in philosophy, I find that both philosophical concepts to be relevent to the cohesiveness of the storyline. When a well worshipped leader dies and his ideologies leave with him, people need something to turn to. The storyline of BioShock 2 reminds me of what happened to Soviet Russia after its communist collapse, except it's the complete opposite. In the game, Sophia Lamb pretty much tells the citizens of Rapture that altruism trumps the self. In the first Bio Shock game, Andrew Ryan tells the people that the self is so important. As someone who is currently in school, I completely grasp this, but anyother gamer may not fully comprehend the storyline. They may only understand the ethical choices that have to be made such has whether the Little Sisters should be rescued or harvested. For a story, Bio Shock has a sophisticated storyline for a target audience that is typically between sixteen and thirty- five years old.

(In another entry I'll discuss the cultural and philosophical relevence to these games and how they related to Ayn Rand's works.)

Graphics/Environment: As for the environment, both games are complete artistry. I'm not saying this because I'm a huge fan of both games. I am saying this because the only people who know how art in videogames should be done are people who know the gamers and what they are looking for. The levels in both games are carefully rendered. I love how the developers combine art deco with sealife and urban decay. These types of games should be called art games. The main characters in the game are well detailed and carefully rendered, especially the Big Sisters and the splicers in the second game. Both games run neck to neck when it comes to environments and graphics.

Music: I really admire how there is a mixture of old jazz and bullets in the game. I believe that there should be better voice acting on the splicers' part. Instead of repeated phrases throughout the game, they should say more. I would also say the same about the little sisters' voices. The voices in the first game are slightly better than in the second. I do think that the 1940's proper accent goes well with the game.

Who Wins This Versus: I would say that the Bio Shock is the best between the two games, mainly because the storyline in the first game is more complete. Although the second game is well made, there should be a better reason why there is even a second game besides adding multiplayer. The fact that the developers added multiplayer to a single player game in the first play does not really win me over. Just because every other game made has multiplay it doesn't mean that Bio Shock 2 also needs it. It is still a great game with it, but I think it would be as good as the first game without it.