February 3, 2010

Multiplaying in BioShock 2


The next couple of weeks my wife is going to miss me.  I'm only going to be one room away, but I'm going under the ocean and into outer space.  As the band Mae puts it, "so close but we're so far ... away."  But, honey, I'll be sure to play later in the night when you're taking a bath or sleeping ... so I'm hoping that'll make things ok ... ?  Right, hon?

I haven't had the excitement of a new game approaching since Modern Warfare 2.  That was only three months ago, but a gamer lives for events like these new and midnight releases, and three months is a pretty long time.  To me personally, MW2 has lost the luster of its admittedly stellar multiplayer and admittedly lacking single-player, so I'm chomping at the bit for something new.  The past month has seen me focusing a lot of attention to JASON 3:60 (which is great), writing, and in my spare time going after the remaining achievements I have in Dead Space and Call of Duty Classic.  Those games are fun, but ... as I've already said ad nauseum ... I need something new.  Do you feel that way?

BioShock 2 is next week, and close on it's heels is Aliens vs. Predator.  Let's take one game at a time (besides, I only have the "Oh, Rapture!!!" banner above so I'm not allowed to talk about anything else; them's the rules of the banner).

The saga of Rapture caught me in its undertow and is the main reason I'm struggling to wait to play.  However, with the prospect of infinitely replayable multiplayer, we can hold our breath underwater a bit longer.  That is, if it's any good.

Check out the jump for a slew of videos and IGN's take on "How to Deathmatch in BioShock 2."



These are good videos.  Like the majority of the fans out there, I've been dubious about multiplayer in this strongly narrative focused game.  And while aspects of BioShock 2's multiplayer might resemble Modern Warfare 2's design, having the Rapturian aesthetic might be fun for a while.

IGN goes into written detail about how multiplayer in the BioShock world works.  Initially engaging is the pre-game lobby/menu/something: an apartment where you select your "loadouts," or "classes" if you like.  Here you combine weapons, tonics, plasmids, and any upgrades before you commence civil waring.  I don't know if you can change classes once you die if one class isn't working out so hot for you.  But the various combinations and added options look pretty varied and fun.  I wonder if the different character models perform differently; probably not or we would have heard something by now.  It looks like you'll at least be able to customize with masks; but what if we have two Zigo the fishermen out there?  Is it going to be like Ghostbusters: The Video Game mp where there can only be one 'Buster per group?  That's still an unanswered question, but read the article for some great details.

And now to the videos.  IGN has also supplied a "Multiplayer Orientation" video for us new recruits to Sinclair Solutions.  The others are just cool gameplay and even have some achievements ... unlike yesterday's more artistic launch trailer.






1 comment:

  1. ME: (groan; with total sarcasm) Sure, honey. I'll miss you. Everything's ok.

    ReplyDelete