November 2020 Playthrough - Bioshock 2

[shaggy]

Got to Pauper's Drop.  Getting me some ADAM!

[MetalFRO]

Yeah, I think the Rivet Gun is good for one on one fights, or maybe when you have 2 you're dealing with at most, but it doesn't do enough damage to be good in a larger skirmish.

[shaggy]

Yeah, I think the Rivet Gun is good for one on one fights, or maybe when you have 2 you're dealing with at most, but it doesn't do enough damage to be good in a larger skirmish.

I don't like the machine gun because it shakes so much it changes where you're aiming.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Anyone have a favorite weapon or plasmid? I really liked the Spear Gun, once I got it, and I had a lot of fun with the Incinerate plasmid. Electro Bolt is great to use in water, but Incinerate does so much more damage, and usually provides distraction for a bit, so you can unload on enemies for a few seconds w/o reprisal, before they start fighting back.

My favorite plasmid was probably Incinerate 3! While it was helpful for inflicting burn damage, there is just something so satisfying about being able to shot a stream of fire from your hand. That being said, I didn't rely too heavily on plasmids unless of course there were a bunch of enemies standing in water I could zap for the easy kill. My favorite weapon has to be the shotgun, especially if you fully upgrade it to where it has 6 shots, does more damage, and has a chance to shock your enemies. The one weapon I really wanted to like but just ended up feeling disappointed with was the drill. I feel like the drill is supposed to be the embodiment of being a big daddy, except you are left with a subpar melee weapon the burns through fuel faster than the original hummer. Even with the upgrades and on the easy difficulty you don't get that satisfaction of ripping through splicers, but instead are left with a sort of unfulfillment.

[MetalFRO]

I liked the shotgun A LOT MORE after the upgrade, for sure. Regarding the drill, I think it's situational, more than anything. I found myself using it when I ran out of other ammo, or when I was facing enemies that are more bullet spongy, like the Big Sisters, or the hulking dudes that rush you. It's good for draining off some of their HP, when you get caught by them, and can help give you a chance to inflict some damage, then give you an opportunity to regroup and back away.

[shaggy]

I'm near the end of Pauper's Drop, I'm closing in on Gracie.  I've fully upgraded the Rivet gun and the Machine guns so we will see how the recoil is on the machine gun now.  What guns did you upgrade?  I'm rescuing all my Little Sisters so my ADAM will be limited.  What are you using your ADAM for?  How are you researching?  I'm trying to switch it up but it takes too much time and breaks up the battle to me to switch weapons and plasmids to get a better research scores.  How is/did researching go with you guys?

[shaggy]

Made it to Siren Alley and got the Code to get through the door.  I'm liking this game like the first one.  This game is taking forever for me because I'm exploring every single part of Rapture like I did in the first game.  You know, though, for being a Big Daddy you sure move smoothly and fairly quickly.  I would think a Big Daddy would move slow and jerky but I'm glad they didn't make it that way as I don't think it would be as much fun that way.

[MetalFRO]

I upgraded the damage on all guns that allowed for it, upgraded clip size on a couple, and I believe toward the end I got the upgrade for the machine gun to minimize the recoil. I almost got the zoom upgrade for the spear gun, but by that point, using it in a zoomed in manner was very situational, so I didn't think it would be worth doing.

[shaggy]

I've gotten to Fontaine's area now.  So far I've completely upgraded the rivet gun, machine gun, and the shotgun and I have to say upgrading the shotgun is the way to go!  That gun is so awesome fully upgraded especially if you can shoot an enemy while they are in the water.  The one thing I don't like about the shotgun is the limited ammo capacity.

I'm sitting at 7 plasmid slots and not seeing an option to buy the last one.  I also have 10 out of 11 plasmids.  I'm hoping I'm given the last slot and plasmid because I have a feeling I'm near the end of the game. 

I have the Brute, Alpha, Big Sister, and Big Daddy left to research.  One more Brute and they'll be finished but I'm worried about the Big Sisters because they are so limited, I'm only a dash over level 3 with them.  This may be a case of saving right before them coming and loading if I can't get a good score on them.

One thing I liked about this game are the areas where you are actually traveling between areas in the water.  Yes, you don't do anything but pick up some items and ADAM slugs but I'm a Big Daddy and can survive underwater unlike the original so I thought this was a nice touch and I always knew I could take a breather and be safe.

[shaggy]

Well, I'm nearing the end, I believe.  I think I should have this wrapped up by tonight.  After that, I'll have some final thoughts.

You guys should get on the Discord chat.  We have some great discussions on the game of the month there.

[shaggy]

Once I upgraded the machine gun and shotgun those were my weapons of choice.  The plasmid I used the most was the Winter Frost (or whatever it was called).  I was able to find every Power to the People station and 122 out of the 129 audio diaries.  I was able to completely research every enemy.

I really liked the spots where you had windows out to the water, looking out and seeing Rapture from the inside.  Being a Big Daddy and going out into the water was neat and a bit different even though you really couldn't do anything, it was just there for travel.  I do wish that your movement was lumbered and slow like I imagine a Big Daddy should be but I understand why they didn't do that as it would take you forever to move in the game.  I loved the sound in the game, like when you jump down from something and you get that CLUNK.

I like the little things they did to make it look like Rapture was a city.  Such as in Fontaine's area you get to the offices and find out they are working on a Transport Gene Tonic as shown by signs in the office and other signage that shows they created and promoted the Audio Diaries.  Or in the cells how they is signage so prisoners could buy pictures mattresses and other items.  Reading the signage was enjoyed and breathed a bit more life into Rapture.

Overall, this is a great game but I have issues with the ending and some other things.

Spoiler (hover to show)

When you become a little sister you go into Lamb's office and where Eleanor was held in quarantine and there are items there but you can't pick them up other than the Audio Diaries.  You can't get into either area as your main character so why put the items there!  You can't pick them up.  As for the ending, I believe I got the best ending, I saved every little sister and saved the three characters where you had the choice.  The ending was hard to interpret, I believe Eleanor lives even though it seemed like her and Lamb died and it appears that I died but again, I'm not so sure.  I was very disappointed in that ending after doing all that work and having no payoff.  The whole game I was assuming Cindy was Eleanor but we never find out where Cindy is other than she become a little sister.  At least you find out what happened to Mark.  Seeing this little sub story was added to the game I figured there would be a payout.
 Things should have been more fleshed out instead of remaining a mystery.   I'm so disappointed in that ending.