The Top 10 Games of 2K Games

08. BioShock II (2K Marin / 2K Australia)

February 2010 - PC, OSX, PS3, X360

As sequels go BioShock II was actually a pretty good follow-on to the game that established the series, BioShock, with the events in the game taking place eight years after the events of the first game.

The player appears as hero and protagonist in the form of an Alpha-series Big Daddy named Subject Delta. To be clear, the Big Daddy was established in the original BioShock as a bespoken and genetically modified warrior class whose function was to protect the “Little Sister” characters.

The Little Sisters were themselves specially genetically engineered characters who had special abilities that include creating ADAM, a special substance used in the creation of formulas and potions that granted the user specific special and unique powers through the manipulation of stem cells.

The world of BioShock II is the undersea utopia called Rapture that was created by the millionaire industrialist Andrew Ryan, who in addition to being an amateur social-scientist, envisioned the perfect environment for artists and other creative types who could then indulge their talents outside of the pressures created by world government and its increasingly corrupt systems.

Subject Delta begins the story with his special deep-sea diving suit and its attachments, which include a rivet gun, drill, and new and added “plasmid” powers - the latter being psi-powers created through the use of ADAM potions that alter the players DNA and genetics.

The primary goal is to fight to survive against a new threat - specifically the "Big Sister" and her host of freakish genetically modified soldiers intent upon taking over the city.

In addition to battling the minions of the Big Sister, Subject Delta also needs to search for and protect all of the Little Sisters who remain alive - they being targets of the enemy, who wants the ADAM that permeates their brains and soft tissue, recovery of which requires their death.

While the original BioShock had a dedicated and enthusiastic fan following, BioShock II offered players a new competitive multi-player mode that, while fairly limited to a handful of PvP scenario based modes, permitted limited character development in its own right.

BioShock II was very well received by both players and reviewers - the gamer community thought that the choice of a female villain was both refreshing and entertaining, as was the variety of new powers.

The game was widely rated with 4/5 and 9/10 scores, which is very good considering it was a sequal.