[Atlas.]

I picked up these 2 mags today, both have quite a bit in them about Bioshock 2. They both include alot of nice concept art and screenshots, but scans cant be posted here so i cant show them

I just watched the First Look video that was posted last night so some of what i post here will probably have already been covered. Theres quite alot of writing to go through so im just gonna post stuff here that i think might be worth writing. As both mags have quite a bit its a bit hard for me to seperate bits out between the 2 on what one has that the other doesnt, so im gonna post points under each mag and will try not to repeat myself on any points

Games™ conducted an interview with 2K Marin for their information so alot of the info is quotes from Jordan and others involved but is direct information from them. Some has already been said in the video interview that recently came up but i'll write up stuff anyway incase it might be useful for anyone.


- *Anyone that doesnt want to find out too much about the game would be best not reading any article info like this posted just incase you might see it as spoilers. Im posting this up for the benefit of those who cannot obtain these magazines themselves so they can get any info from them that i have gotten* -


Alot of this may already be known so i might be wasting time writing all this out but im going to do it anyway just incase its of any use


Anything i write is how its written in the article. If i use quotes then its a direct quote from the magazine quoting the person from 2K that gave the information

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Playstation Official Magazine - UK (June '09 issue):
(cover has same image as the GI issue)

• The first Big Daddy - an experiment to engineer the perfect protector, obedient and powerful. An experiment that failed. Not for lack of power, you're as tough as the other Big Daddies, not as slow and able to use plasmids that they cannot. But something went wrong. After you, "they decided to simplify", as Jordan puts it. The Big Daddies that came after are like the ones previously encountered. Unlike them, and unlike Jack, you have free will. You're not a slave to any psychological conditioning
• Being a Big Daddy means having power. You're no longer hefting a wrench. Instead you have a choice between the drill fist or the rivet gun. You can also perform a characteristic Big Daddy charge, which is forceful enough to burst through wooden doors
• Marin didnt say whether you can use the weapons dropped by splicers, saying "a lot of the player weapons are made for the Big Daddy". These weapons, and the others currently unknown about, are all heavily upgradable. "A fully upgraded rivet gun is pretty ridiculous.. And you can have it pretty early in the game". The drill fist can be extended to drill deeper, or lubricated to bore into your enemies for longer without overheating
• Combining plasmids such as Cyclone Trap, once laid any 'elemental' plasmid can be used to charge the trap "including the element of bees". That means traps can freeze, burn or electrocute enemies, and even make them fight each other or activate the security system thanks to Enrage and Security Bullseye
• Plasmid upgrades evolve as you go along. Cyclone Trap charging cant be done until level 2. Incinerate becomes a different weapon at each stage, with level 3 becoming a stream of flames like a flamethrower. The team wants you to try everything, so the level 1 versions of most plasmids are free to aquire. Once you've settled on the ones you want, they want to make sure that specialisation doesnt just mean repetition with better stats - hence the change of control method as Incinerate levels up
• When you're carrying a Little Sister, any corpses with ADAM you come across will be highlighted. Wherever and whenever you like, you can set her down and tell her to start 'gathering'
• The team tease that if you can resist harvesting her to get all of the ADAM that she has collected and take her to a vent, that there are ultimately different non-ADAM rewards for that
• The Big Sister wanted to go home to Rapture (the girl in the teaser trailer looking back to Rapture) having never broken free of her programming
• As a Big Daddy, you see the Little Sisters differently than in the original. They share a special bond in which they trust you completely in being their protector against splicers attacking them for the ADAM they harvest. They therefore have a new appearance in which they look somewhat 'nicer' through the eyes of a Big Daddy

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Games™ (doesnt have a month on it)
Cover - http://www.gamestm.co.uk/flashindex.html (click on 'latest issue' to see the cover):

• Thomas says "Rapture is a compelling place.. There are alot of untold stories and unexplored locations"
• With the Big Sister, the directive was "unstable grace". The idea of a character who's supremely capable, but who doesnt know her own strength
• She has pink bows and childish patterns scrawled over her. Like all residents of Rapture, the Big Sister also has humanity. The ribbons and doodles are the work of the Little Sisters and symbolise a bond of trust at the centre of Bioshock 2
• "The city has reached a state of equilibrium. The first game felt like the end of the end, but now its ten years later and the remaining people have managed to find some level of ecological stability. The city itself is going to have aged. The walls will have panels ripped off and water coursing through. There'll be alot more flooding" - De La Plante
• "We need to trust the player with harder choices, and greater moral agency, allowing you to shape your own role within the narrative in a way we didnt touch in the first game. We think we've done that" - Thomas
• More effort has been made to differentiate the splicers from one another, though Marin is keeping the details secret
• "You begin as a sentient Big Daddy, and the question is how you came to be like that"
• As the only Big Daddy in Rapture with the power to act autonomously, you have greater freedom than any other resident. You can navigate the city's snaking tunnels and grand plazas, and are also free to explore the ocean floor. Airlocks are located in a variety of different places around Rapture. Theoretically the feature could be used to short cut the city, Thomas however says that its principal function is to offer access to areas that are completely submerged, and to offer something that the original was lacking: the space to listen to the audio logs and digest the unravelling mystery. It acts as a downtime for the narrative
• Players will now be able to explore the ocean floor where they can harvest live ADAM slugs
• "The intent for gameplay, rather ironically, is that you get to breathe. You can harvest live ADAM slugs, listen to pieces of the story and indulge that voyeur muscle we all have and look back in on Rapture"
• Splicers will now bear the scars of their genetic abuse more obviously "They're basically junkies and we want them to look that way". They have also evolved themselves more and are formidable opponents
• "We cant go into too much detail, but there absoloutely are new kinds of splicers, and alot of them are a significant threat to a Big Daddy"
• There will be gameplay benefits of adopting the Little Sisters and you'll also be confronted by the emotional reality. "We're turning the precise threshold where its interesting and heart-warming rather than annoying but the Little Sisters allow you to access content you wouldnt otherwise, and they'll even comment on the choices you make"
• The Big Sister has a secret understanding of the damage you're causing to the Little Sisters "After taking a certain number of Little Sisters away from their Big Daddy, the Big Sister comes and finds you wherever you are"

There were a few questions to Jordan at the end of the article:

GTM: Will any characters from the original Bioshock appear in the new story?
JT: Some of those characters are so critical to the setting that not bringing them back would be a crime, but thats all I can say right now.

GTM: Were you tempted to use Rapture in its prime as the setting and make a prequel instead?
JT: If Bioshock 2 had been a pure prequel or a pure sequel we wouldnt be surprising you, but thats all I can say

GTM: Will your actions affect the conclusion of the story, as they did in the original?
De La Plante: Yes, there are multiple endings. Thats about all I can tell you

GTM: Will there be multiplayer options in Bioshock 2?
Miller: Yes, we will have multiplayer for Bioshock 2. I cant tell you anymore than that, but we will have it

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Thats about the main points of them. Hope some of it may be of some use. Took ages writing all that lol. Dont think theres actually much new stuff that we dont already know but thought i may as well write the stuff out anyway, especially the quotes direct from the team which can be good insight


Enjoy anyway