Both Brass Ball achievements are tough, and demand the player to invest in the options available and really force thought and invention. Disable the Vita-Chambers and both games are every bit as challenging as anything else out there, if not more so. This is a perfectly valid criticism, and the thing that is directly responsible for it is the Vita-Chamber mechanism for me it's the biggest fundamental flaw in both games however it's easy to switch it off as an option. The other main criticism levelled at both Bioshock games is that they are too easy / accessible.

Bioshock 2 on the other hand is a very different story and narrative and is quite different to either games - it told quite a different story one which a lot of people seem to think is weaker (I don't, the more personal story in BS2 resonates more to me but it's very subjective). Of course, thematically there was a large number of differences, and Rapture is a very different place to the Von Braun. I'm not going to go over every point here, but I will note a few and Kieron Gillen's article here covers more or less everything:-īS1 is a lot like SS2 both in terms of plot, pacing and narrative.

Sure, there are plenty of elements that were in SS1/SS2 that were either omitted from BS1/BS2 or changed in some way but there were a large number of things in BS1/BS2 that weren't in SS1/SS2 I don't see these as dumbin down or streamlining, just stylistic preferences. Havingcome straight from a replay both games and having played SS2 only a few months back I would state that on the whole I don't see the games as being dumbed down - they are worthy succesors to most of the things that people loved about System Shock and Looking Glass Studios back in the day.

I'd like to touch on the franchise's heritage - being the spiritual successor to System Shock in particular, and Looking Glass Studio's sensiblities in general has actually given the games a bit of a problem in that there are so many people (espcially hard-core oldschool gamers that actually played the original System Shock) that will see the newer games as being dumbed down. I've just finished a complete replay through Bioshock (all achievements finally!) and Bioshock 2 and am currently about halfway through Minerva's Den, so everything about the games are very fresh in my mind.įirstly, for me the most important thing to note is that both games are fantastic - 2 of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in gaming this generation, and probably ever. With all the hoopla and hype surrounding Bioshock Infinite, I thought it would be interesting to see what people's take's on the original Bioshock and it's much-maligned sequel are now that they have a much better idea of how where Irrational are going with Infinite.

Bioshock 2 drill specialist