Video game review: BioShock 2, the city of Rapture sequel

BIOSHOCK 2

RATING M for mature

In BioShock 2, the city of Rapture has degenerated further into chaos than at the end of the first BioShock. The sea has reclaimed much of the property, and the mutant "splicers" have gotten more powerful.

So, too, is BioShock lead designer Ken Levine, who walked away from his creation before publisher 2K Games started talking sequel. While Part 2 was inevitable, given the commercial and critical success of the original, many fans have been dreading the Levine-free follow-up, fearing the franchise's devolution into just another series of mindless shooters.

Happily, however, Rapture appears to be in good hands. New creative director Jordan Thomas, who developed one of the most memorable sequences in BioShock, maintains the nerve-racking claustrophobia of the underwater metropolis - and expands on its political conundrums.

The new game opens up some previously unseen neighborhoods of Rapture, including its slum, Pauper's Drop, and its red-light district, Siren Alley. Most intriguing is Ryan Amusements, a theme park in which a spooky animatronic Ryan guides children through his hellish vision of the Earth's surface.

The dark satire of that sequence echoes the tone established in the original game and demonstrates an admirable fidelity to Levine's original vision. BioShock 2 doesn't feel as jaw-droppingly fresh - but it quickly develops its own momentum, building on Rapture's mythology rather than just rehashing it. - AP