BioShock 2 Multiplayer News

BioShock was one of the most innovative and original games back when it debuted in 2007. It brought something different to the first-person shooter genre and quickly became one of the best games of the year winning numerous Best of Show and Game of the Year awards.

One thing that was so different about it was how the developers created it. Most games these days have a good story mode and then a really good online multiplayer mode(i.e. Gears of War, Halo). However, BioShock had absolutely no multiplayer at all. The reason for this was that the developers wanted to focus all their attention and effort on making a game with an incredible single player experience. They figured that if the campaign was good enough, people wouldn’t need a multiplayer mode, and they were right.

Like all great games typically do, BioShock is spawning a sequel and, despite some people’s interjections, will contain multiplayer. There has been some debates over whether or not BioShock 2 needed multiplayer or not. Most people loved the exclusive single player of the first game and don’t want the developers to take away anything from the campaign in their efforts to create multiplayer. But some new details have arisen about the new multiplayer mode, and they might just turn some of you skeptics around.

One of the most incredible things about the multiplayer mode is that is takes place in the time when rapture was collapsing. This means it takes place before the first BioShock game. The interesting part is that the actual game takes place 10 years after the first game! “Would you kindly” pick me up off of the floor, I just fainted. Your multiplayer character is one of the plasmid test subjects so you get to assist in the mayhem that besought Rapture. But if playing a crazy, plasmid-injected psycho isn’t your cup of tea, then you will be happy to know that you can also play as a normal citizen of Rapture trying your hardest to protect rapture from complete destruction. Considering the fact that the multiplayer is a prequel, it gives you the awesome chance to explore Rapture before it became destroyed and decayed like you saw it in the first BioShock. allowing for a greater appreciation of the architecture of Rapture. One reason the multiplayer is going to be like a completely different experience is because it is being developed by a different company than the single player campaign. Digital Extremes is handling the development of the multiplayer, aside from 2K Marine who is doing the single player campaign.

No word has been released as of yet on how many players the multiplayer will support. There is also no word on the number of maps or what modes there will be. I can only assume that whatever maps they do have will be just as vast as the levels in the single player mode. What has been revealed is that players will be able to unlock new weapons, plasmids and tonics by using experience points they receive from combat. It is still unclear whether or not these items will be strictly multiplayer or not but developers do promise hundreds of different combinations which means very different forms of combat depending on the player. One rumor about the multiplayer is that you will be able to put on a Big Daddy suit, but that is just speculation.

From just these few details it seems that developers are going to great lengths to make a truly incredible multiplayer experience. If these details don’t get some of you skeptics watering at the mouth, then you are a lost cause. I know for a fact that I have just become that much more excited and eager for this game to come out. BioShock 2 is set to release on September 30 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

written By: Zack Duncan