Bioshock 2
Review
Just finished the game and then subsequently read up what actually happened in the plot on the wiki.
Overall yeah it's basically Bioshock except you play as a Big Daddy. It still has the fundamental problems of the predecessor, namely Plasmids not being strong enough to warrant the amount of time and cost invested in them. And then throwing way too many enemies at you.
Gameplay-wise it really is basically the same game. Being a Big Daddy really just means you have a different set of weapons. And in the end they're really not that different which I think was a missed opportunity.
But despite all that I actually really liked the spin that now you're a Big Daddy from the start. Your relationship with the Little Sisters is really great. The fact that the entire plot of the game is basically you being the father to some girl (you're not biologically related to her) and needing to save her. I also liked that they gave you choices that affected the end. Though they're kind of weak choices overall. It's basically "kill or don't kill this person" and there's no real benefit to killing them...so it's just like "Are you petty?"
I liked revisiting Rapture. Hearing extra color on what happened in Rapture is great. I loved the theme park with Andrew Ryan where he talks about the government stealing from families and has a giant animatronic hand that comes down representing the government. Great stuff.
Another cool bit is when you get to play a Little Sister for a bit and you get to see the version of the world they see. It's super interesting because the whole time you're playing is this completely twisted hellscape with these like drug addicts crawling on walls and throwing fireballs at each other and then you have these little girls running around talking about "angels". Turns out they picture the whole world as a weird warped safe and cutesy, child-friendly version of the world. Great little twist.
The end I liked as well. Eleanor is a cool character and her saving all the sisters and then being unleashed on the world with your good judgement injected into her (literally via the ADAM from your dying body) at the end is a cool concept.
Worth a quick playthrough. I'm giving it a 7 because it really is just Bioshock 1.5.