Line #51 YMMV/Bioshock2


1	* AccidentalAesop: [[spoiler:For those who want to punish Sofia Lamb at the ending, but want to save all the Little Sisters, whether Grace Holloway lives or dies conveys the message "Sometimes you can't have your cake and eat it too."]]
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Was Gil Alexander really a good person? He sounds polite, quiet and friendly in his audio logs and is greatly remorseful at having played a part in Eleanor becoming a little sister, but that's the ''only'' thing he ever expresses regret at, and she was the daughter of the woman he loved, so there's a lot of bias. He was also involved in the creation of plasmids and the big daddy's and little sister's since day one, meaning he has ''a lot'' of blood and ruined lives on his hands that he never shows any remorse over. Could it be that "Alex the Great" is just Gil as he always was deep down.........
3	* AngstWhatAngst: In a somewhat justifiable way. When a Big Daddy is killed, the Little Sister [[PleaseWakeUp does the crying routine]] from the original... but when she sees the player is also a Big Daddy, she immediately gets happy again, as she appears to not distinguish them ("Mr. Bubbles, you're back!!").
4	** [[spoiler: Eleanor Lamb explains the Little Sisters will trust him due to her connection to the girls.]]
5	* AntiClimaxBoss:
6	** The Rumbler is objectively powerful, with its limitless mini-turrets and rockets, but much like a rocket turret, it's more or less completely shut out by both the Telekinesis and Security Command plasmids.
7	** The KingMook Subject Omega, a.k.a. Alpha [[spoiler:Sinclair]], only has the benefit of a longer health bar, a triviality to anyone who's maxed out on their research of the Alpha series. It's not an exaggeration to state that Incinerate 3 can OneHitKill him on the highest difficulty, in tandem with the hazards in the room (though this is unlikely). Even conventionally, the battle won't last much longer than 30 seconds. Heck, since you have [[spoiler:the Summon Eleanor plasmid by this point, she can kill him for you]] before you ever enter the room. It is also possible to quickly kill him by simply hacking a gun turret found in a neighbourhood room and then hacking a security bot nearby and letting them do the job. The dual Big Sisters fought one level earlier are the real ClimaxBoss of the game (although there is also a very tough battle royale involving multiple splicers at the very end, that battle is not very difficult if one uses [[spoiler:Summon Eleanor]] or even just has two security bots operational).
8	* {{Anvilicious}}
9	** Morality shouldn't be treated as a black and white concept, as that kind of mentality can be used to manipulate people and justify atrocities. Individuality and liberty should not be sacrificed for what someone else believes is the common good.
10	** Even with the best intention of unity and moral pureness, any form of leadership can turn into a fascistic dictatorship.
11	* AluminumChristmasTrees: The Thinker in Minerva's Den is said to use ADAM to work. Many players wondered how the hell a substance that enables gene editing is used in a computer. But DNA computing is a real thing, using the sequences of DNA to form binary sequences and then codes. Being able to edit genes on the fly, like ADAM enables, would really solve a lot of the drawbacks to the technology.
12	* BestLevelEver: Fontaine Futuristics. A really fun to explore level that introduces [[FlawedPrototype Alpha Series’]], has Alexander ([[EvilIsHammy who has an enormous stage presence]]), [[spoiler:and concludes Mark Meltzer’s subplot, which is an incredible PlayerPunch]].
13	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The hidden sequence with the Unstable Teleport Plasmid in Fontaine Futuristics. It teleports away multiple times when you try to collect it, forcing you to play hide-and-seek, before teleporting ''you'' to multiple points in the level, with the plasmid itself floating around chasing Splicers, eventually taking you to a dark room with statues basking in the glory of the Vending Expert 2 Gene Tonic. After getting it, you're teleported back to where you started this madness, as if nothing happened. Doubles as an EasterEgg as the sequence pays homage to an actual plasmid that had been planned for the first game, but abandoned due to it not only being impractical, but it would have allowed players to bypass large swaths of the game.
14	* CommonKnowledge: One of the more common criticisms of the game is that rescuing the Little Sisters involves defending them from a wave of enemies while they gather ADAM from a corpse. The general consensus is that the level where this happened in the first game was the worst level in the game, so naturally players weren't excited to do it 13 more times. However, you don't actually have to do any ADAM harvesting to rescue the Little Sisters, you only need to take them to one of the vents in the level. You only need to do the ADAM harvesting if you want the max amount of ADAM, and that is true regardless of if you want to save or kill the Little Sisters. While you will get much less ADAM, there is nothing stopping you from taking each Little Sister immediately to a vent and cruising directly to the good ending without bothering to fight waves of enemies each time.
15	* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The same dominant strategy from the first game also applies here. Only that was a wrench. ThisIsADrill. This is even ''encouraged'' with the Drill Specialist Tonic, which prevents you from using anything but the Drill, Research Camera, Hack tool, and plasmids, but cuts plasmid costs in half to compensate. When it comes to ADAM gathering, it's all a matter of spamming Trap Rivets, Spears, Proximity Mines, and deploying Mini-Turrets (and maybe even utilize the Cyclone Trap and Security Command plasmids), and it's then just all a matter of waiting.
16	* CompleteMonster: [[SmugSnake Stanley Poole]], who also has a small appearance in ''[[Literature/BioShockRapture Rapture]]'', is a [[{{Paparazzi}} weaselly journalist]] who once settled for covering up crimes in exchange for bribes; however, after joining up with the likes of Andrew Ryan, he [[FromNobodyToNightmare becomes far worse]]. Poole gets into Ryan's good graces by ratting on Johnny Topside, getting the innocent man thrown into prison and turned into [[spoiler:[[PlayerCharacter Subject Delta]]]], after which Poole is sent by Ryan to infiltrate rising revolutionary Sofia Lamb's inner circle. After gaining Lamb's trust and becoming the head of Dionysus Park, Poole anonymously betrays the woman and gets her locked away, after which he allows Dionysus to fall into anarchy while he wastes tons of money on himself. Poole sells off Lamb's daughter Eleanor to be experimented on by [[MadScientist Dr. Yi Suchong]] when the girl tries to stop his crimes, and, when Lamb escapes prison, Poole floods the entirety of Dionysus Park, killing the hundreds of residents solely to [[HeKnowsTooMuch cover up]] how badly he's driven it into the ground. In the final moments of his life, Poole forces [[PlayerCharacter Subject Delta]] to possibly kill 3 Little Sisters, and is reduced to a [[DirtyCoward sniveling, pathetic mess]], screaming that everything he did "wasn't personal".
17	* ContestedSequel: Some believe this game is a worthy continuation of the original, some finding it {{even better\|Sequel}} due to the vast mechanical improvements. Others find it to be a unnecessary cash-grab sequel that repeats too much of the first game to have its own identity.
18	* CrazyIsCool: Gilbert Alexander was pretty awesome before going mad (leaving behind messages and robots allies to help whoever found him kill him, knowing he was about to suffer WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity) but he still pulls off some cool stuff afterwards (such as singing the Fontaine Futuristics jingle at the top of his voice to prevent you from accessing a voice activated door lock, or hosting a live demonstration of Fontaine Futuristics products... [[spoiler:that try to kill you.]])
19	* DemonicSpiders: ''Minerva's Den'' has the Lancer Daddies. Their lasers are highly accurate and fire extremely fast, they chase you relentlessly while still shooting you, and you don't get the option of researching them to be weaker. You only have to fight six, but they're the six toughest fights in the DLC. To stress how powerful they are, a one-on-one between them and a Big Sister will usually result in the ''Sister dying''.
20	* DisappointingLastLevel: Inner Persephone is this for some. While the level is still fun to explore, there isn't any real final boss [[spoiler:unless you count Sinclair as Subject Omega, who fights like any other Alpha Series but with a longer health bar and can be defeated without the player having to lift a finger]], the [[spoiler:summon Eleanor]] plasmid makes every enemy encounter trivial, and there isn't any other encounter with Sofia Lamb beyond her shouting more of her philosophy at you over your radio. It’s mitigated somewhat as the end is one big all-or-nothing melee before escaping Rapture for good.
21	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
22	** Alex the Great is very popular among the fanbase. Owing in no small part because of his memorable dialogue and being batshit insane, even when placed among Rapture's inhabitants (he is B2's equivalent of Sander Cohen from the first game).
23	** Despite being the star of [[AlternateRealityGame Something In the Sea]], [[HeroOfAnotherStory Mark Meltzer]] wasn't originally going to be in the game. However, the fandom's intense love for him motivated 2K to add him into ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' and wrap up his story.
24	* FandomRivalry: A very noticeable one with ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. ''2'' is mostly a refinement of the first game mechanically, and its story and world is relatively basic and couched in what was already established. ''Infinite'' cut back on a lot of gameplay mechanics, and focused mostly on a new story and world with a lot of ambition in it. Additionally, ''2'' didn't have Ken Levine writing, while ''Infinite'' did. Consequently, fans of ''Infinite'' tend to consider ''2'' to be a shallow, corporate-mandated cash-grab that added nothing to a series that once aspired for artistry, and fans of ''2'' tend to regard ''Infinite'' as a pretentious, hole-filled mess of a narrative held together by dumbed-down and mediocre gameplay. In general, if someone's favorite game is ''Infinite'', their least favorite will almost always be ''2'', and vice versa.
25	* {{Fanon}}: Subject Delta's suit-machinery includes a built-in can opener (since it's assumed he doesn't down the food cans he finds whole).
26	* FridgeLogic: Gilbert Alexander leaves Audio Diaries informing you that by the time you hear this, he will be clinically insane and highly dangerous. As such, he requests you MercyKill him, even leaving various supplies to help you with this task. And somehow, putting the guy out of his misery is ''not'' the good option, according to the game.
27	* GameBreaker: It could be said that 2K listened to gamers’ complaints about the first game a little too well.
28	** Much like the first game, the One-Two Punch of Electrobolt and Drill will reliably kill most anything, though it comes at a much higher EVE cost until you've got some tonics to negate some of that.
29	** The second tier of the Decoy plasmid not only distracts enemies, but every time they attack the decoy they will take damage. The third tier of the Decoy plasmid does all of the above, but enemies attacking the decoy now also heals you. With either version, you literally have to do nothing in fights except sit there and wait for the enemies to kill themselves. It even works on Big Sisters.
30	** A fully-upgraded Rivet Gun, whose flaming shots allow you to juggle-stun enemies when paired with Electrobolt.
31	** The Spear Gun boasts high damage, long range, and pin-point accuracy, and its spears can be recovered after killing an enemy, making its ammo practically infinite. While it has a slow fire rate, its final upgrade fixes that flaw by increasing the gun's fire rate and spear velocity, making this gun excel in all ranges.
32	** The Fountain of Youth tonic causes you to regenerate health and [=EVE=] while standing in either a pool of water or under any significant leak. There's pretty much nowhere in the game you won't find one of these, so it becomes trivial to just stand in one and let fly with plasmids, safe in the knowledge that you'll never need a hypo because the regeneration will kick in before the automatic injection.
33	*** Even better if you use the Natural Camouflage tonic that turns you invisible when you stand still and then use the Security Command plasmid to summon security bots to harass any splicers nearby, [[PassThePopcorn just sitting back and watching the fun]]. It also works well with the Scout plasmid if you want to hack and fight instead of chilling out as it refills your [=EVE=] so you can keep casting. Using any combination of the above turns you into a MookHorrorShow personified.
34	** You've also got the 'Cure All' Gene Tonic, which makes each Health Station refill your EVE meter fully. This lets you pull of tricks like setting up dozens of traps near a Big Daddy or a corpse your Little Sister needs harvested, then hurting yourself slightly and coming back to the Health Station to repeat the process for a pittance.
35	** Using the second tier Security Command and Hypnotize in conjunction. The former lets you [[MookMaker summon security bots, but on your side]] and the latter lets you [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwash a normally hostile splicer to assist you]]; summoning two bots and hypnotizing a spider or leatherhead splicer allows you to easily overwhelm opponents whose only real advantage otherwise was strength in numbers. You can even up the ante in numerous ways: the handyman, deadly machines, and hardy machines tonics make it easier to keep bots around and makes them more powerful, while the ''third'' tiers of Security Command and Hypnotize let you summon even ''stronger'' bots and hypnotize ''anything'' but bots and Big Sisters. By the end of the game you can also include [[spoiler:Summon Eleanor]] into the mix, and when you have two elite security bots, an alpha series, and [[spoiler:a Big Sister]] helping you, your enemies become so incredibly outmatched you barely have to fire shots at all. The only real downside to this strategy is the high EVE cost (which is easily remedied with the aforementioned Cure All tonic) and the fact that having so many entities around makes it easy to to get caught in friendly fire.
36	** The Winter Blast plasmid is also overpowered if [[BoringButPractical kind of repetitive to use]]. It's relatively cheap to use, works on ALL enemies, and health gets drained faster than it did in VideoGame/BioShock. Combine with Security Bots and/or Decoy to distract other enemies and you can essentially knock off enemies one by one staying completely safe.
37	*** Once you acquire higher levels and either Eve Saver or Drill Specialist, Winter Blast can turn into the best Plasmid in the game for pretty much any situation. You can refresh the freeze while the enemy is frozen and still keep their current "health" for shattering as long as they don't thaw out first, allowing you to stunlock every enemy that's not a Big Sister (who inexplicably damages you upon refreshing their freeze) and shatter them quickly, turning the difficulty into a total joke, even on Hard. Shattering enemies removes on the loot they drop, but this is hardly a downside considering how much the game already throws ammo of all kinds and money at you. Anything with loot you'd care about, like Big Daddies and Big Sisters, doesn't even go away from spamming this on them, even if you "shatter" them. And to top it off, not only does it stun security upon use, it slows the hacking needle down for you automatically, making it easier. All for a pretty cheap base cost
38	** The Drill Master Tonic turns off all your ranged weapons, but in exchange makes all plasmids cost half as much to use. Who needs weapons when plasmids cost practically nothing to use and there's a whole range of melee-buffing tonics to employ? Not to mention the right plasmids can almost completely cover your ranged deficiency. It turns you into a plasmid throwing melee god who will run out of health long before running out of EVE.
39	** Insect Swarm paralyzes enemies while you kill them, for much longer than Electro Bolt (but without the damage bonus). This is especially helpful in ''Minerva's Den'', where you're confronted with the tougher splicers much earlier on. To make things even more cheese-tastic, the upgrades add doubled swarms for the same EVE cost and eventually the ability to turn enemy corpses into mines that explode into more self-perpetuating bee swarms.
40	** One that is fully intentional is the [[spoiler:Summon Eleanor]] Plasmid. You receive it during the final mission of the game, and it turns what might have been a DisappointingLastLevel into a fun [[spoiler:two-person]] romp through hordes of splicers who are completely unable to fight off the combined force of a Big Daddy and [[spoiler:a Big Sister]]. It's also very useful in the ''Protector Trials'' bonus missions, where every weapon and plasmid is available.
41	** [[EleventhHourSuperpower Though it comes too late into the game to enjoy it for very long]], the final upgrade to the Telekinesis plasmid is absurdly overpowered, letting you pick up and toss any random mooks you come across. It makes the biggest challenge in big horde battles into finding and properly killing all the Splicers you just [[BlownAcrossTheRoom threw across the room]] so that you can continue.
42	** In general, the idea of gathering ADAM from corpses by using a Little Sister nets you enough ADAM to render the act of harvesting a Little Sister completely pointless. Every gathering nets ADAM only just a little under the amount that's gained from curing a Little Sister, and can be made even more plentiful with the use of a certain Gene Tonic. And all that's required is a short HoldTheLine scenario that can be rendered trivial with liberal use of traps, or the above entries. There's no way to flat-out fail a gathering; should a Splicer get too close to a Little Sister, the only consequence is the gathering process put to a halt. ''Minerva's Den'' further compacts the ADAM yields with another Gene Tonic, in exchange for making the gathering process longer. ''You'll need that advantage given the campaign's short length''.
43	** Enraging or hypnotizing Wintery Houdini Splicers will net the player an NPC that can freeze any enemy they encounter.
44	* GoodBadBugs:
45	** The PC version has a bug that prevents the vending machines from speaking.
46	** The Steam port fixes most of the other bugs except this one.
47	*** After many long years, ''VideoGame/BioShock: The Collection'' fixes this long standing glitch. While the vending machines' did add to the danker atmosphere of ''[=BioShock=] 2''[='s=] locales in the original, the remastered version does at least have the compromise that the machines are overall less talkative than ''VideoGame/BioShock1'''s prior to interacting with them.
48	* HarsherInHindsight:
49	** The "Hypnotize Big Daddy" plasmid doesn't seem so epic when ''you're'' the one it gets used on.
50	** [[spoiler:Subject Delta's death(s) was just the beginning of the many protagonist fatalities in the ''VideoGame/BioShock'' series.]]
51	** In ''Minerva's Den'', Air-Tite Archive's outrage at Ryan Security searching people's possessions and records for subversives brings to mind the reveal of NSA surveillance in the name of national security and attempts by companies like Lavabit and Apple to fight it.
52	** The debate on whether to spare Gilbert Alexander or kill him under the request of a recording from his pre-mutated self actually gained a parallel in real life. [[https://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/01/health/dnr-do-no-resuscitate-tattoo-medical-debate-trnd/index.html In 2017, a man in Florida was found unconscious and when the emergency responders had to unbutton his shirt, they found a tattoo reading "Do not resuscitate"]]. After debating on whether or not they should save him, they chose to let him die and were able to keep their jobs because there was a legal written document in the old man's house that said that nobody should resuscitate him if the worst came to be. From then on, it caused a debate on whether or not a tattoo is legally binding and they ultimately decided that a tattoo is not enough evidence to authorise the request.
53	* HilariousInHindsight:
54	** Or perhaps HypocriticalHumor. Near the end of the game, Sofia rants about you [[spoiler:"stealing" her daughter from her and about Eleanor's "ungratefulness" to her loving mother. However, some of the earliest tape diaries you found of Sofia reveal just how little she actually cares for Eleanor as anything other than her tool -- Eleanor was never really her daughter in anything except terms of shared genetics. One even says she had "as little to do as possible" with her birth, implying that Sofia may have actually created Eleanor through IVF and had a surrogate carry her to term, simply because having to deal with pregnancy itself would be too much of a hindrance to her plans. The hypocrisy about stealing Eleanor from her takes on another level when you remember that she herself has been stealing little girls from their families on the surface.]]
55	*** This is seen as even more hypocritical when it is revealed Cindy Meltzer, Mark Meltzer's daughter, was kidnapped from the surface and brought to Rapture
56	** In the Atlantic Train Station, a group of splicers argue what Jack did at the end of the first ''[=BioShock=]'' game, acting as a ShoutOut to the multiple endings. Humorous on its own, but it gets even better with ''[=BioShock=] Infinite''[='s=] concept of a multiverse with different decisions acting as variables. Perhaps the splicers met the Luteces in another life...
57	** The multiplayer mode had players equipped with two guns and two plasmids to switch between. It sounds a lot like ''Infinite's'' weapon and vigor system, with the plasmids set in stone for each loadout. The way the playable splicers use their plasmids in conjunction with their weapons is practically identical to how Booker uses his vigors.
58	** A loopy scientist who communicates with you through a flying machine that has a monitor showing a close-up of his eyes? Sounds like Alex is having the ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Old World Blues]]''.
59	** The Crawler type of Splicer can [[WallCrawl cling to walls]] and is voiced by Creator/YuriLowenthal. [[VideoGame/SpiderManPS4 Now who else can cling to walls and is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal?]]
60	* ItsEasySoItSucks: Some people are accusing ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' of being this due to the abundance of money, ammo, and healing items, as well as how easy it is to acquire ADAM. See also ComplacentGamingSyndrome above. Though for some this is counterbalanced by the actual fire fights being a lot more difficult.
61	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: A lot of the game doesn't expand greatly on what the first one did, which is disappointing to some of the fans of the first.
62	* IronWoobie: Subject Delta is not only aware of the BodyHorror he was subject to become a Big Daddy (unlike the other Big Daddies who have the benefit of no longer being self aware) but his life is terminally dependent on Eleanor, his daughter figure who is held hostage by Sofia Lamb. Regardless he remains determined to save her at any cost and never lets his pain get in the way of his mission.
63	* MoralEventHorizon:
64	** If Sofia didn’t cross this by [[PsychicAssistedSuicide forcing Subject Delta to kill himself in front of Eleanor in the opening]] she definitely crossed it by flooding Siren Alley just to kill Subject Delta, killing hundreds of her own followers. Even worse is she knew that Delta would survive but flooded Siren Alley anyways just to show that she has no line she’s unwilling cross in pursuit of her goal. Among the game's MultipleEndings, [[spoiler:one of the neutral ones begins with Eleanor reluctantly drowning her in Sinclair's lifeboat for this exact reason; she says she never wanted to hurt her mother, but that after everything she did to her and her father, "she gave up the right to exist"]].
65	** [[spoiler:Eleanor Lamb can potentially cross this in two of the game's darker endings, killing her mother Sofia in both. In the game's worst ending she takes her father's memories with the intent of using them to help her "take on the world" as it were.]]
66	** [[PlayerCharacter Subject Delta]] can cross this line by killing each Little Sister, which locks you into the evil ending. [[spoiler:He corrupts Eleanor into becoming a monster who will likely lay waste to the surface world for the sake of power. If you didn’t harvest each one, then you can stop Subject Delta just short of the line by refusing to let her absorb your ADAM and be corrupted further.]]
67	* NightmareRetardant: The first encounter with the Big Sister in Adonis is a frantic fight for your life: you have a rivet gun, Electrobolt and very little health and ADAM to defend yourself, and you're desperately trying to fend off this beast as it slings fireballs, rams into you, and tears the room apart trying to kill you. The best possible strategy for this encounter: [[SheatheYourSword do nothing.]] ''The Big Sister can't kill you, and you can't kill her'', so you might as well save your ammo and consumables. It's not even a HeadsIWinTailsYouLose boss: Delta will bottom out at one HP, and the Big Sister can't be hurt at all. This means Delta can walk around, calmly picking up items and listening to one of Ryan's recordings while the Big Sister is hammering him with everything she's got to no avail, before turning tail and running away for no apparent reason. Once the illusion breaks, it's almost impossible to take that part seriously ever again.
68	* ObviousBeta:
69	** The PC version lacks the controller support of its predecessor, suffers from texture pop-in, and eats up 100% of the player's CPU even when idle, as well as various minor bugs (for example, for a long time it was impossible to rebind certain keys without breaking the hacking minigame). Most patches have focused on multiplayer, and one of them introduced a new bug that made Little Sisters unable to speak unless the Protector's Trials is downloaded and installed. On a lighter note, players who found the talking vending machines annoying in the first game will be glad to be rid of that.
70	** Thankfully most of the above was ironed out in late 2013 when the PC version was switched over from Games for Windows Live to Steam. Controllers are now officially supported, texture pop-in is typically only present when loading a level or save file for the first time and then there is no more afterward, and many keys are rebindable. Unfortunately, though, the game's MediaNotes/DirectX 10 mode is still very buggy, as the game is prone to crash randomly when played in that mode. Switching the game over to [=DirectX=] 9 (via a launch command) typically fixes this issue for most (and all that's lost are slightly better-looking water and smoke effects). [[AndZoidberg And the vending machines still don't talk.]]
71	** All of this, including the vending machine voices, was fixed in the 2016 Remaster.
72	* PlayerPunch:
73	** Finding [[spoiler:Mark Meltzer. Those who followed the ARG know this moment. In fact, an entire thread entitled "How DARE you 2K..." was started on the forums for players to chronicle their reactions to the discovery, which ranged from stunned incoherence to ragequitting the entire game. Many felt more strongly about this event than the actual ending of the game.]]
74	** [[spoiler:The fate of Augustus Sinclair]]. The game sets things up with the first game's plot twist deeply entrenched in the player's mind at all times with regards to the character. [[spoiler:Many players thought Sinclair would betray them at the earliest possibility- Sinclair never even ''thinks'' about double-crossing Delta once. This makes his eventual fate a much stronger PlayerPunch.]] As a punishment for helping through your journey, [[spoiler:he gets turned into a Big Daddy. To pile on the Punch, he struggles through his mind control to give you more information, and asks that you end his life in return. If he manages to kill you, his reaction is a heart-wrenching MyGodWhatHaveIDone.]]
75	** The existence of the Big Sisters. Little Sisters of the original game's era that Jack didn't save. Now you feel upset for killing them.
76	* PlayTheGameSkipTheStory: The story is often seen as rather hit or miss but the gameplay is seen as an improvement over the first game and possibly the best of the trilogy.
77	* PortingDisaster:
78	** The original Windows version was a buggy memory hog plagued with the issues brought in by Games for Windows LIVE and [=SecuROM=]. The latter two issues were eventually fixed by 2K (see AuthorsSavingThrow above).
79	** The remastered version included in ''[=BioShock=]: The Collection'' is somehow much, ''much worse'' than the original Windows version on PC, to the point where it becomes nearly unplayable due to the amount of random crashes that can happen at any moment, especially during the ADAM Gathering segments thanks to large amount of Splicers being spawned in the area, and it gets worse as the game goes on. And while there are workarounds to fix the crashes, the chances of them ''working'' is a huge gamble. It's worth noting that multiplayer is completely removed from this version. As such, most players recommend to ditch the remaster and play the original version instead, which is thankfully bundled with the collection for free.
80	* RealismInducedHorror: If you have been harvesting Little Sisters, their ambient lines when carried by Subject Delta become utterly gut-wrenching. They sound like children under an abusive parent, utterly terrified, teetering between trying to mollify you and being very cautious to not do anything to anger you, and unable to understand ''why'' you are doing this to them.
81	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
82	** Security Bullseye was likely the worst Plasmid in the first game, given its limited use. It's used to paint enemy splicers as hostile targets for security cameras to sic security bots on. Needless to say, it's redundant with hacking. Security ''Command'', however, allows Delta to summon security bots to his side immediately when upgraded, no need to mark any targets or rely on limited resources anymore!
83	** Cyclone Trap in [=BioShock=] 1 was an extremely situational Plasmid, whose actual good situations tended to sneak up on you more often than not, and was only okay when those situations came up. In 2, however, not only are there a LOT more situations where you're encouraged to take a defensive stance, its upgrades can now mix between multiple Plasmids for significantly more devastating effects.
84	** The ''Hypnotize Big Daddy'' and ''Enrage'' are combined into one.
85	* SalvagedGameplayMechanic:
86	** You can melee attack with any weapon this time.
87	** The HackingMinigame from the first game has been greatly revamped in this one. To whit, it's now a timer-stopping puzzle, where the one in ''[=BS1=]'' was based heavily on ''Pipe Dream'', and the computer would cheat with both hands to ensure that players would use hacking tonics. It also has the potential to reward the player with bonus items or benefits should they stop the timer / needle on blue sections that tend to be much smaller than the green sections needed for a successful hack, encouraging players to actually go through the hack instead of simply buying their way past or using auto-hack tools. The result is a ''much'' faster hacking process that encourages players to go through the game for some goodies instead of bypassing them as quickly as possible.
88	*** Oh, and with the Hack Tool, one can hack from a distance.
89	** In [=BioShock=], you could have up to six Plasmids and 18 Gene Tonics. As for the latter, you could only have to up six of the following categories each: ''Physical'', ''Combat'', and ''Engineering''. Not so in the sequel. You’re allowed to have up to eight Plasmids and the Tonic system isn’t stratified anymore.
90	* ScrappyMechanic: The Drill being an AmmoUsingMeleeWeapon makes it TooAwesomeToUse, given how rare the fuel for it is. The fact that there's no alternative melee weapon, and bashing splicers with an inactive Drill is about as effective as spitting into the wind, doesn't help matters.
91	* SequelDifficultySpike: Combat encounters are significantly more difficult than in the original. Splicers are more aggressive and come at you in greater numbers. While this is balanced by now being able to wield both your gun and plasmids simultaneously, combat requires you to effectively mix use of plasmids and your gun to pull through.
92	* {{Squick}}:
93	** If you can believe it, the Splicers are even more hideously disfigured here than in the first game. Of note: Baby Jane’s lips have withered into nothing; Breadwinner has gigantic tumors bulging out of his stomach, face, and ass; Toasty has similar tumors growing out from under the bandages on his head; Lady Smith’s feet have mutated into hooves; and the Crawler looks like the sordid offspring of a drunken threesome between [[Film/{{Nosferatu}} Orlock]], Franchise/{{The Slender Man\|Mythos}}, and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis Nemesis.]]
94	* ThatOneLevel: The third Folly of Dionysus level in ''The Protector Trials''. You've got no weapons or money, just a bunch of fully upgraded plasmids and gene tonics. It's ''much'' harder than it sounds.
95	* ThatOneSideQuest: Depending on how much you like retro style games, beating ''Spitfire'' in ''Minerva's Den'' can become this.
96	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
97	** The whole storyline dealing with Mark Meltzer; a lot of players found his story more intriguing than that of Delta. Some even stating that Mark should have been the player character.
98	** The ''Minerva's Den'' story-line is by the majority, considered to be one of the best story-arc in [=BioShock=], so of course, many wishes it would have been the plot of the main game.
99	* UnderusedGameMechanic: The U-Invents don't return. Especially unfortunate since the Gathering process invokes much more use of things such as Trap Bolts (or Trap Spears, in this case) that were in-demand items for creation using a U-Invent.
100	* VindicatedByHistory: The game's negative reputation and BrokenBase has softened and gotten better in later years, which may or may not coincide with the growing divisiveness that ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' has garnered, especially thanks to the ''Burial at Sea'' DLC. With many bemoaning the retcons made that ignore the existence of ''[=BioShock=] 2''.
101	* TheWoobie:
102	** Grace Holloway's life reads like a checklist of misery and misfortunes. Both she and her husband end up getting on Andrew Ryan's shit list due to their skepticism of Rapture's objectivist nature, and had a ''lot'' of experience living in the worst slums imaginable. She would eventually find a friend in Sofia Lamb, a person who would end up only becoming one of many pawns in the latter's philosophical agenda. Upon Sofia's arrest, the collectivist matriarch would end up trusting her daughter in Grace's hands, only for Grace to make the mistake of losing her [[spoiler:to Stanley Poole]] and find Eleanor as a Little Sister. Grace, in turn, would accuse Subject Delta of being responsible, despite this not being the case. In the game proper, for the path that requires rescuing all the Little Sisters, [[spoiler:her death would be necessary to punish Sofia Lamb for good]].
103	** Gilbert Alexander, believe it or not, at least before he [[spoiler:became Alex The Great]]. His audio diaries show his admiration for Sofia Lamb, her intelligence and her philosophy, but there are subtle hints that he's also in love with her, even though he knows she doesn't reciprocate. He's perfectly willing to volunteer to be made into a monster for her, and when [[spoiler:she abandons him as a failed experiment]], he never shows any resentment, only a regret that he failed her. There's even some fan speculation that he might be [[spoiler:Eleanor's biological father]].
104	** Poor Eleanor Lamb. She spent her entire life being raised by an emotionally distant mother who fully expected Eleanor to further her own ideals by [[spoiler:getting turned into a HiveMind that would only serve society]]. Depending on the player's moral choices, she can also become [[spoiler:a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.]]
105	** C.M. Porter from ''Minerva's Den''. He couldn't handle the death of his wife, so he spent all of his time uploading as many memories of her as possible into the Thinker in the hopes of recreating her. And when he finally finished [[spoiler:he was horrified by what he had done, because it wasn't really his wife, and had the computer shut the whole thing down. His own program for replicating personality is then used against him by Wahl, who takes the massive amount of input from Porter himself during those sessions to manufacture false evidence of him vocally swearing allegiance to the enemy at time of paranoia in Ryan's Rapture. This lands him in prison, is disappeared in the eyes of the public and turned into a Big Daddy, forcefully suppressing his own personality and memories. During the course of the game, the only remainder of C.M. Porter left is, ironically, the ghost in the machine he unknowingly left behind with the Thinker.]]
106	** And then, there's many of the multiplayer characters, leading to much FridgeHorror when you realize what their ramblings actually mean:
107	*** Why does Barbara seem to think the Little Sisters she captures are her children? [[spoiler:Because her daughter was turned into one, and what's more, her abductors came in the guise of ADAM merchants - ADAM which she wanted to protect her daughter with]].
108	*** Jacob acts as though it's just another day at his job [[spoiler:because he's been so browbeaten by the generally miserable working conditions that he's convinced himself he's on a work strike against them]].
109	*** Buck seems like an unsympathetic jerk [[spoiler:until you discover that he just wanted to find his wife, and that his last encounter with her was him discovering that she had joined Atlas-while she nearly murdered him. No wonder he's bitter.]]
110	*** Shuresh Seti may be awesomely crazy [[spoiler:but keep in mind he may be telepathic...and that he's ''perfectly effing sane''. Now, imagine what it would be like for ''you'' to be privvy to the thoughts of Splicers.]]
111	*** Blanche [[spoiler:is a good example of how Rapture's cosmetic business can destroy a person. She just didn't want to be lonely...]]
112	*** Let's face it, Louis is a violent jackass [[spoiler:but he knows full damn well [[FateWorseThanDeath how Big Daddies are created]] and he's actually ''scared out of his mind'' of being turned into one-he actually thinks the enemy players are trying to send him to processing.]]

Context YMMV / Bioshock2