Bioshock 2: The 1/2 Way Impressions

Just to give everyone an idea of where I am in the game while writing, I am just about to leave Paupers Drop. I have 55 Audio Diary's (out of 100) so I figure I am about 1/2 way through the game.

First thing to mention is that I LOVED Bioshock. It stands as, in my opinion, the best game on 360, and the best FPS since the first Half Life. It had atmosphere, it had a fantastic setting, it had a nifty idea mixing plasmids with weapons and it had some of the best moments in games I've ever played. (The water filled basement with the 'statue' splicers, the dentist, 'Would you Kindly?'). Loved it. So the sequel had some pretty big shoes to fill, if it wanted me to like it as much as I did the first.

What I Like:

• The weapons. They are not just a rehash of Bioshock's weapons. The Rivet Gun is fantastic, the shotgun still feels awesome. The drill doesn't really do much for me, since you run through fuel pretty quickly.
• Protecting the little sisters. - I create elaborate trap rivet filled death traps when I have to guard one of the little sisters as she collects ADAM. It's a lot of fun, and a little bit of strategy goes a long way to changing the flow of game play.
  
• Rapture - The WOW impact from the first game is gone. No matter what you have been here before, you have fought the splicers before, but it is a testament to Irrational Games (Who designed the first Bioshock, and I am giving them credit for creating Rapture itself) skill that even on the second visit Rapture is still such an intriguing and exciting idea that I find my self being drawn right back in.
• Mark Meltzer - The marketing/hype for Bioshock 2 was built up with the website 'There's Somethine in the Sea' it focussed on Mark Meltzer as he searched for his daughter Cindy, a search that eventually leads him to Rapture. So far I have picked up a few of his audio diary's, but the idea of an X factor like a surface person running around Rapture makes things much more interesting. I cannot wait to see what happens with him.
  

What I Don't Like:

• Delta - Yes, you. You're a Big Daddy, but you still have to go running for a med kit if you take a handful of bullets from a lead head splicer. Funny, the Big Daddy's I fight can take CLIPS from my super charged Rivet Gun. I understand making the player damn near invulnerable would break the game, so have the splicers attack in bigger groups, at least that way it would kind of make sense when you get attacked.
• Lamb - This is the problem with the sequal to a self contained game. It breaks the reality of Rapture that Lamb was not seen or heard of once during the first game. Its a minor detail, but one that does pull you out of the game, something that never happened during the first one.

All in all, I am still digging Rapture. It doesn't pull you in as quickly as the first game did, but at this point it definately has its hooks in and doesn't look like it'll be letting go any time soon. :)