We reviewed BioShock 2 well when it came out several years ago. Given the laurels it was resting on, it's not surprising that several other gaming sites gave it high marks as well.
But given the fact that the original BioShock was so subversive in its material, would it be fair to call out its sequel for reshuffling old ideas? That's what WiseCrack, a YouTube channel diving deep into all things pop culture and philosophy, had to ask on their latest edition of Deep or Dumb? Which is their series that focuses on the high and low aspects of certain pop culture items.
Right off the bat the guys make note of how Ken Lavine and his creative team passed on the chance to make the game, and then go on to note how the game itself didn't have much to say compared to its predecessor.
The video makes a point of comparing the original game's antagonist Andrew Ryan to the second game's antagonist, Sofia Lamb, and how, by using Andrew Ryan's "failed objectivist utopia" into an "utilitarian collectivist hellscape".
The video goes into all the ways BioShock 2 does and does not add on to the original, from gameplay mechanics and implementing a moral system, to the aforementioned philosophy. Check it out.
