When we first heard about BioShock 2 getting a multiplayer component, I'll be honest in that I was firmly against the inclusion of it, simply because far too many sequels tend to squeeze the feature in as an added bullet point, and it takes away from the single-player - which in BioShock's case is the strong point.
But then we heard that 2K Marin was farming the mode out to Digital Extremes, and that it was not a mere "deathmatch set in BioShock levels," but rather it was going to tell its own story: What happened to Rapture during its downfall. Interesting concept for a multiplayer setting.
At E3, the multiplayer was on display...
The BioShock 2 multiplayer demo was the only presentation at this year's E3 where I could tell that just about every single person left the room with a bad taste in their mouth. Not a "good lord, what did I eat?!," type thing mind you, more like a "they should serve mints with this."
Players will be able to customize their pre-Splicer characters in their individual "hub" apartments before matches. Your apartment is the interactive jumping off point for game modes (there will be three), and options that can tweaked and changed include plasmid/weapons loadouts (these can be changed at will during respawning, and you can queue up three) and appearance. An school text menu will also be available should you dislike immersion. You can also explore the separate multiplayer "storyline" from here, listening to Audio logs, etc.
"Kashmir Restaurant", a level from the first BioShock, was displayed. The mode was 6-player deathmatch. 10 players will be the max for all the modes. Players utilized weapons and plasmids on each other from the campaign that are fairly familiar... so there really is no reason to elaborate on them. Additionally, Big Daddy diving suit is dropped randomly into the level, and whoever finds it and equips it gets access to the Big Daddy's gear and abilities. Until he's killed. Once that happens, the massive suit is randomly respawned again, and the race for near-invincibility begins anew. As you level up and gain EXP (getting kills, completing hacks, etc.), you can unlock new plasmids and tonics, as well as improvements to weapons. Nothing groundbreaking, but it's there. A few control tweaks have also been made to streamline the play experience, but it will likely be easy to adjust to, so said the developers.
Overall, BioShock 2 multiplayer isn't very innovative from what was shown - maybe it is in the sense that it incorporates a narrative thread, but there still just seems to not be a need for it to exist. Tell the backstory in a cinematic, or flashback gameplay sequence in the campaign. I could think of a handful of ways to portray what the multiplayer is trying to do, that doesn't involve having to play multiplayer. Hopefully as more details (like the other modes) are explained in the coming months, opinion of the mode's addition will become better. As it stands, it's not terrible, but it's nothing to hang your purchase decision on.
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