BioShock 2 Multiplayer, Does Anyone Care?

Today’s game industry is a tough market. So much as a few bad scores can make years of development time a waste. Games almost always come packed with new features or promises of future downloadable content, and it’s becoming hard to find a game without multiplayer. Now, in no way am I saying that a multiplayer component is at all a bad thing. But every now and then a game strolls along that gives off a strong singleplayer vibe, not only overshadowing the multiplayer content, but ultimately makes you wonder why they bothered to implement it in the first place. BioShock is one of those games.

It goes without saying that BioShock was an absolute hit, and BioShock 2 is looking to be the next 2K juggernaut. With all the hype and mixed controversy already forming over this anticipated sequel, multiplayer hasn’t received the same press that was garnered from the shocking “you are a big daddy” announcement. People aren’t as interested in playing through Rapture with friends as much as they simply want to experience the continuation of BioShock’s epic narrative. The only thing that has actually caught my attention about the proposed multiplayer is that we’ll get to see Rapture before or during its downfall.

Digital Extremes is going to take the reins in the development of multiplayer. Certainly they’ve proven themselves worthy for such a task, despite their blunders with Dark Sector, their success with the Unreal series validates their ability. However, it worries me that 2K is pawning off the multiplayer to a different developer. It brings into question if they’ll really be able to capture the feel of Rapture, especially before the civil war. On the bright side, the fact that we’ll play human splicers during multiplay all but confirms the return of our most beloved weapons from the original. So we just might get another chance to spray a few machine gun rounds into our fellow plasmid test subjects.

The principal question to be asked here is “What gameplay can we expect from BioShock multiplayer?” This is a worrying inquiry and the best we can hope for is gameplay similar to that of the first game. Again, while this would be rather easy for BioShock veterans to adapt to, it would be more of the same, and we want something new and exciting. Also, with the rather recent announcement of a reward system being the focus it’ll take some clever thinking on their part to really differentiate it from the stock of generic unlocks from games like Call of Duty or Killzone 2.

The execution of BioShock 2’s multiplayer is the least of my concerns however. The real concern is how well it will fit in with the corresponding story. What’s even worse than a game without a respectable multiplayer component is one that’s more or less an afterthought, and from the looks of it, that seems to be all it is. It’s really just a commercial stunt, and makes the 2K developers look like they’re just following the crowd. The truth is, multiplayer just isn’t a good idea for BioShock, and it’s certainly not a good way of conveying the story of Rapture before it all went to hell.

With respect, I would like to address this to the fine developers of BioShock: don’t bother creating a multiplayer component, it’s simply not needed. Focus all your energy on the story and gameplay. This is why I fell in love with Rapture during my premiere journey through it. By all means, I admire your thoughts and ideas regarding a multiplayer element, but BioShock needs to stay exclusively singleplayer. We need that claustrophobic feel, the feeling of being alone, with nobody else to protect us from the deadly things that lurk in Rapture’s ruins. BioShock is meant for one person, so don’t risk shedding points off scores if the multiplayer doesn’t happen to be up to scratch.