Should you play BioShock 1 before diving into BioShock 2? An emphatic yes!
As an ardent BioShock fan whose played through both games multiple times, I strongly recommend playing the original 2007 game before its 2010 sequel. Despite BioShock 2 standing on its own, you‘ll gain much richer context and appreciation from knowing the full backstory first.
BioShock 1 sets the scene for Rapture‘s rise and fall
BioShock 1 is set in 1960 and depicts the once-glorious underwater city of Rapture in its dilapidated dying days after a violent civil war tore it apart. Through innovative storytelling, you learn how Rapture‘s founder Andrew Ryan built an isolated utopia free from governmental, religious and moral constraints to allow society‘s best and brightest to pursue science, art and industry unchecked.
Central to Rapture‘s early innovations was the discovery of ADAM – stem cells harvested from sea slugs that allowed genetic superpowers. But as ADAM addiction and class divides grew, challenges to Ryan‘s power emerged including smuggler kingpin Frank Fontaine. Their fierce power struggle ultimately leads to Rapture‘s descent into anarchy right as you arrive.
Without this backstory establishing Rapture and its inhabitants at their peak, many pivotal references in BioShock 2 would make little sense!
BioShock 2 revisits iconic locations and key characters
While you control a new protagonist named Subject Delta in BioShock 2, the sequel revisits iconic locales like Arcadia, Siren Alley and Fontaine Futuristics which build on nostalgic moments from the original. The fates of key characters like Brigid Tenenbaum are also revealed along with successors to villains like Sofia Lamb channeling Andrew Ryan‘s ideology taken to even worse extremes.
You even resolve the cliffhanger from BioShock 1 involving side stories like Mark Meltzer investigating Rapture‘s disappearance as well as events kickstarted by Reed Wahl that further destabilize the city. These plot points resonate so much more deeply having lived them yourself rather than hearing second-hand summaries.
Dual-wielding expands the strategic combat and gameplay
While the sequel refines BioShock‘s dynamic FPS-RPG hybrid combat rather than reinventing it, fresh elements like wielding weapons and plasmids simultaneously opened up creative new battle strategies. Upgrading abilities like Scout allowing you to warp onto enemies from afar also complemented core vitals, offensive and defensive options.
Comparing gear loadouts across the two games like swapping Electro Bolt and Incinerate plasmids or favoring the Rivet Gun over the Machine Gun becomes far more meaningful without the decade gap separating them. You‘ll gain much better appreciation for how the tools, tactics and resulting tension shifted between 1960 and 1968!
Ideological debates get personal seeing their impacts firsthand
The heart of what makes BioShock‘s lore so compelling lies in the philosophical debates central to Rapture demonstrated through the failing utopia‘s blood-soaked corridors. Core values like freedom of choice, pursuit of self-interest and disbelief in altruism shape its inhabitants‘ character – and corruption.
Seeing debates around art, science, governance and economics made ideological manifest through iconic leaders like Ryan and Lamb humanizes these complex themes. Watching the impacts policies supporting unchecked egoism have on society over time makes philosophical discussions grow far more intimate and real.
Critics and gamers widely agree: play BioShock first!
Both critics and gamers strongly upheld my recommendation to play the original after BioShock 2‘s release based on connecting story threads and evolved game mechanics. Reviews frequently reference assumed knowledge from the first game. To quote IGN‘s review:
"Bioshock 2 assumes you‘ve played the original game, and because it‘s a direct sequel, makes constant and specific references to people, places, and events from the first game"
Players also strongly supported playing the games in order:
"You can still follow the story if you haven‘t played the first but I don‘t see why you wouldn‘t play it first anyway. The second game improves on a lot from the first"
With the rich world the first game establishes, playing BioShock 2 directly after beating its predecessor allows moments and mechanicsabsent a decade to fully land their impact. Heed our collective advice – play BioShock before its sequel!
