Game2Death said:
So, I beat the first Bioshock on my Ps3 and loved it. Now I got Bioshock 2 for my PC and man..I am having trouble beating it. I just beat the preacher. It is starting to feel like a chore. What really killed me was seeing 3 little sisters in the next level. Protecting those things sucks.
So my question is does it get better in the 2nd half? Should I keep going? Should I just skip over the little sisters?
Absolutely keep with it - you will miss out on some great stuff! As someone who has just completed both Bioshocks with Vita Chambers switched off (Brass Balls achievemnets), I can offer some strategies:-
Firstly, I would recommend switching the Vita Chambers off - it may seem like it ups the difficulty, but with judicious saves it forces you to actually evaluate the toolset the game gives you much more, and approach each encounter with thought and planning. Bioshock 2 much more than Bioshock can be made quite easy if you plan the encounters wisely, especially adam gathering.
In general, researching will help a lot as well, it's really well implemented in Bioshock, and there are a number of tonics to get as part of reasearch, plus increased damage to each splicer variant; if you are not researching, it will make the gathers that much harder.
Do not skip the Little Sisters, it's the best addition to the game, but you have to embrace it, plan appropriately, and remember that you can choose when to adopt, and when to gather; only do it when you are fully prepared.
Some tips on gathering:-
1. When it comes to gathering, avoid combat as much as possible - this can be achieved by Trap Rivets, Mini-Turrets, Hypnotise plasmid, Spear Traps, Cyclone Trap plasmid, Secuity bots etc
2. Always save prior to attempting a gather; ensure you are ready before trying it - max health kits, eve hypos, and decent ammunition. If you are not ready, explore other places first.
3. Use your plasmids wisely - my advice would be to get max out Hypnotise and Security Command plasmids as a priority before getting things like Electro Bolt 2 and Incinerate 2. I only had the basic Electro Bolt plasmid when I got the Big Brass Balls achievement, but I hap Hypnotise, Security Command and Decoy all maxed.
4. The planning you do for a gather really makes all the difference; if you get the traps and strategy right, you will be surprised how easy gathers become; they were actually one of the most fun parts of Bioshock 2 to me.
5. Look for Big Daddies or Brute Splicers to do some of the dirty work for you - it's quite effective to set up a perimeter to keep the splicers away from the little sister, zap one of the big guys with even the basic Hypnotise and they will do a lot of the work for you; this in turn conserves your own ammo and eve; you can mop up the stragglers. In later levels, having a Big Daddy or a Brute charmed makes a massive difference.
6. Drill Dash is your friend - any splicer gets close to a Little Sister, a Drill Dash will take them out in one hit most of the time.
I've posted a pretty in depth analysis of Bioshock 2 against the original (and System Shock 2)after just playing through both back to back.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=29366996#post29366996
It really makes me sad how underappriciated Bioshock 2 is.
