The Button Presser

Platinum Games upcoming action shooter Vanquish has a playable demo to check out today, as well as 2K Marin's Bioshock II dlc titled "Minerva's Den". Check out more details below:

"Boost into the ultra-fast and frenetic third-person-action-shooter, Vanquish. Boost from cover point to cover point blasting robot enemies with your transforming weapon pod. Use the high-tech Augmented Reaction Suit to amplify your senses to a critical state and get the drop on your opponents, thrashing before they ever knew what hit them. If enemies get too close, punch, kick and pummel them into scrap. See what the "action" in third-person-action-shooter is really all about. VANQUISH OFFICIAL DEMO - VELOCITY ATTACK is set in the landing bay of the Providence Space Colony in a desperate fight to gain control of the facility. But the enemy has more in store as the massive Argus robot emerges to dominate the battlefield."

Link To Demo- VANQUISH (467 MB)









"Minerva's Den offers a brand-new, self-contained BioShock story, presenting a side of Rapture you've never seen before. Seek out the tools you'll need to unlock new goals and spaces in the order you choose. Face Rapture's full range of opposition as you increase in power---a new challenge is always right around the corner. Expand your combat abilities with the experimental Ion Laser and chaotic Gravity Well Plasmid, unique to Minerva's Den. Face off against the new Lancer Big Daddy, the most advanced Protector that Rapture ever produced. Explore every shadowy corner of Minerva's Den, unraveling the mysterious past of The Thinker's inventor, and the dark secrets hidden within the unfeeling, omniscient machine he created."

Link To Content- Minerva's Den (800 MSP/ 1 GB)

New Singleplayer content is now available for Bioshock II with the Protector Trials. This DLC pack focuses on protecting the little sister and defending her from the nasty splicers as she gathers ADAM. I believe the enemies come in waves similar to Horde and Firefight, but I'm not exactly sure. Check out more below:



"You receive the call: Tenenbaum desperately needs you to steal as much ADAM as possible, to help thwart Sofia Lamb's insane plan. Enter the Protector Trials: frantic combat challenges designed to push your mastery of weapons and Plasmids to the limit. The goal in each Trial is simple: get your Little Sister to an ADAM-rich corpse and keep her safe while she gathers precious ADAM. Opposition mounts as your Little Sister nears her goal -- will you survive the onslaught? Each Trial features three unique weapon and Plasmid load-outs, keeping the challenge fresh, as well as a fourth bonus load-out the player receives when all previous load-outs are completed."

Link to Content- The Protector Trials (400 MSP/ 1 GB)

Bioshock 2 gets some new multiplayer content today with the Rapture Metro add-on. New maps are included and an-new mode titled Kill'em Kindly, where melee is the name of the game and golf clubs are your weapons to use:






"As one of our valued Sinclair Solutions testers, we specially invite you to enjoy the pleasure of Rebirth! But only if you are truly dedicated and fully ranked up. However all testers are eligible for the 6 new maps in Rapture Metro. What’s your golf handicap? Take this chance to turn your handicap into your enemy’s with this fresh melee mode where every blunt object is a golf club. No putting."

Link To Content- Rapture Metro (659 MB/ 800 MSP)

"What’s your golf handicap? Take this chance to turn your handicap into your enemy’s with this fresh melee mode where every blunt object is a golf club. No putting."

Link To Content- Kill'em Kindly (659 MB)

The First announced add-on pack for Bioshock 2 is here with the multiplayer focused Sinclair Pack. For 400 MSP ($5), you will be able to rank past level 40 and play as some new character skins. Check it out:




"Opportunity Awaits! Expand your BioShock 2 multiplayer experience with a rank increase to 50 with Rank Rewards including a 3rd set of weapons upgrades. Plus, enjoy 20 new Trials, 2 new playable characters and 5 new Masks. Yes! We’d thought you’d like the sound of that!"

Link To Content- Bioshock 2 Sinclair Pack (108 KB/400 MSP)

Sinclair Solutions Test Pack is the first of apparently many pieces of content coming to BioShock 2 pretty soon. It will cost 5 bucks (400 Points), and will contain some multiplayer additions including:

-Raising the Level Cap to 50 in Multiplayer

-Two More Character Skins to play as and 5 more masks to wear

-20 more trials to complete

-More Attachments for the weapons

Seems pretty interesting although I wonder how they will deal with those that don't plan on getting the pack, since raising the level cap is something that might change the game's balance. Look out for the Pack in early March!

It must have been difficult for development on BioShock 2 by 2K Marin. They would have to walk a delicate line with this game in order to appease everyone who believed that there was no need for a sequel to arguably the best game of 2007. They somehow managed to accomplish this for the most part, and can now take a deep breath. Instead of revisiting old areas of Rapture, we're able to visit new locations, interact with more new characters and one of the most important shifts that this game brings is putting us into the role of a Big Daddy. With this change comes new gameplay elements and a surprisingly fun multiplayer mode that will give this game some great re-playability.



BioShock 2 puts us as Delta, an early version of the Big Daddies we took down in the original game. Although these types can bond with other Little Sisters, Delta was made to have one connection with a Little Sister named Elanor. A few things occur and you f ind yourself awake 10 years later and starting your search to find the girl. It's a great story overall, a does contain a few twists and turns that do a good job keeping you interested. The singleplayer seems much shorter, but with achievements based around playing through again, BioShock 2 is game that can be played through a few times to better understand the story.



The change to being a Big Daddy allows you to protect the Little Sisters in order to gain some precious ADAM. The girls can help you find bodies to explore that contain ADAM, and will extract it for you as long as you protect from splicers in the time needed to gather the ADAM. There are usually two or three Little Sisters in each level, and once you Adopt, Harvest or Save them, you will have to prepare for the Big Sisters who will do their best to kill you for your actions against the Little Sisters. Like you, they wear suits of armor, except they are more agile and can do some serious damage with plasmids at their disposal.



Gameplay hasn't changed that much, but the combat has received a great improved that will help you dispatch of splicers and other enemies in a more interesting way. You can now dual wield, with a plasmid for your left hand, and a weapon in the right in order to set up some deadly combinations. The addition of the drill for the Big Daddy and other weapons only they can wield, you can better defend yourself while exploring the new areas of Rapture. The original plasmids are back, and can now be charged when you buy certain upgrades.



The Multiplayer, developed by Digital Extremes, is actually pretty fun and contains some great action. The game is an experienced based mode with up to 40 levels to reach, and each level will bring new weapons, tonics, plasmids, and attachments to unlock. The Game modes consist of the typical Team deathmatch, Free for all modes, and objective based game types that all feel familiar with some BioShock magic sprinkled into the multiplayer. The use of plasmids really makes it stick out though in the multiplayer field, and a great addition to play after you have played the single-player over and over.

Overall the feel of BioShock 2 is one that can't recreate the exact feel of the first game, but it does a great job of showing us more to the mysterious world of Rapture.




+ Great Sequel that compliments the original
+ Improved Combat and Great Multiplayer
+ Shows new areas of Rapture
- A little on the short side in terms of Campaign hours

How Does it Play?

A great improvement in terms of Combat, and plays mostly like the original

How Long Does it Last?

Singleplayer took me around 7 hours, but Multiplayer and Story replayability can greatly increase your time with this game

Is it a Buy or Rent?

BioShock fans will definitely want to check it out, so I would say Buy



Developer- 2K Marin/Digital Extremes
Publisher- 2K Games

So my initial play time with BioShock 2 consist of no single-player yet as I was very curious about hot the multiplayer turned out. After about an hour or so of playing a few matches, overall it seems really well put together.

ADAM serves as experience in the multiplayer and can be obtained in many different ways in order to level up and obtain more weapons, plasmids, and tonics. The game has many familiar multiplayer game-types with a BioShock spin to them. Capture the Sister has you locating the little sister in a map and transporting her while avoiding the other team. Pretty basic stuff except that a Big Daddy suit will randomly spawn in the map and really give the team who picks it up a definitive edge. I'm sure if it really belongs in objective game-types, but I'm sure tweaks can be made if the player feedback asks for it.



Out Now for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC

February 9 of next year will be the official release date of Bioshock 2. The game was originally slated to be out this year, but was delayed to further improve the game. Bioshock 2 will include a single-player and multiplayer component, so lets hope they do it right since the original was near single player perfection!






























Download The Multiplayer Bioshock Trailer on Xbox Live

GameTrailers TV will now air on Thursdays and the it looks like an episode Bioshock fans cant miss. GTTV will World premiere gameplay of the sequel, as well as information on New Fable II DLC and Downloads for Killzone 2. Check out the promo!

New details have emerged about the sequel to the critically acclaimed Bioshock.

On the cover of this Month's GameInformer Magazine, Bioshock 2 will have some sort of multiplayer, although no details were told beside that.

What do you think it will be? Co-op or some sort of Deathmatch in the world of Rapture?

I guess we'll have to wait until more details are given.