Sequels have become as common in gaming as they are in Hollywood and for some titles there is always a sense of unease and trepidation. But worry not readers there is one sequel on the horizon which is guarenteed to succeed, Bioshock 2.

Brilliant

Ken Levine seemed to be the driving force behind Bioshock, all the keynotes,  demos and public appearances before it was released all included Mr Levine. He had a huge influence on the story of Bioshock and many attribute him to the be the driving force which made Bioshock so entertaining and important. So the fact that he won’t be involved in the sequel was deemed to be a big loss when the game was announced at the beginning of March. Step in creative director Thomas Jordan, credited with the perhaps the greatest level to ever grace gaming with Thiefs 2 Cradle and much more importantly he directed Fort Frolic from the original Bioshock.

Fort Frolic was brilliant, it had some of the most imaginitive set pieces and was one of the highlights of Bio-shocks excellent campaign. It was also the levels architecture, puzzle design and characters – who could forget demented Sander Cohen and his artistic temperament. It was also this level which gave the player the most opportunites to set up specific traps before an onslaught of Splicers, calm before the storm based gameplay.

Big sisters are also new to the Rapture equation and has been revealed as the grown up little sister shown in the earliest Bioshock trailers. She is a tour de force in the sequel and constantly stalks the player throughout the experience, watching and waiting for her chance to attack. Its an interesting continuation of the originals premise that you are constantly being watched by the founder of Rapture Andrew Ryan. She is great example of  arresting character design, faster and seemingly more human than the Big Brothers it certianly provokes anticipation on what her motivations could be.

But all these things are null and void because the latest video released from 2k Marin shows what we should expect come October, more of exactly the same which, funnily enough, is exactly what we want. More plasmids, more tortured survivors, more little sisters, more Rapture and definitely more hacking mini-games which have absolutely nothing to do with Pipemania. Bioshock was my game of the year in 2007, it providing gaming with the first mass market ‘Sixth Sense’ moment and changed expectations of what console gaming could be. Well at least the first half did, what happened afterwards was only an anti-climax after a steller beginning.

Moody

It all seems familiar yet different enough to provoke intrigue and anticipation to shoot right up the Most Wanted charts of 2009, I’m sure with a movie in the works and perhaps more sequels 2k will be hoping to pull out all the stops for this one.