14 DAY TRIAL // BioShock 2 is a definite advancement on the first game in the series. And the main improvements are linked to the combat. The various developers working on the second game set in Rapture, from 2K Marin to Digital Extremes, have understood that the system of switching between plasmids and weapons from the first game was severely limiting the tactical possibilities of the players and the amount of fun they could have destroying their enemies.
Their simple solution was to take advantage of the fact that humans have two hands and give their new main character the chance to use their weapons with one of them and their plasmids with the other. I can testify to the new possibilities that are brought forward by combining the two while fighting off the Splicer, the Big Daddies or the dreaded Big Sister.
But a few hours into the game, I found myself feeling like something was amiss. I am playing the game on the PC and in the heat of the battle, I seemed to fire off my plasmids when I really wanted to shoot the .50 machine gun or shoot out a rivet when actually trying to set a pool of petrol (always so conveniently placed) on fire.
The reason for my fumbling was the fact that the default controls for the PC version of BioShock 2 sets the use of plasmids to the right click, while the weapon firing is linked to left mouse click while on screen the left hand is plasmid imbued while the right one handles the drill, the rivet firing or the machine gun.
When facing one enemy or two, my mind was able to connect the two properly but when I was swamped by ungodly amounts of enemies while defending a Little Sister, my mind only made the connection with the on-screen image and not with how the controls were mapped on the mouse.
It's a pretty easy-to-fix slip but it really annoyed me until I identified the source of the problems and changed the mapping. Now, the experience is much smoother and my brain and hands work well in concert to clean Rapture of the Splicers and progress towards my long lost Little Sister.