Bioshock 2 manages to feel overly familiar and awkwardly different at the same time. The storytelling and ambience ape its predecessor while the mechanics shift away from role-playing and toward FPS. However, it’s difficult to fault developers for sticking with the formula that gave them a game of the year, and the polished plasmid/shotgun gameplay is still there for everyone who liked it the first time around. It’s just ironic that Bioshock is always overshadowed by expectations.