Bioshock 2: "They Called It Rapture" - Mark Meltzer

BIOSHOCK 2 SPOILERS FOLLOW:
RANDOM BLABBERING ENSUES AS WELL:
Hello again oh vast emptiness of the net, I've come to bring you new insight on the universe. Actually, I'm here to talk about Bioshock 2 and the impact of it's story. Allow me to preface this post with this: I adore the this game, and the original to no measurable extent. That said Bioshock 2 was an amazing game overall; rendering, gameplay, and audio all came together beautifully.

Viral Marketing:
Noticed I left out the story? Yeah, I'm devoting the rest of this post to that. So first off Mark Meltzer; What an amazing thing to implement the viral marketing into the actual story of the game. Those of you that know me know I am a HUGE fan of Cloverfield mainly because of it's viral marketing.
See: Mark Meltzer (Bioshock Wiki)

Mark Meltzer's Journey:
So while I may have LOVED the story to death I do have my issues with it. Mainly Mark's story and how it was, to be frank, shafted. I felt that Mark could have been a HUGE factor with the games overall progression. He's the anomaly in the situation, a top-sider who most definitely didn't belong. Mark's search for Cindy lead him to Rapture; Arriving during the events of the game almost made it seem like Mark was supposed to shape the story in some way. Mark's fate, which I will leave out of this post, is disappointing to say the least. Mark had quite the potential to be a very important character and while his story was told it could have been more widespread. Mark's story I suppose was for the more hardcore fanbase.

Rapture's Lore and it's place in Bioshock 2:
Moving on now, Sofia Lamb, Andrew Ryan, and Fontaine. These characters, while directly and indirectly, caused a chain of events that eventually caused both the first and second game's stories to unfold. I loved that the writers for Bioshock 2 incorporated the lore of Rapture in such a way that this game felt as if it was an integral part of Rapture's storyline and lore. The writers almost make referring to Rapture give off the same feeling as referring to The Island from LOST. While I don't want to sit here and summarize what happened in the game I felt that with all the work done on Rapture's lore this game was going to be a definitive large scale story; Maybe this is why I felt underwhelmed. Bioshock 2 expanded Rapture's lore nearly ten fold and allowed us as the player to experience and explore areas we had only heard about. For this I <3 you 2K Marin.

Can epic stories be on a small scale:
My biggest gripe is the feeling I got after completing Bioshock 2. As far as story telling goes the writers did an amazing job; but, yet I feel underwhelmed, empty, and thinking “Is that it?.” My biggest gripe with it was the fact that they developed so much of Rapture's lore and the major characters behind it but yet they chose to hone in towards the end and tell only the story behind Eleanor's estranged family. I understand that Eleanor's family are essentially the new Ryan's of Rapture but I still feel as if something more could have been done with the story. Tenenbaum's involvement was too short for her to be justified to be included in the story; However, the sheer fact that she was included made me feel like they were obligated to tell a large scale story. Maybe it's because I am so partial to the original game that I feel the need to have some as epic as it was. Bioshock 2 is epic in it's own right but I still have the odd feeling of more needing to be done; As if my job was incomplete.

Maybe it's just me, don't get me wrong I love the game:
I absolutely LOVE this game and I will continue to do so forever. It left me feeling the same way Watchmen did. The writers told their story and told it well. As a player, however, I felt as if I failed to achieve a true ending to the game. Maybe this was intentional; maybe they wanted me to feel this way to relate to Eleanor. Either way, the game was amazing and I hope you all buy it and enjoy it!

I'll be updating this again soon with more content on my education, life, or whatever. Thanks again!