GamerNode: Matthew Erazo's Columns

Bioshock 2: The Anti-Bioshock

Bioshock 2 is necessary, but the game was assaulted with negative comments from fans of the first and journalists who would loudly proclaimed "Bioshock didn't need a sequel." And I was one of them.

I hold the original Bioshock very dear in my heart. The game came out at a time when I was starting to become bored with gaming, and the industry's lack of change and disregard for a story. Bioshock did a lot to save me, but following the sequel's announcement I believed this special game was succumbing to the videogame franchise machine. It was like my favorite indie movie was getting a blockbuster Hollywood sequel.

But Bioshock 2 does something special as you dive deeper into Rapture once again. What starts as a straightforward sequel playing the same tune as its predecessor becomes a game tha...

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Why Mass Effect 2 is the future of the RPG

I've always been interested in the evolution of video games. While some games provide a sort of comfort zone for me that I know I can always go to to play a familiar type of game, I am far more interested in what a game is doing to further the evolution of a series or the genre it's a part of. I'm not looking for anything radical, but when a game like BioShock challenges the very idea of player action, or Dead Rising forces you to face the consequences of your in-game actions, I perk up and immediately take notice, hoping future games will continue to evolve.

But this is not always the case. Sometimes a game will be released, trying something different, and players will not take to it, forcing developers to go back to their established formula, permanently. I saw the future of the Zelda fr...

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