First BioShock 2 DLC announced

By Robert Purchese Published 22 February, 2010

Multiplayer additions coming in March.

2K Games has announced new single-player and multiplayer content for BioShock 2.

The first batch of DLC, the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, will be out in March and cost 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live/Games for Windows - Live or $4.99 from the PlayStation Store.

This add-on focuses on multiplayer and boosts ranks to level 50, and also introduces playable characters Louie McGraff and Oscar Calraca. There are 20 new trials to conquer, a third upgrade for each weapon and five new masks.

Note that some of these extras are only available to players that achieve level 41 or higher.

Subsequent DLC add-ons will arrive over the "coming months", according to the press release.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (34) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Retroid #1 2 years ago

    I've not even thought about touching the multiplayer part of Bioshock 2.

  • NunianVonFuch #2 2 years ago

    Shouldn't this kinda thing be free to encourage a take-up of the multiplayer? Seems daft to me. :-S

  • kinky_mong #3 2 years ago

    Sounds awful, the multiplayer is unbalanced enough as it is towards higher ranked players and now they're adding more stuff for them!

    Not to mention most multiplayer DLC segregates an already dwindling community in my experience.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 16:34

  • TipTop #4 2 years ago

    Nor I. I managed to finish it last night. Great SP experience but weirdly balanced. I really struggled mid game, barely surviving one section with no money, no health and no EVE. However by the end section I was breezing it. That said I did become the 'Bee' Keeper, a legendary hero of old, capable of spamming bees at the first sound of anything.

  • menage #5 2 years ago

    I'm only level 10, need to play harder.

  • lunnytoon #6 2 years ago

    The PC multiplayer is so laggy since the recent patch , it's unplayable, they should be sorting that out before even thinking about milking more money out of people.

    Absolutely great single player game though.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 16:47

  • jambo74 #7 2 years ago

    The multiplayer sucks anyway...

  • Agent_Llama #8 2 years ago

    I quite like the MP, but what's with matching level 20+ people up with people just starting out? Makes no sense and leads to a complete imbalance.

  • Ben86 #9 2 years ago

    Not interested the multiplayer is shyte

  • zuljin #10 2 years ago

    @kinky_mong
    I don't find it unbalanced, but then I've never been in a game with people vastly different to myself. Maybe there is one player level 40 (I'm 20), but generally people tend to be my level.

    If higher level players have an ability or weapon which I haven't seen before, it tends to cause death a couple of times before I realise what it is they're doing and change the way I play.

  • TruWari3r #11 2 years ago

    The mp is not that good, matchmaking is rather out of date and the balancing is non existent

  • bodypopper #12 2 years ago

    Yes the matchmaking is poor and the gametypes are variations on what's been done many times before. I can't see many people botheriing to rank up to 40 or above.
    Co-op levels or challenge rooms would have been a better idea.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 17:05

  • Stomp224 #13 2 years ago

    "2K Games has announced new single-player and multiplayer content for BioShock 2."

    What, so they're gonna charge us for filling in those f*c@i%g gigantic plot holes? Swapped my PS3 copy for ME2 anyway. A much, much better game than this crappy cash-in.

  • Mayhem64 #14 2 years ago

    Currently level 20 in MP, playing along to try and get all the cheevos to level 40. Matchmaking can be a bit odd at times; in some games I'll be easily the highest rank player there, in others I'm the lowest ranked player! Additional stuff for MP could be interesting enough, depends if they add any more cheevos or not might be a reason to buy it.

  • Mark1412 #15 2 years ago

    Outsource your tacked on 'it'll sell more copies' multiplayer if you must. But when it comes to expanding a franchise that never demanded a multiplayer component, please for the love of God remember that, as much as you have a chance at toppling Modern Warfare 2 (/sarcasm), generally speaking people are buying this game because it's the sequel to a beloved single player game, not because you've blu-takked an outdated, unbalanced, uninspiring and unnecessary multiplayer to its face like an unsightly mole.

  • Rushy #16 2 years ago

    Level 41 and above, I'm rank 3 and it's unlikely I'll ever put the time in to reach level 41. Seems a bit daft restricting it to (presumably) such a small number of players.

  • DUFFMAN5 #17 2 years ago

    I have played the mp a little (level 4) really enjoyed but as you guys have mentioned a problem with matching lower lvl with higher. I did try and get a few EGers to play death match/team but alas no takers. I will prob stay away now as I have not played on line for a week or so, so I will be further behind.

  • dudefella #18 2 years ago

    Don't know why they bother with this, the MP isn't bad by any stretch (level 7) but I probably wouldn't play it if not for achievements. And single player DLC just sounds strange, unless it's totally separate from the main plot, like challenge rooms, in which case, no thank you anyway!

  • sarcasmoidosis #19 2 years ago

    Bioshock 2 has Multiplayer?

  • Sunyavadin #20 2 years ago

    I don't see what problem people have with the multiplayer. It's perfectly balanced. I loaded up my level 20 the other day with a friend at level 1, and we tied for second in a FFA game that had level 40 players in it. Nothing that unlocks gives more than a slight edge, and it's possible to rank up without ever firing a single shot. Once you hit rank 7 and have all your gene slots filled and one upgraded weapon, you're balanced with every other player in the game.

  • CalmHorizons #21 2 years ago

    I fell asleep when I saw DLC in the article title.

  • ckyman2 #22 2 years ago

    I really want to get into multi-player but there never seem to be anyone on-line apart from "capture the sister" which is kewl but not my cup of tea really, no offence if you like it, just not for me. Would like it to be expanded as well for more players than just 10 at time :(
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 21:25

  • Lawlost #23 2 years ago

    Burnout Paradise got it right in respect of DLC, releasing a number of free DLC drawing the gamer further into the game and keeping players interested, then doing a paid for DLC which really expanded the games. The DLC here sounds like something that ought to have been in the full game.

  • Killerbee #24 2 years ago

    I've only really scratched the surface of the multi-player - made it to Level 4 after a glitch lost all my progress (which admittedly was only as far as level 2, but still...) and it's actually more fun that I at first thought. The matchmaking seems to work reasonably well. Starting as a Level 1 again pitched me against a bunch of randoms from levels 1-4 which is reasonable. If anything, the biggest jump is going from level 1 to 2 because the initial pistol and shotgun are useless in big open spaces, but since you can pretty easily gain that first rank in one game, it's no game breaker.

    The real hook for me, though, is the Big Daddy suit. Get one yourself, and it's great fun stomping around and shooting people with your rivet gun, yet it's also very entertaining fighting against one in a Team Deathmatch, because they really do take some teamwork to beat.

    I'm also warming to the scanning concept - at first I thought it just imbalanced the game horribly by making it even harder to kill enemies if you'd already died a lot, but actually it really makes the games feel personal and there's a lot of fun to be had searching out targets you've got a damage bonus against - or who have a bonus against you.

    If anything, I've warmed to it more than the Single Player which could have done with a bit more of a shake up of the formula in my opinion. I might as well be playing the first game (which I did enjoy) because it's pretty much the same bar the level design and story, yet the new characters aren't a patch on Atlus and Ryan.

  • GooseUK #25 2 years ago

    multiplayer isnt so bad, it's just - for lack of a better description - unnecessary. I have played it a good bit, and I would quite enjoy it but the lag issues are so persistent it feels like an early xbox (1) live game.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 23:40

  • The_Inquisitor #26 2 years ago

    Had a quick blast on the multiplayer for the first time today. It took most of the round to get to grips with it but I have to say, it had something unique about it and I got the impression it requires a strategic approach to get the most out of it. I'll definitely be giving it another go after I finish the single player.
    Edited by 1 at 22/02/10 @ 23:56

  • Sunyavadin #27 2 years ago

    Curious, I've never experienced lag, and the only gametype I've never managed to find a lobby for within about a minute is capture the sister, which I've still yet to play.
    I have discovered however, that none of my friends who own a BT homehub 2.0 router can ever find games on the Bioshock 2 matchmaking AT ALL, and get kicked from the private lobbies our regular gaming circle set up as soon as the match starts. Even with port forwarding configured.

  • darkmorgado #28 2 years ago

    I think that a lot of people criticising the MP are doing so based on their experiences of MP in other games. Perhaps it might be prudent to take a step back and judge BS2 MP on its own merits instead of comparing it to traditional FPS multiplayer? Just a thought...

  • zuljin #29 2 years ago

    @jonarob
    I totally agree. Pay for DLC that people worked hard on? How dare they, the bastards.

  • zuljin #30 2 years ago

    @jonarob
    "Paid for DLC after less than a month on the shelf - for a tack-on multiplayer component is outrageous"

    Nono, I got that part, but perhaps I wasn't clear enough.

    "I think it's ridiculous that we're getting DLC at 400 points for a tack-on multiplayer component of a brand new game"

    I think its ridiculous you're expecting something free when people worked hard on it. ie. My line should have read paid for DLC.

    EDIT: And now you're giving me a link to Straw man? Seriously dude, have a read yourself, because this ain't it.
    Edited by 1 at 23/02/10 @ 10:00

  • zuljin #31 2 years ago

    @jonarob
    You clearly have no concept of economics. Or of good sales.

    - Release six months after.
    Right. When everyone has stopped playing the game?

    - Change a line of code.
    Right. What about the models? What about the dynamics of the new upgrades of which you know nothing of? What about the code overhead of anticipating downloadable content? What about QA who has to retest the whole game since changes have been made? Am I right in saying you've never worked in development?

    - Economics.
    Yes they are looking to make money off this. Were you happy with the original game and the price you paid for it? This changes nothing in regards to your experience of that game.

    Projects have a budget. Money is spent on all aspects whether you like it or not. Some factor this cost into the sale of the game, some factor it into DLC. Don't like it, vote with your wallet, but the "I want companies to give me free shit" is getting tired and old, real fast.

  • zuljin #32 2 years ago

    @jonarob
    I getcha. You're saying its not worth it. But you're still whining because you want it, right?

    So you don't want it free, you just want it cheaper?

  • zuljin #33 2 years ago

    @Jonarob
    "Well, apart from the fact that you can look at every other FPS and every other bit of DLC and compare it to that, then argue that this DLC is rubbish that should've been in the full game. Compare it to MW2, compare it to the Orange Box, Halo 3, whatever - people are getting a bad deal here - comparatively."

    Wat? No. Like I said, money is allocated to everything you see in a game, including DLC. Now it may be that MW2 has an awesome free DLC. Great. But their original game would have more money spent on it if it didn't have DLC or paid for DLC. So the game could have had more mission or campaigns. Maybe better, maybe worse, at least different.

    If you feel that comparatively people are getting a bad deal with Bioshock + DLC, then that is in no way indicative of the horrors of DLC, but everything to do with 2K Marin and how much "game" they get out of their buck.

  • jambo74 #34 2 years ago

    BioShock 2 - just more of the same from BioShock.

    I was left flat while playing it - not enough new ideas here to make it a stand out title for me.