BioShock™
BioShock™
Game
Game2010
BioShock® 2
Developer 2K Marin, 2K China, Digital Extremes
BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and published by 2K Games. It was released worldwide for PlayStation 3, Windows, and Xbox 360 on February 9, 2010; Feral Interactive released an OS X version on March 30, 2012. The game takes place in the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, eight years after the events of BioShock. In the single-player campaign, players control the armored… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
210 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Mastodon, Bluesky) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
77
LovedLoved
152 positive · 46 negative
95% range 70–82%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 152 | 46 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Bluesky * | 2 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
6,681 of 7,651 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
75% recommend · 142 yes, 47 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 189 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (13,301 of 14,999 positive).
Players praise the improved gameplay and combat, especially playing as a Big Daddy. [1][2][3] Many note the story is weaker than the first game but still engaging. [1][2][4] Several reviewers report frequent crashes and technical issues, especially with the remaster. [5][6][7]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
I am not giving a thumbs down because of the game itself. Bioshock 2 rules, but this is one of the worst ports i have ever seen. Constant crashing (both versions) still not fixed and no one in 2K cares. Unacceptable.
- [1]
“No gods or kings. Only man.” - Andrew Ryan BioShock 2 has always been underappreciated. While its narrative doesn’t quite hold up to the first game which is a daunting comparison, given how beloved the original is for good reason the moment to moment experience shines. The combat feels noticeably better it’s weighty, satisfying, and playing as a Big Daddy never stops being awesome. Visually, the game still holds up …
- [2]
FIrst off, definitely upgraded gameplay. That was so fun ong I swear I never thought being a Big Daddy at the start of the game until the very end would lowkey have a fire gameplay. Drill rush is the meta fr. LOve the rivet gun as well. As for the story,I personally prefer the first game's story but this one is pretty good as well. When I reached Persephone, that was when I had more fun with the story. Lots of …
- [5]
Note that I played the 2016 remastered version of this game. It's a sloppy effort with many textures left in incongruous low-res. More importantly, it crashes a lot. Though there is a community-made mod that fixes the crashes I would still recommend you buy the original instead. The devs are knowingly selling a broken remaster—for 9 years at the time of this writing!—and should not be rewarded with your money. The …
- [3]
(This is the original review I wrote for this game but for it's Remastered version) This game might never top the first Bioshock in terms of narrative and overall storyline, but it certainly improves the first game in almost every other aspect. You play as Delta, castaway Big Daddy left for dead after a conspiracy that gets you killed in an intro. The goal of the game is to save your original Little Sister, Eleanor, …
Summarised from 34 of the 202 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
75% of the 189 Steam reviewers we collected recommend BioShock® 2. The complaint that keeps coming up: frequent crashes and technical issues on PC. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
BioShock 2 received positive reviews. Review aggregator Metacritic assigned the game a weighted average critic score of 88/100 across all platforms. Reviewers noted BioShock 2's fundamental similarity to its predecessor, but disagreed on whether the similarity was a problem. GamesRadar's Charlie Barratt wrote that it broke new ground while honoring the original's successes. PC World's Will Herring considered BioShock 2 to have surpassed the original. In contrast, critics such as The A.V. Club's John Teti, The New York Times' Seth Schiesel, and GameSpy's Anthony Gallegos, felt that it failed by hewing so closely to the original, or else failed to meaningfully expand it. Critics often…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 210 · most liked first“No gods or kings. Only man.” - Andrew Ryan BioShock 2 has always been underappreciated. While its narrative doesn’t quite hold up to the first game which is a daunting comparison, given how beloved the original is for good reason the moment to moment experience shines. The combat feels noticeably better it’s weighty, satisfying, and playing as a Big Daddy never stops being awesome. Visually, the game still holds up beautifully, and returning to Rapture is always a pleasure. I’d love to see…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Gonna continue with the Spooktacular Streamathon with Bioshock 2! I love this game a ton so we'll def have a good time :) 🔴STARTING NOW🔴 #Bioshock2 #SS2025 You can donate to support kids in need here! tilt.fyi/pLrTzGMNST
positive · AI labelView post →I am not giving a thumbs down because of the game itself. Bioshock 2 rules, but this is one of the worst ports i have ever seen. Constant crashing (both versions) still not fixed and no one in 2K cares. Unacceptable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wonder how many irrelevant games are coming back, with reboots, remakes, and BioShock still on hold. Is it really over?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Note that I played the 2016 remastered version of this game. It's a sloppy effort with many textures left in incongruous low-res. More importantly, it crashes a lot. Though there is a community-made mod that fixes the crashes I would still recommend you buy the original instead. The devs are knowingly selling a broken remaster—for 9 years at the time of this writing!—and should not be rewarded with your money. The original BioShock is a masterpiece of backstory and environmental design. It…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FIrst off, definitely upgraded gameplay. That was so fun ong I swear I never thought being a Big Daddy at the start of the game until the very end would lowkey have a fire gameplay. Drill rush is the meta fr. LOve the rivet gun as well. As for the story,I personally prefer the first game's story but this one is pretty good as well. When I reached Persephone, that was when I had more fun with the story. Lots of things going on in a non-complicated way. Now onto Minerva's Den. Somebody said I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Many say this game was made purely for money after Bioshock success, and that it does not offer anything more than the first one. I strongly disagree, as the second installment of this series is a natural continuation of the Rapture story. It may feel a bit unnatural with the main antagonist, however, I still found it captivating. I still have a strong sentiment to the first game, but I don't understand how you wouldn't play Bioshock 2 if you love the first one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my favorite Bioshock game. It improved on the gameplay of the first game and is just a ton of fun. But I can't recommend buying this game because it has a lot of problems with crashing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's 2025 and I'm playing this series for the first time. I understand the story in BioShock 1 is supposed to be incredible (and it is), but BioShock 2 literally threw me for a loop in comparison. BioShock 2 feels much more gracefully aged with it's controls and gameplay mechanics. It literally just felt like a more improved BioShock 1. If there was any critique, I'd argue this game felt more... repetitive than the first in terms of gameplay loop. It feels like half of the time I really was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Both this game and the remastered version are pretty much unplayable on my PC. Constant CTD without explanation or anything in the Event Viewer. I have tried -dx9, I have tried increasing texture limit, nothing changes. It is a shame, I have heard the game is good but no matter how many times I try, it just does not work. Therefore, I cannot recommend either game, they are simply too broken.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Crashes non stop. The original version does not work with modern computers. It crashes every 30 seconds to two minutes. Spent hours researching ways to counter this. Even with all the fixes I could find, I only improved this to get maybe five minutes or so before it crashes. Constant saves. Constant crashes. Constant reloads. A shame really, because it looks like it would be a good game otherwise
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This review is based on 100% completion and 38.8 hours of gameplay. Recommendation: Would I recommend this game? No – and that’s purely because of the technical performance issues I experienced on PC. These problems had a major impact on my experience, which is really unfortunate because the game itself is one of my all-time favourites. I’ve 100% completed it multiple times on console and again on the remastered version, but this PC port of the original is rough. Unless you’re willing to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Constant crashes with no error message. I get there's a fix that works for some people but games should just work on install.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The must-play game during the Father's Day, & my personal favorite of the trilogy. Now that I finished the game, I realized how wholesome it is (if you going to good route). Not just being a dad to the Little Sisters, but with Handyman tonic you can become a dad for security bots too! Delta is that dad, the GOATed dad that ever dadded.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the hacking minigames in this sequel, but otherwise making it not to crash every now and then it's a pain in the ass. The story and the gameplay is good, but as I said before the constant crashing made me not want to like/love the game. I refuse to believe that the only solution to play this game on a modern machine is to play on low/medium graphics settings. The game is very reminiscent of its prequel, but it gets overshadowed by poor optimisation. It could have been something, but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went back to Rapture rocking the boots of the OG Delta and honestly? What a trip. Played this as a kid back in 2013, forgot basically everything, so it felt like a fresh dive all over again. 10/10 certified father simulator
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →(This is the original review I wrote for this game but for it's Remastered version) This game might never top the first Bioshock in terms of narrative and overall storyline, but it certainly improves the first game in almost every other aspect. You play as Delta, castaway Big Daddy left for dead after a conspiracy that gets you killed in an intro. The goal of the game is to save your original Little Sister, Eleanor, from the influence of her mother. I'm honestly amazed by the quality of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →none stop crashes breaking anything with drill arm runs at 2fps and the games running uncapped 700fps but objects and interactables move at 2fps so strange.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⠘⡀⠀⠀⠀why yes i do rescue all⠀⠀⠀ ⡜⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠑⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀the little sisters,⠀⠀⠀⠀⡔⠁⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠢⢄⠀how could you tell?⣀⠴⠊⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⡀⠤⠄⠒⠈⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⣀⠄⠊⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⠛⠛⠋⠉⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠛⠻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⢏⣴⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣟⣾⣿⡟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⢢⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣟⠀⡴⠄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⠟⠻⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠶⢴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿ ⣿⣁⡀⠀⠀⢰⢠⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡄⠀⣴⣶⣿⡄⣿ ⣿⡋⠀⠀⠀⠎⢸⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣴⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠗⢘⣿⣟⠛⠿⣼ ⣿⣿⠋⢀⡌⢰⣿⡿⢿⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⣿⣧⢀⣼…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What separates this Bioshock from the first is the feeling that you aren't in danger, you ARE the danger. Your character feels much stronger and powerful, since combat is way smoother than the previous game. A lot of people will flame me for this, but I think Bioshock 2's story is just as good as the first's. Be warned however, you will experience a lot of crashes, so save often!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game constantly crashes, won't load, freezes for no reason, and I've had a couple of cases of it just flat out shutting itself off. Play the remaster instead. This is unplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →POV: you adopt daughters and solve problems with a drill.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bioshock 2 is a sequel that was done right, being just as immersive as the first game with a great story and gameplay. Just be aware that the game might crash every few 10-30 minutes of gameplay when freshly brought which was quite fustrating at first but was fixed when looking up solutions that didn't really require mods/patches to be installed online. Anywho, it's a game definitely worth trying as this is the only bug I'd encountered. The big daddies are still kinda hot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Originally released in 2010, Bioshock 2 was placed slightly below the first game by many reviewers. It still offers a welcome return to Rapture with enough fun to overcome its flaws. Eight years after the last title, Subject Delta, one of the first Big Daddies, awakens from a coma, intent on finding his lost daughter Eleanor. In the years he was asleep, Rapture fell into a power vacuum with the collectivist Sophia Lamb rising to power. Lamb and her family of cultists also claim ownership over…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DO NOT BUY THIS GAME! It is unapologetically broken. It'll randomly crash, and you can lose HOURS of progress. I have tried every fix, and none of them work long enough to beat the game. Save your time. Save your money. Charging money before ironing out issues like this should be flat out illegal.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →to be fair the story itself is not very consistent with the first game (Lamb appears out of nowhere, same for Gill Alexander, Tenenbaum returns to Rapture but never informs Jack, who would definitely be a powerfull ally, the "train" system and many more), but still quite good. Personaly I like to think that its just another alternative story from Infinite in the same setting. I LOVE the story of bonding to a single little sister much more, adore the "old" and weary Rapture after being exposed…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →amazing game, but i recommend playing through the first so you have more attachment to the characters, still, its a damn emotional game, it is hard but fair
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The remaster is the same exact game (I can barely tell the graphical difference) with the exception of being more unstable. Just play the original, it's better anyway. Just like BioShock 1, it has an fantastic story, amazing music, great voice acting, AMAZING visuals, and it's cool asf. The game play though is clunky, and it's the weak point. If you haven't played either tho, this is one of the classics, do get.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →>peak peak peak peak peak peak peak >better then bioshock 1 and infinite >but would you stop crashing for 5min geezzz
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The hood classic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →(Taken from my comment I put on a youtube video about Bioshock 2) When I got my original Xbox 360 it had the demo for Bioshock on it, at that point I only had 2 games on my 360 so seeing a free demo was nice, I played it and it hooked me immediately. I would later get the full game and loved it. When Bioshock 2 came out I got that and loved it way more it let me play as a Big Daddy which I was fascinated by when I played the first so playing as one was amazing. Bioshock 2 expanding on…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Awesome Game because you feel like a big gimp in a latex outfit
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the performance wasnt great the fan speed would multiply 2 every min i played the game hence the product is unfinieshed and refunded by me
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just beat the main story of Bioshock 2 and man idk why this game received so much hate. It was such a such a good game honesty, sure the prequel game (Bioshock 1) was definitely better than this in aspects other than gameplay + the big sister encounters became extremely repeatitive and tedious but story is engaging with gameplay like this I can't really complain.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Episode 3 of my BioShock 2 playthrough is up now! The storyline of this game is starting to get good... 👀 Watch here ➡️ youtu.be/R3X8SHn8ECo #bioshock #bioshock2
positive · AI labelView post →The Best Daddy in Rapture Bioshock 2 does a great job expanding the lore of Rapture and skillfully adds new storylines and characters not mentioned in the first game, without creating contradictions. Compared to the first game, the story here is more personal. It tackles the very complex questions of the relationship between parents and children. Through the main character and his daughter, the game shows that parents are role models for their children. The story of Delta and Eleanor is very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unplayable today, fixes were working up until Ryan Amusements when the game exploded over and over again
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is an absolute pain to run on modern systems but they just don't make games like this anymore. I'd recommend fighting to run the original because the remaster takes those amazing water effects and pretty much just throws them in the trash, amongst having other issues.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It has a cool and original story
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Best gameplay in the series hands down also the story is pretty decent. Miles better than Infinite but that's not saying anything.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Is this that Pragmata game y'all were hyping up?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting story writing and the nuance of the horror really cool. This game become parts of my interest.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →good game, had some crashing here and there but still more stable than the remaster version. the main story is as good as the 1st game, which is great!! i played the DLC a bit but didnt like it that much, kinda hard for me and The game feels a bit repetitive. but that just me, with big discount it shouldnt be a problem, u may end up enjoy the DLC
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →a massive upgrade from the original I love that hacking now it skill based and doesn't take a whole minute to do and that they made it so you have abilitys in 1 hand and a gun in the other, I didn't even use the abilitys bc I was so janky to switch between them and weapons, love that they added more enemies the first game lacked type of enemys I just wish the game was longer
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Slow start, emotional powerhouse finish.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BioShock 2 surprised me in the best way. Playing as a Big Daddy sounds like a gimmick, but it actually gives the combat a heavier, more deliberate feel that’s super satisfying. The story isn’t quite as mind‑melting as the first game, but it’s still a great dive back into Rapture, and the bond with Eleanor adds a nice emotional hook. The pacing can wobble here and there, and a few sections feel more “shooty” than atmospheric, but overall it’s a strong, atmospheric return to one of gaming’s…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The OG BioShock 2 is goated and is the best way to experience this masterpiece of a game. If you are experiencing issues with crashing, try using -dx9 in the launch options, it may help alleviate the issue.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This thing is so much better than the first game, there isn't a single part of this game that made me uninterested, unlike Bioshock 1 that was kind of lean on the first destinations. johnny's (aka delta) bond with eleanor was beautiful, meaningful and actually was more than just a trivial fact to the history, the fact that you can use a plasmid while already using a gun is so much helpful agaisnt big sisters, spider splicers and etc, and also makes this game have a quicker pace compared to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →please make this game more stable. it's frustrating for it to crash all the time when the autosave is only every 20 minutes. You have to manually save often or risk losing progress. love the concept, just wish the software was better. even tried fixing some of the script in the game files myself and it still doesn't permanently offer a fix.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After such a long time I finally got this game and completed it. I was pleasantly surprised by it. The game has issues on modern hardware. I did not manage to completely fix everything - the game always crashed after a mission (during the loading screen) and did not save, which I learned the hard way. So I just save before the end of the level and just restart the game. (I guess it is not exactly the loading but the VRAM reaches a certain memory ammount and then it crashes. I can load before…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great story with an intense gameplay that you can get really smart taking advantage from the environments. Good choice if you want to feel yourself as a powerful juggernaut without making you feel so powerful to go around without see any enemy as a weak opponent. Great multiplayer that has its own story. Without breaking the casual game with the competitive one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Generally a refinement of the first game in nearly every way, personally. While the story choices are not in the kind of depth as later games like Prey or Dishonored (at least Prey definitely came later), it at least had a little *more* going on than the first. I liked the games arsenal, though I did opt to take the passive that restricts you to your drill and a few utility options. It's a fun challenge and there is a satisfying feedback to hitting someone with a conical heymaker. Though, I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →By far the best Bioshock game out of the 3 in the series, the only issue with the OG version is that it crashes a lot, so save often
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Now I am become Big Daddy, harvester of children.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →dog water crashes every 5 mins
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game gets a lot of underserved hate for being the sequel to Bioshock 1, but really Bioshock 2 is great game that meaningfully builds on it's predecessor. I have a lot of fond memories of playing this. The ability to combine abilities and set traps was so fun. I loved protecting little sisters while they harvest. Being able to have your ability in one hand and your gun in the other was also a welcome change. The story is engaging and endearing. I love this game and people hating on it are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Masterpiece disguised as videogame. Absolutely gorgeous. You're a Big Daddy ZAMN!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →right trying to replay this older version of the game. it looks phenomenal. even coming off the remaster of the first game, it has a noticable improvement in all aspects. unfortunately, after an hour i can't deal with this anymore. it crashes constantly and sometimes loading up the game flashbangs you with a white screen that never goes away without closing the game. my last straw was this white screen popping up in the middle of playing and not loading. i'd love to play through this and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a fantastic game to 100%. I've played and beaten the remastered versions, so this was no different, except for the multiplayer, which can be surprisingly active. The challengers were pretty fun, especially on the bonus one, where you got everything. 9/10 - To hand sufficient power to any individual is to create a Tyrant. We must therefore eradicate tyranny at the genetic level. To end sin itself. That is the Family. That is our cause.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GREAT game, GREAT gameplay, AMAZING story, but the original Bioshock 2 is unplayable. The game just crashes constantly and I say playing the remaster as the original was not made to be played on modern PC. If you want to play the original Bioshock 2 youre better off playing it on a console, but if youre looking to play on PC I say play the remaster since there will be less crashes compared to the original Bioshock 2
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.