Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Life Of The Party, Part 1.

“Angelwatch? Is this how our arrangement is gonna work, you coming up with ways for me to get myself killed?” “Is this really Garrett the Master Thief I hear talking? If danger is going to be a problem for you, then…” “Just– give me the details.” The third instalment of Groping The Map will be […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 6.

“Don’t think you know something about the Lady I don’t. My dad did tours out here.” Conclusion: There’s one word whose use is all but unavoidable when discussing Deus Ex: ‘possible’. The path across Liberty Island I have described is only one of many available routes, though all players start and end their paths at […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 5.

“A shame, isn’t it? The French terrorist group Silhouette claims that France was wrong to give the U.S. the Statue. We think they planned the bombing.” Annotated Walkthrough, 4: With two objectives and at least two separate entrances the Statue itself represents a higher level problem encounter than those you may have come across while […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 4.

“I warned him, you know. I said right to his face, ‘Don’t take weapons into the Lady. That makes you as bad as UNATCO.’” Annotated Walkthrough, 3: Heading to the right after leaving the South Dock you will pass the corpse of another UNATCO Trooper, this one armed solely with a Pepper Spray. So far […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 3.

“Everything was clear an hour ago. Then, BOOM!” Annotated Walkthrough, 2: Stepping up the ramp from the South Dock, the first sight to meet you is likely the dead body of a UNATCO Trooper, lying on the path ignored by the patrolling NSF. Directly ahead there is a stone pillar of some sort, despite not […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 2.

“They’d’ve replaced his whole body if it would’ve improved performance. If that’s how you judge a man — by performance — then eventually it’s not about people but upgrades, versions, functionality…” Annotated Walkthrough, 1: Several things are apparently from the moment you arrive on Liberty Island. The headless Statue Of Liberty is the most obvious […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Liberty Island, Part 1.

“The bots have them bottled up, sir. We’d go right in, if it weren’t for the hold-back order.” The second instalment of Groping The Map will be presented in multiple parts running over the next several weeks. Introduction. Annotated Walkthrough, 1: South Dock. Annotated Walkthrough, 2: Island exterior and UNATCO HQ. Annotated Walkthrough, 3: Island […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Pauper’s Drop, Part 7.

“Nobody was s’posed to reside down here long term – but when you’re broke in this town, you’re not exactly swimmin’ in alternatives.” Conclusion: As the fourth level in BioShock 2 Pauper’s Drop is at once the start of the core of the game and the end of its tutorial; from here onward everything is […]

Categories
Groping The Map Level Design

Groping The Map: Pauper’s Drop, Part 6.

“Nobody’s supposed to live down here, city pissing on us.” Life Below The Tracks: When things go wrong for you in Rapture the only way is down, if you sink far enough you will eventually find yourself here, the home both for those without a place in Ryan’s objectivist utopia, and those who have lost […]

Categories
Level Design

Groping The Map: Pauper’s Drop, Part 5.

“‘Survival of the fittest’ that’s the rule in the Drop, the only rule.” Combat in The Drop: One of the themes at the heart of BioShock 2 is that of regaining your place in the world. You are Subject Delta, the first successfully pair bonded Big Daddy. You were once an important figure in the […]