A satisfying self-contained chapter, driven by an engrossing story, with exploration encouraged. We encourage you to read our updated PRIVACY POLICY and COOKIE POLICY. Minerva's Den takes around five hours to play, and the story is intriguing and substantial. Visit our corporate site. And how long to beat? Minerva's Den is, for all intents and purposes, a better experience than its parent game. Best free PC games Most areas are large hubs with no clearly marked goals, riddled with Adam, Tonics and Plasmids to upgrade your abilities. Oh, my feelings about BioShock as a series are so muddled these days. Let's get this out of the way: BioShock 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and the Minerva's Den DLC only heightens the already great experience. BioShock 2 had you playing a lumbering Big Daddy in search of the Little Sister you were meant to protect. ". 2K Marin's used BioShock 2 as a platform to deliver a final, moving, personal story set in Rapture. For BioShock Infinite on the Xbox 360, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Bioshock 2 Minerva's Den worth it? Please enable Javascript to view comments. New York, It benefits hugely from being essentially a standalone vignette, rather than trying to in anyway affect the fate of the larger BioShock universe (let alone universes), so there’s barely even a compulsion to wonder about loose ends or cosmic deus ex machinas. Once it's downloaded, run BioShock 2 normally and find it under Extras. You're looking for The Thinker, a punchcard-driven artificial intelligence developed to run Rapture's automated systems. There’s tons of attention to detail, and in its convincing fleshing out of a ghost town world it’s not hard to see how its creators went on to make Gone Home. Ancient co-founder of RPS. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time. Thank you for signing up to PC Gamer. There was a problem. Have You Played? Given recent, divisive talk of BioShock being a continuing franchise without its original creator at the helm, Minerva’s Den’s quiet completeness suggests that needn’t necessarily be a bad thing. Long gone. It hits the key beats of the ideas behind BioShock – manipulation, twisted technology, distorted values, ambition and folly – and it weaves all that into the improved combat system that, for some, makes BioShock 2 the superior of BioShock 1. Now mostly writes for rather than about videogames. BioShock 2 had you playing a lumbering Big Daddy in search of the Little Sister you were meant to protect. Find more information here. Best PC games When hacked to follow you around, the electricity one is a hilarious and handy companion, repeatedly shocking your enemies so you can take your time with their fate. Accordingly, it asks you to do more exploring than the main BioShock games. There's a Gravity Well plasmid that sucks enemies into a singularity and spits them back out – entertaining, but a pretty slow way of dealing with the least dangerous enemies. One warning: you need to buy the DLC through Games for Windows Live, even if you didn't get BioShock 2 from there. One thing I do know: late-in-the-day BioShock 2 DLC Minerva’s Den got it right. Plus flying laser robots. That isn’t to say there isn’t a whole lot of craft here, in terms of level design, tone and writing. The main Bioshock 2 story was poor and left me with a sense of displeasure after finishing the game; which is a shame really because the game play aspects were vastly improved. Receive news and offers from our other brands? BioShock might be the more influential and well-known title of the series, but BioShock 2 takes the premise even further and makes almost every mechanic and idea better. All Rights Reserved. Best Minecraft shaders for 1.16.3 The main thrust of the plot requires a credulity leap of that kind, which is a shame, but it doesn't prevent the game being engrossing. The most enjoyable novelties are the new security bots: firing rockets, lasers and electricity. © It's also focused: there's almost no peripheral backstory lying around, every audio diary you find is a piece of the puzzle. It benefits hugely from being essentially a standalone vignette, rather than trying to in anyway affect the fate of the larger BioShock universe (let alone universes), so there’s barely even a compulsion to wonder about loose ends or cosmic deus ex machinas. Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors. As with both BioShock games, the antagonist isn't nearly as convincing or interesting as the conflicted characters along the way, and his taunting wears thin. The sting in its tail isn't quite as potent as either of its predecessors, but it's a satisfying ending once you make sense of it. One-HiT KiLLeR. Go have a lie down, Internet. The DLC is better than the main game, by the way. And if you miss a major audio diary, the plot makes less sense. Not that it makes perfect sense even if you don't, of course – it involves powerful ideas, but operates under the same magical logic by which a secret city on the ocean bed is a viable thing. This site © 2020 Gamer Network Limited. The additions to the combat formula are all worthwhile, but don't change it dramatically. No part of this site or its content may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright holder. Receive mail from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. But the most important thing is that the collection includes the best BioShock title ever made: Minerva’s Den. New PC games 2020 If you click our links to online stores and make a purchase we may receive a few pennies. is an endless stream of game recommendations. Black Friday You will receive a verification email shortly. Best graphics cards Comments are now closed. Please refresh the page and try again. Tagged with Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den, Have You Played, BioShock 2. Last edited by blackguard; Oct 3, 2013 @ 12:50pm #4. Support RPS and get an ad-free site, extra articles, and free stuff. That means it's still creative and fun, but doesn't feel refreshingly new. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, And the new Ion Laser weapon is a very straightforward damage-dealer, as is the new Big Daddy type that uses it. If you owned Bioshock 2 on Steam before they introduced it, you should have Minerva's Den unlocked. Is it worth it? You didn't like the pipe hacking minigame in the first one? NY 10036. A new BioShock is being made at 2K's new studio, Liquid Football: Rocket League Getting Free AquaDome, Black Friday 2020 gaming monitor deals: the best 144Hz, 240Hz and ultrawide deals, Samsung's 240Hz Odyssey G7 monitor returns for another epic Black Friday deal, Nicalis issue DMCA takedowns against Cave Story fangame, Black Friday 2020 gaming laptop deals: the best deals you can get right now. < > Showing 1-7 of 7 comments . Best Warzone loadout for Season 6. For the most part that's great, but you'll occasionally hit a dead end and be unsure how far you're supposed to backtrack, or what you're looking for. Minerva's Den - worth it? Minerva's Den is a separate story for the same game: you play a different Big Daddy with a different goal. One thing I do know: late-in-the-day BioShock 2 DLC Minerva’s Den got it right. Minerva's den is plain and simple well worth the price you'll pay for it and represents sadly what the game of Bioshock 2 should have been in this short side quest.