BioShock 2: The Protector Trials

The Good
When game companies offer downloadable content (DLC) as part of the main game, it usually offers special features or an extension to the story. 2K decided to go against the trend. With their first single-player DLC for the game – and for the series, actually – 2K has delivered a fun game that proves challenging on all accounts. In BioShock 2, you had the option of protecting Little Sisters while she gathers ADAM from one corpse to the next while fending off Splicers. Now, 2K took that very same concept and expanded upon it.

There are six areas with three trials each, but you cannot access higher trials until you successfully complete the previous ones. Each trial works the same. You are a Big Daddy who must pick up the Little Sister in that area and put her down next to the “angel”. It is then that she starts to slowly gather ADAM from it. As soon as she collects a small amount, Splicers appear and attack you, and you must kill them before you run out of health. The weapons and plasmids are different each trial, so it is impossible to use the same tactic as you did before.

From time to time, the Little Sister is attacked by one of the Splicers, and you are encouraged to kill them as quickly as possible so that she can continue to gather ADAM. She has a required amount of ADAM to collect. About halfway, Lamb asks for more reinforcements to be deployed in your area. These include a Brute Splicer and, in some cases, another Big Daddy. There is only one corpse per trial.

There is one thing that I like about Protector Trials: the frantic gameplay. After I gun down about six Splicers, I always found myself going to vending machines and restocking on my supplies, even if I learned a strategy to deal with them. The more you proceed through the trials, the more challenging it gets. The Little Sister is attacked every five seconds, and enemies become more aggressive.

There is a special treat for anyone that manages to complete all the trials in all six areas. There are bonus trials in which you can use any weapon or plasmid you want. Furthermore, bonus content is unlocked. I didn't know that there was going to be a Little Brother in the main game, and that he was scrapped at the last minute.

When you complete each trial, you are awarded a grade. Although this grade has no impact on whether you receive awards such as the bonus content, it is an incentive to go back to a trial you already played and try to aim for a higher grade. As far as I know, there is only one achievement that depends on you getting an A – a grade that I have received occasionally.

The Bad
I know that songs from the 1920s-50s time period make up the soundtrack in BS2, but battling it out along the likes of “(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window” and “It Had To Be You” is just wrong.

The Bottom Line
Protector Trials is an excellent piece of DLC where you have to protect the Little Sister from Splicers while she gathers ADAM. The process is very slow, giving you plenty of time to fight attacking Splicers while stocking up on supplies. The gameplay is frantic and excellent, and although some of the music is quite dramatic, I don't think slapping licensed songs here and there fitted the bill.

This DLC, along with Minerva's Den, originally wasn't going to be released for Windows, but after an outcry from PC users, not only did 2K change their mind, but they also offer both of these DLCs for free. And because it is free, I don't see any reason why you should miss out playing an excellent game.