Review: BioShock 2 Special Edition (PS3)

Review: Bioshock 2 Special Edition (PS3)

Well, this is the review for the items that come with special edition, and not for the game itself.

Here's a quick list of the items.

  • BioShock 2, the game
  • Vinyl 180g LP featuring the orchestral score from the original BioShock
  • CD containing the BioShock 2 orchestral score
  • A 164 page 8"x11" hardbound artbook chock full of developer commentary
  • Three posters featuring vintage ads from Rapture (rolled)

Review: BioShock 2 Special Edition

All the items are packed in a beautiful sturdy black box. The box art is printed on what I believe to be top grade matte paper which has a really good feel on touch.

The Vinyl record contains the score for BioShock 1 with a total of 24 songs on both sides. It's housed inside a glossy slipcase which has some words from the score composer Garry Schyman. Unfortunately for me, I don't have a record player which means I can't play it, and sadly it doesn't come with an audio CD version — how can that even happen?

The audio CD is the soundtrack for BioShock 2. I love violins and there are lots of that on the score. Music style ranges from the incredibly scary to deeply beautiful and sad. Well worth listening over again to relive the moment.

The hardcover art book "Deco Devolution" is filled to the brim with concept art on the characters, environments and weapons. There are even the ads you see plastered on the walls in the game. The art is great and every piece is accompanied by staff commentary giving tremendous insight into the art direction. I'm an art book collector and this is certainly one of the best art books out there, one that can't be bought separately.

The 3 deco art style posters are nice. They are rolled but flattens out easily.

The BioShock 2 Special Edition is stunning and basically screams "quality" all over. It's well worth the money. Highly recommended.

There's also another edition called the Rapture with an art book of only 90 pages.

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You can check out more reviews on Amazon: US | CA | UK | DE | FR

The special edition is available for PC, XBox 360 and the PS3.


Deco Devolution: The Art of BioShock 2 is available at Amazon US:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003MO80ZI

That's the artbook alone without the game.

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11 Comments

Purchased it on Amazon.co.uk,

Purchased it on Amazon.co.uk, just 53€. What a price and now I am even more excited. Okay also don`t own a record player but they are cheap. A quick look on amazon, the fleamarket or the grandparents should help everyone in this case I think. The Vinyl is one of the best additions since ages but jeah they should have made a second CD for the people who don`t have a player. Nevertheless, this editions is Über in every single level. No matter if LP, artbook or box, everything is made really well. I thank you for the nice pics (nearly no one is showing the LP itself), this Special Edition earns it to be rewarded through this review. Epochal!

I received my copy of

I received my copy of Bioshock 2 Collector's Edition and I must say that it's incredibly cheap for what you get. Everything is of exceptional quality but what surpised me the most was how big the artbook actually is. Just awesome. This is the best collector's edition of a game I've ever bought!

PS: I also noticed that the US and European versions of the collector's edition are a bit different - the inside of the box of my copy is made of a black velvet-like material that is ornamented wit art deco elements in the area below the game disc. Also the black box has only the butterfly graphic but does not include the Bioshock logo and the outside carton box is an actual box (you open it from the top and pull the black box from there) while the US version obviously is a slipcase.

Aussie here (we're on Europes

Aussie here (we're on Europes distribution circuit), I can confirm it's definitely the same edition just with some stylistic differences in the presentation (box instead of slipcase, no logo on the matte collector box, black velvet lining instead of the patterned one).

Great review!

I can't believe that you

I can't believe that you would say that this is one of the best art books out there. It has some of the worst pieces of art I have ever seen. If you've ever seen the first Bioshock Art book it was Laughable which is probably why they gave it away for free in PDF Format. Unfortunately some of the concept guys that were on the first one are on the 2nd one and it shows. Fortunately it seems they've hired some good concept artists for Bioshock but the bad overwhelms the good. If you like Quantity over quality then this is the art book for you. If you're looking for amazing, inspirational concept art then this is not the book for you.

I'm glad you reviewed this.

I'm glad you reviewed this. The whole package is amazing, especially the artbook.

I also wish that the vinyl record would have been on CD. It's a cool collector's item, but I think it's not practical for the majority of fans.

Did you know that if you hold the posters under a blacklight, you will see messages on them?

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