This main game, an adventure/shooter RPG released in 2010, returns players to the underwater dystopia of Rapture eight years after the first game. You play as Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, on a quest to find your bonded Little Sister. Gameplay focuses on brutal first-person combat, blending traditional shooting with powerful genetic abilities (Plasmids) and new passive enhancements (Gene Tonics). Its unique feature is inhabiting the powerful Big Daddy role, offering a distinct, durable combat style within the decaying city setting.
The game transports players back beneath the waves to Rapture, an ambitious city built on objectivist ideals that has since collapsed into chaos. You assume the role of Subject Delta, a prototype Big Daddy. Your central motivation is a deeply personal quest: to reunite with Eleanor, the Little Sister to whom you were originally bonded. Navigating the labyrinthine, waterlogged corridors of Rapture, you will encounter new threats and uncover further secrets about the city's downfall and the nature of your own existence.
This sequel refines the established formula, offering a more brutal and direct approach to combat than its predecessor. The gameplay loop centers on exploration, resource management, and intense encounters. Players utilize a combination of conventional weaponry and powerful genetic modifications known as Plasmids, which grant supernatural abilities.
A key feature is the expanded arsenal of tools available to Subject Delta. This includes new types of Plasmids for offensive and defensive maneuvers, as well as Gene Tonics that offer passive enhancements to combat effectiveness and survival. Furthermore, the player gains access to new enemy types and unique environmental interactions that challenge tactical thinking.
The integration of the Big Daddy role fundamentally alters the player experience. As a Big Daddy, you possess superior durability and strength, allowing for a different style of engagement compared to previous inhabitants of Rapture. This power is balanced by the necessity of managing the relationship with the Little Sisters, a core mechanic that influences both narrative progression and resource acquisition.
This title is available across multiple platforms, including Xbox 360, PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, and Mac. While the core experience is self-contained, the game features three downloadable content (DLC) packages that expand upon the existing world and gameplay.
The game has received one remaster, offering updated visuals and technical improvements for modern systems, though no full remakes have been released.
This game has received a PEGI 18 which restricts availability to ADULTS ONLY. This rating has been given due to strong violence, violence against vulnerable and defenceless characters and sexual expletives. Not suitable for persons below 18 years of age.
Strong horror themes, violence and coarse language, Gaming experience may change online

BioShock 2 Remastered was released as a part of BioShock: The Collection and also available separately for PC. The remastered version has achievements, full controller support, high resolution textures, models and interface, and 4K resolution support.

Minerva's Den is a single player downloadable content for BioShock 2. This additional campaign is a self-contained narrative experience that puts players in the role of another Alpha Series Big Daddy in a previously unexplored section of Rapture. Minerva's Den shows another vision of Rapture within Minerva's Den, a high-technology center of the city, and explores the backstory of the Thinker, a supercomputer responsible for the control of many automatic devices and systems in the underwater utopia, and its creator Charles Milton Porter.

The Protector Trials is the third DLC for BioShock 2 and the first to expand the singleplayer mode. Players step into the role of a Big Daddy who must fight off splicers while his Little Sister harvests ADAM from corpses. It offers six new maps with three difficulty levels, new unlockables and seven new achievements/trophies. There are three new weapons and Plasmid load-outs plus a fourth bonus load-out received when all previous ones are completed.

Kill 'em Kindly is a game mode for BioShock 2 Multiplayer released as a Downloadable Content on May 11th, 2010, alongsides the Rapture Metro Pack and the Zigo & Blanche DLC. In this game mode, the players can only use golf clubs to strike enemies with melee attacks. This mode is free to download on the Xbox Live, and the PlayStation Network. It was also free to download on the Games for Windows Live online platform for PC until its closure, but is now included on the regular game on Steam.

The Rapture Metro Map Pack is the second downloadable content for BioShock 2 Multiplayer. It launched on May 11, 2010 on Xbox Live, Game for Windows Live and PlayStation Network for $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points). This pack focuses on new multiplayer maps and an additional feature to prolong the game's experience.