After an extremely stressful weekend, I finally managed to sit down and finished the Minerva's Den DLC. I can honestly say, I preferred the DLC story, as short as it was, to the main story...overall. It was a little more emotional; it tugged at the heartstrings a bit. Yes there will be spoilers but if you haven't played this by now, you probably won't ever play it.
You are Subject Sigma, an Alpha series Big Daddy, and are being asked to help Mr. Porter get out of Minerva's Den. Minerva's Den holds the control center for Rapture and a supercomputer named The Thinker. Reed Wahl has lost his mind, as so many have done in Rapture, and taken control of The Thinker. All events are taking place at the same time as the events in the main BioShock 2 storyline.
As you wander about the various areas of Minerva's Den, the usual voice recordings will tell you Porter's story. He had wanted to utilize The Thinker to create a machine that would actually think for itself....an artificial intelligence. You also get a peek into Reed Wahl's descent into madness.
Combat is the same but you do get access so some pretty sweet exclusives, like the Ion Gun. Let me assure you that this gun would have been my "go to" weapon in the main story. It is that awesome. Essentially, it's a damned laser gun. I probably used it 80-90% of the time. There are a few more exclusives like the Gravity Well plasmid, and variations on the usual fare of enemies. I really hated the Fiery Brute Splicers. They were a pain in the ass to take out.
As you run around, completing the tasks that Porter has set for you, you learn who you used to be. Who is that? Well, Porter of course. You were taken away and punished as a traitor. Your punishment was to be turned into a Bog Daddy. I will bet you are wondering who has been giving you orders this whole time then. Turns out your experiments in making The Thinker more of an artificial intelligence were successful and it's been the machine guiding it's "father" since the beginning. The Thinker wants to escape Rapture as much as you do.
The emotional part of the story does not come from knowing you are Porter but from the recordings of Porter. While he was trying ti imprint an "personality" program into The Thinker, Porter had his wife doing voice recordings and such to use. She is killed in a bombing in London and when Porter is ready to test this work, it's his "wife" that The Thinker evolves into. Can you imagine how hard that must be for a man? You will get an idea when you listen to that voice recording. You can hear the pain and stress in Porter's voice.
In all seriousness though, this story felt more thought out than the main story. Granted, I had guessed what was going on before the end in both story arcs but, Minerva's Den conveyed a better since of "humanity lost" than the main story.
I am not going to play the Protector Trials DLC. I know you are all disappointed but even though they refer to it as "single player" DLC it is essentially just a horde survival mode and it does not contribute to the story in any way. I just don't see the point in spending the 400 points to buy it. If I come across it for free in the future, I'll consider playing it.
Now what to play next? I suppose I should finish off Fallout 3. I am near the end of the last DLC so I may as well take the plunge.
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