Bioshock didn't excel as a shooter. It excelled as a narrative, Rapture acting as a living, breathing story. So it's a little strange seeing part of the game reduced to a standard multiplayer shooter.

2K showed us a few rounds of Bioshock 2's multiplayer component yesterday, and in doing so, have revealed an aspect of the game that's as removed from the creepy, oppressive atmosphere of the first game as you can possibly imagine.

While the final game will feature three multiplayer modes, we were only shown one, which centred around a single Big Daddy. At the start of the level, there's a Big Daddy suit dropped randomly into the level. First person to find it becomes said Big Daddy, and inherits all the advantages you'd expect. When/if that Big Daddy is finally killed (though this isn't the objective, it's just a plus in an otherwise standard deathmatch), the suit is dropped randomly somewhere else in the level, and free to be picked up again by any of the players.

All three modes will support a maximum of only ten players total, with a range of weapons and plasmids available. These weapons can be improved, and your arsenal increased, by levelling up, much like Call of Duty's rank system.

Which all sounds nice enough, but at the same time, looks a little "tits on a bull", if you'll pardon the expression.

Bioshock was a game renowned for its singleplayer experience, and it's hard seeing how tacking three multiplayer game modes with a limited number of players onto the sequel will count for much of anything. I mean, it seemed to work fine and all, but just did not once ever make me think fickle multiplayer devotees would stop playing Call of Duty or Team Fortress 2 for this.

On the bright side, this has no bearing whatsoever on the game's singleplayer component...

In a move that's not all too surprising, Take-Two has announced that BioShock 2 has been delayed until fiscal 2010. The game, which was originally scheduled for an early November release, is being delayed to "provide additional development time for the title." While Take-Two's next fiscal year begins in November, the lack of a specific timeframe for release suggests this delay will be quite significant.

Perhaps the late addition of yet another developer to BioShock 2 should have acted as an early indicator of the delay. Take-Two's Chairman Strauss Zelnick publicly apologized about the setback in a press release: "We recognize that our revised outlook for the balance of fiscal year 2009, due to both internal and external factors, is a disappointment. That said, we concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product."

Take-Two's investors are unlikely to respond to this news positively, considering the company's sparse presence this holiday season. With Take-Two's most anticipated titles -- Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and now BioShock 2 -- all appearing in fiscal 2010, the company will have little to rely on to bolster its current year results. Zelnick reiterated that "we remain confident in the long term potential for Take-Two's business, and our ability to capitalize on that potential through our exceptional creative talent and solid balance sheet."