The DLC Is Considered By 2K And Series Creator Ken Levine To Be The Only Reason Gamers Bought Bioshock 2 Following It's Release In 2010

Bioshock 2, released 12 years ago in February of 2010, is considered by fans to be the black sheep of a trilogy of thought provoking games created by 2K Games and Irrational Studios led by Ken Levine.

It was panned by players due to asset swapping, glitches upon release crashing the game, and the infamous Rapture Civil War multiplayer mode which now is only played by die hard Bioshock enthusiasts.

But what the game lacks in originality and gameplay, it defiantly makes up for in DLC.

Minerva's Den is the only single player DLC made for Bioshock 2, which revolves around Subject Sigma, an Alpha Series Big Daddy who's tasked with getting The Thinker out of Minerva's Den.

The Thinker is the AI computer mainframe which runs the underwater metropolis of Rapture, housed within Rapture Centeral Computing located within the Minerva's Den complex.

Subject Sigma is also tasked with eliminating Reed Wahl, the man who took over The Thinker, Rapture Centeral Computing, and Minerva's Den following the unjust arrest of the AI computer mainframe's creator Charles Milton Porter.

The DLC was and continues to be praised for it's outside the box gameplay, unique setting within Rapture's Silicon Valley, and the twist ending which arguably usurps it's predecessor Bioshock's iconic revelation about Jack, Andrew Ryan, Atlas, Dr Tennenbaum, and Frank Fontaine.

Fans especially loved the: "Video game within the video game", in the form of Spitfire (Found in level 2 of Operations, near the Programming area).

A hidden achievement (Or trophy for Playstation players) involving Spitfire called High Score, can be earned by the player if they max out the score in the fictional video game.

The DLC also has links to Bioshock 2's main story, with Dr Tennenbaum being involved and mainframe updates showing the progress of Subject Delta (The Big Daddy controlled by players during the events of Bioshock 2) as you fight your way to The Thinker and learn the full backstory of Subject Sigma.

Many within the Bioshock community have stated that: "Where Minerva's Den succeeds is how the player can fully immerse themselves as Subject Sigma, unlike the tag team of Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth Comstock seen during Bioshock Infinite's two Burial At Sea expansions.

You really do walk a mile in Subject Sigma's shoes, as you fight throughout the offices and computer rooms within Minerva's Den and Rapture Centeral Computing.

And the twist ending makes you sympathize with his situation even further".

The consensus is that Minerva's Den's popularity comes from it going back to the original Bioshock's roots, how it makes the player solve puzzles in order to progress through Minerva's Den, and how the story grips to the player more than the one experienced during the game's main story arch.