In terms of game difficulty

I'm going to say...Bioshock on Survivor is harder than Dead Space 2 on Hardcore.

It doesn't seem to be as bad now that I'm in Arcadia, but Welcome to Rapture, Medical Pavillion and Neptune's Bounty were horrible.

The very first enemy of the game almost killed me. I actually restarted about six times, thinking I could do better...I couldn't. Electro Bolt was almost completely useless because it didn't allow me to kill enemies in one hit afterward, and it took up too much EVE for me to really be able to take advantage of it. This was difficult to get used to, considering when I played on Normal, I almost always used Electro Bolt and the wrench on Splicers. Getting through Welcome to Rapture was a struggle.

Medical Pavillion wasn't much better. I restarted the beginning of that area several times as well, until I finally realized that those first few Splicers weren't going to get any easier, and I might as well just settle for what I'd accomplished...If you even consider losing multiple health packs an accomplishment. (I don't.) What I started to understand is that all those security cameras and turrets I'd destroyed on my first playthrough now needed to be hacked if I ever wanted to get to Neptune's Bounty. (I really DIDN'T want to, but more on that later.)

You have to use the environment to get through this game on Survivor, just like you have to use the environment to get through Dead Space 2 on Hardcore. I wouldn't say it's easier now that I've been hacking turrets, since they're so easily destroyed, but they do inflict some damage on the Splicers, and every little bit helps.

Neptune's Bounty is where I really thought I would give up. My playthrough on Normal was bad enough, during the first Big Daddy fight, there seemed to be an invisible wall every time I tried to TK an explosive barrel at him. This time, I used a different tactic to avoid that issue, but I still ended up having to restart mid-battle. (I have ten different save files, and every time I move more than three feet, I save again. Better safe than sorry.)

Throughout that entire level, I was low on cash, ammo, first aid kits and EVE. I constantly had to restock at vending machines. After the final Big Daddy fight, I had one first aid kit left and I was pretty sure that was the end of things for me, but I managed to get really lucky and by the time I was out of Smuggler's Hideout, I had enough healing supplies that I felt confident enough to continue on instead of restarting.

And now in Arcadia, things seem to be going a bit better, even with the introduction of the Houdini Splicers. Granted, I'm not very far into it, but I'm starting to get the tonics I need to make my wrench useful, so that's helping things go a bit smoother.

Honestly, I expected this to be easier. It's definitely not impossible, but those first few areas are a struggle. And what makes it worse is the fact that Atlas talks way too damn much, and I'd like to reach through my TV and strangle him. There's enough annoyance on Survivor without him saying, "Would you kindly...?" every five minutes.

Anyone else notice this?

Aside from the difficulty, just to comment on the story itself...I've never felt so used during a game before. I knew something wasn't right because I'd stumbled upon a spoiler on a messageboard (unfortunately), but I wasn't expecting exactly what it turned out to be. I wish I would have played Bioshock when it was released, it's such an amazing game, I really missed out. It's also making me rethink my stance on first person shooters.