Minerva's Den (DLC)



Minerva's Den is a singleplayer DLC for BioShock 2 and was released on August 31, 2010 for Xbox 360 (800 Microsoft Points) and PlayStation 3 ($9.99). Although initially promised for release on PC on the GFWL marketplace, the decision was revoked. However the developers have retracted its cancellation and Minerva's Den is coming to the PC after all. It is not known at this time when Minerva's Den will be released for PC.

Story
Minerva's Den is a self-contained narrative experience that puts players in the role of another Alpha Series Big Daddy, called Subject Sigma. He has teamed up with Brigid Tenenbaum and Charles Milton Porter to combat Reed Wahl and his control on The Thinker, a gigantic supercomputer created by Porter which controls the automated systems of Rapture.

As the story progresses, it is revealed that Subject Sigma is the Alpha Series that Porter became after he was abducted by Andrew Ryan's secret police. The voice of Porter heard over the radio is actually The Thinker's personality duplication program, which ends after the truth is revealed. After The Thinker is dealt with, Porter and Tenenbaum return to the surface in a bathysphere.

Gameplay
The player has access to a new weapon (the Ion Laser), a new plasmid (Gravity Well), and a new gene tonic (Master Protector, only if the player has completed the Protector Trials DLC). Minerva's Den also features new types of Splicers, such as the fiery Brute Splicer and the wintry Houdini Splicer, as well as new splicer skins with unique personalities. A new type of Big Daddy, the Lancer, is capable of using the aforementioned Ion Laser. Security Bots in Minerva's Den have an expanded range of weaponry, and are outfitted with Grenade Launchers, Ion Lasers, and a lightning rod that allows the device to deal electrical attacks.

Instead of Power to the People stations, the player finds original and upgraded versions of weapons throughout the campaign. Upgraded plasmids are also available in the beginning, provided the player has purchased the previous levels of plasmids (one exception is a Level Two Incinerate! found in Climate Control). The Research Camera is also not present, instead the player may find certain Gene Tonics that come as a result of research scattered throughout the levels.

ADAM Sea Slugs are also much more prevalent, appearing both in the ocean and inside jars located in various places. Sigma must break the jars to obtain the slugs inside them.

Locations

 * Minerva's Den
 * Operations
 * The Thinker

Video
thumb|left|300px|Trailer for BioShock 2's DLC: Minerva's Den

Trivia

 * Minerva is the Roman name of Athena. Both are goddesses of wisdom, which seems to apply to Rapture Central Computing, which is in Minerva's Den (named as such to prevent it from being confused with Athena's Glory).
 * At this point, this is the only Single-Player campaign in the BioShock series of which its ending does not change depending on the source of moral choice.
 * Before this DLC, Wintry Houdini Splicers only appeared uncommonly at Point Prometheus in the original BioShock. Martin Finnegan, a named Wintry Houdini Splicer, appeared in Fort Frolic.