BioShock 2 Cultural References

Like BioShock before it, BioShock 2 contains many references to real life, video games, or history. Many of these references were placed in the game by a BioShock 2 designer, Steve Gaynor.

Video Game References

 * 451 - The code, "1540" used to open the first locked door in BioShock 2 is a reference that has been used in several games made by previous employees of Looking Glass Studios since the creation of the System Shock game series, the predecessor of the BioShock games. In System Shock the first locked door could be opened with the code 451. In the System Shock 2, there was a door that could be opened with the code 45100. In the game Deus Ex (which was made by Ion Storm, a company with several previous employees of Looking Glass Studios) 0451 was a code to open an armory. In BioShock 0451 opens a locked closet in Twilight Fields Funeral Homes.


 * Apollo Air Flight DF-0301 - The tail of the crashed plane from the beginning of BioShock can be seen resting against some boulders to the left of the path during Delta's first ocean walk.


 * Hitman - In Pauper's Drop, the Fontaine Clinic door code is 0047, which happens to be the code name for the protagonist in the video game series, Hitman. Also the name of the guy who recorded the audio diary pointing to the code is "Tobias Riefers"-- an alteration of "Tobias Rieper," the name that Agent 47 gives as a pseudonym in the mission "Traditions of the Trade" from the original Hitman game.


 * Pac-Man - Continuing the tradition of Pac-Man references begun in BioShock (see Worley Winery) some of the random names that can be assigned to hacked security bots with the Handyman gene tonic are "Pinky", "Blinky" and "Clyde"; the ghosts in Pacman.


 * System Shock - The achievement name "Look at you, Hacker" is a line said by the main antagonist, SHODAN, in PC game System Shock, BioShock's "spiritual predecessor."


 * Unstable Teleport Plasmid - This defective plasmid found in Fontaine Futuristics is a reference to the Teleport plasmid which was cut from BioShock due to the many glitches it would have caused.

Miscellaneous References

 * Schrödinger - A frozen cat in Imago Fine Arts is a reference to Schrödingers cat ; a thought experiment by the famous physicist Erwin Schrödinger who postulated theories about quantum entanglement.


 * Steve Gaynor's girlfriend - Steven Gaynor, the level designer for Adonis Luxury Resort and Pauper's Drop, makes a reference to his girlfriend Rachel Jacks in the audio diary Fitness in Adonis Luxury Resort. In the sauna, there is a audio diary by "Rachelle Jacques." Rachelle has a husband named "Stephen" who sits around listening to radio serials while she swims laps at the Adonis. According to Gaynor, Rachel goes to the gym and he stays home and play video games.


 * Handyman - A tonic acquired in the game assigns random names to any security bots that the player hacks. The player can control two hacked bots at the same time, creating several name combinations that are references to characters in the game, members of the game development team, or other real life people: "Rachel" & "Steven", "Andrew" & "Ryan", "Tommy" & "Rebecca", "Jordan" & "Thomas."