A release date for BioShock 2 has been announced: October 30th for international territories and November 3rd for North America. During Take-Two’s second-quarter results call yesterday the platforms were still not confirmed, however community site Cult of Rapture lists the PC, 360 and PS3.

A plethora of previews of the game have been going up online in the past month, most of which have been listed at the community site. Tom Francis of PC Gamer UK summarises the press demonstration best in his article which originally appeared in the magazine.

However we finally have the chance to see the very same presentation described in the previews for ourselves. One of the first major trailers for the original BioShock was Hunting the Big Daddy, and it was the first time the game was truly represented and demonstrated in terms of its gameplay mechanics and environments. True to tradition, 2K Marin have presented the full demo of BioShock 2, entitled Hunting the Big Sister. The video demonstration includes all the footage made available earlier during the first unveiling of the game, as well as some scenes previously unseen. The various magazine and online previews referred to a scene at the end of the demo where the Big Sister interrupted the player’s endeavours and attacked, and only now do we get to see this first-hand.

The trailer successfully conveys the two key gameplay systems introduced in the sequel, the first being the battle against the Big Sister who will attack you at various points during the game, and the second being the Adam collection process which involves protecting the Little Sister from an onslaught of splicers while she gathers Adam from a corpse.

Other BioShock news includes the announcement of a novel to be published by Tor Books, though no additional information has been given. There is a new podcast at the Cult of Rapture featuring level designer Steve Gaynor and environment artist Alex Munn as they discuss the level design at great length. We now finally know what the Big Daddy we will be playing as looks like, thanks to the next issue of Gamepro which features him on the cover. The latest issue of PC Gamer US details the multiplayer features, and reveals that the whole multiplayer component is separate from the single player portion. It has a separate in-game fiction that is apparently set a year before the first game and there are three modes to choose from - free for all, team deathmatch, and an unannounced mode with co-op elements. The viral site Something in the Sea updated earlier this week, with a whole new set of items to examine including an X-Ray of an injury and some prescription drugs. Mark Meltzer is a man with an obsession.

All this is leading up to E3, taking place from June 2-4, where 2K will undoubtedly show the latest build of the game and reveal more information. Seeing as this will be 2K’s biggest marketing campaign in its history, we’re bound to see a lot more of the game soon.