Mass Effect 2

10 Review to this product

• 

  Big Al
  January 26th, 2010 on 1:24 am

  Rating

  INTRODUCTION
  
  Mass Effect, by Electronic Arts (EA), sets the benchmark for third person role playing actions games. It is as close to a DVD movie as a video game can get, because, unlike most first person games, players can see and hear the player character as well as the non-player characters (NPCs). This movie-like quality greatly enhances the compelling story, which is the hallmark of the Mass Effect Trilogy.

  THE PLOT
  
  **Spoiler Alert**
  
  This second episode of the Mass Effect Trilogy begins with the death (yes, DEATH) of Commander Shepard, in a fiery ambush of the Normandy, two years after he/she defeated the traitorous Saren Arterius in the battle of the Citadel. But, thank the goddess, he/she is later resurrected in Project Lazarus by the Illusive Man, leader of Cerberus, a shadowy and ruthless “human supremacist” organization, for the sole purpose of sending the legendary commander to investigate a new cataclysmic event in the Galaxy: entire human colonies have been vanishing without a trace, leaving behind empty buildings. To confront the threat, Shepard travels across the Galaxy to recruit up to a dozen of the most dangerous characters to his/her elite team, at locations including Illium, an asari colony, and Omega, a lawless mining station built on a hollowed out asteroid in the Terminus Systems, for a mission from which every member of the team, including Commander Shepard, may never return.
  
  **End of Possible Spoilers**

  THE CHARACTERS
  
  Players who had completed Mass Effect 1 (ME1) can import a Save Game from the list of Character Saves into Mass Effect 2 (ME2). During the file transfer, they have the option of changing the class of Commander Shepard, for example, from adept to vanguard, as well as his/her physical characteristics. This is possible in the storyline on account of Project Lazarus–a very clever way of putting Shepard on reset. If Shepard was imported at a high level in ME1, players will be awarded with bonus squad points and research metals at the start. (See my comment below.) All the NPCs who were alive at the end of the ME1 are transferred. Furthermore, the story in ME2 unfolds in accordance with the decisions made by the players in ME1, for example, whether Shepard set the Rachni queen free in Noveria, whether he/she resolved the conflict with Wrex on Virmire peacefully, or whether he/she called in the human fleet to save the Council in the battle of the Citadel. For those who never play ME1, ME2 can be played stand-alone with new characters and certain pre-set assumptions on events in ME1. New characters in ME2 include Thane, a drell master assassin, Legion, a free-thinking geth, who is stalking Commander Shepard, and Subject Zero, a female human biotic gang and cult member, with head-to-toe tattoos. Other than the geth and the Reapers, new enemies emerge in ME2. They include the Collectors, a winged insect-like species who are suspected to be working for the Reapers, and Scions, which are grotesque experiments of the Reaper, as well as monstrous beings created by the Reapers out of other species they abducted.

  THE GAME/COMBAT SYSTEM
  
  The Artificial Intelligence (AI) and combat system have been vastly improved in ME2. Gone are those annoying texture pop-ups in ME1. So are those long elevator rides–they are replaced with loading screens. Battle scenes are more realistic: enemies are thrown against walls, limbs are blown off, and wounded fighters continue to fight by crawling on the ground. Players can hit the enemies where they place the reticles, like in a shooter. (This is not so in ME1, where hits are calculated based on the number of skill points assigned by the players to the characters.) Players can now issue attack orders to Shepard’s squad mates by using the directional-pad of the controller (of the Xbox 360), and manually prompt Commander Shepard to duck behind covers. The limitless ammo is no more in ME2. It is replaced with removable “thermal clips”. When a clip is spent, it must be ejected and replaced with a new one. Players are therefore advised to take note of the amount of thermo clips available during battles. Instead of only four weapon types as in ME1, there are nineteen in ME2. One of my gripes with ME1 was the lack of heavy hand-held weapons. In ME2, they are available to the soldier class player character (as well as Commander Shepard of all classes). These heavy weapons knock down multiple enemies in one gigantic blast. A sentinel class player character now dons an ablation tactical armor, which makes him/her very tough to kill. An engineer class player character can launch a drone to aid him/her in battle. An adept class player character can spawn micro-singularities around the enemies, annihilating them en masse. Tactical cloak, which renders a combatant invisible briefly, is available to an infiltrator class player character. A vanguard class player character can dash around the battlefield with a new biotic power–the “biotic charge”, which propels him/her forward at tremendous speed and force, to attack or evade the enemies. There is no longer any class restriction in armor. Medi-gel, used in the ME1 to regenerate health, is replaced with auto-regeneration, although the players still need it to cast the Unity reviving power. (Note: auto-regeneration is also available in ME1, but only as an upgrade to the armors.)

  THE DIALOGUE
  
  The dialogue wheel in ME1 is the most innovative dialogue system in all the games I have ever played. When used probably, it delivers a continuous and seamless dialogue, and hence the movie-like quality of the game. In ME2, the dialogue wheel is further improved. A new “interrupt” system is introduced. When prompted by the players with the left or right trigger of the controller (of the Xbox 360), Commander Shepard can interrupt the dialogue with “heroic” or “hostile” action to get the answer he/she wants. Furthermore, instead of the previous static camera position in ME1, the camera moves around during conversations in ME2, adding further cinematic effect to the game.

  THE CHOICES
  
  Like in ME1, choices made by the players influence the outcome of the game in ME2. For example, in ME1, on the planet Virmire, Commander Shepard (and hence the players), was called upon to decide which of the two squad mates he/she would rescue; the one left behind was consumed in a subsequent nuclear blast. In the same manner, decisions of the players in ME2 throughout the game may eventually lead to the annihilation of the entire ground team in the final mission, including Commander Shepard, or the survival of every team member, or something in between. Players with a “dead” Shepard will not be able to import him/her into ME3. The same thing is true with a “dead” teammate. They can play ME3 with a generic Shepard, but not “their” Shepard. Furthermore, with Shepard killed, players can’t return to the game world after the final mission and continue to play, for example, to complete a side quest, or to explore a new locale. They will have to start a new game or reload with a previous save-file and replay part of the game for a different outcome. This gives incentive to players to make sound decisions throughout the game, before heading into the final mission.

  THE CERBERUS NETWORK
  
  The Cerberus Network is a cleverly designed in-game portal through which players can access “Downloadable Contents (DLCs)” from EA. Players activate this network with a one-time access code, which is included in every new game purchase. Game renters and used game buyers will have to pay for the code. This arrangement is apparently a ploy by EA to combat the rental and used game market, which has been undermining retail sales of new games. Players who access the network will receive the first DLC pack on January 26, 2010, the date on which the game is released in North America. This first DLC introduces Zaeed, a rough and tumble mercenary who will join Shepard’s elite team. A future DLC will introduce the Hammerhead, a hover tank to replace the much-maligned Mako in ME1. (Note: There is no driveable vehicle in the core game.) In addition, new missions and in-game items will be released to gamers by EA through this network.

  CONCLUSION
  
  ME2 comes with 2 discs. Players have to swap discs (twice per game) at some points. There are 90 voice actors playing 546 characters with over 30,000 lines of dialogue. New voice actors in ME2 include D.C. Douglas, Martin Sheen and Adam Baldwin. In conclusion, ME2 is a role-playing game with the look and feel of a shooter. It is a must-have game of the year.
  
• 

  H. Wang
  January 27th, 2010 on 10:04 am

  Rating

  Often I am not so enthused about a video game sequel given that I find there is a lot of repetition and frankly a lot of corporate interests to cash in on an award winning franchise. But once in a blue moon, you often find a game that not only meets expectations – but exceeds them with flying colors.

  Mass Effect 2 is such a game.

  For those of you not familiar with Bioware, they are responsible for some of the best story driven action RPGs of the recent video game era. They are the minds behind Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and more recently, Dragon Age. Their games are defined by excellent storytelling, dramatic flair, and choices that ultimately determine the outcome of the epic story that you are thrust into.

  Mass Effect 2 continues the great storyline from ME1, which featured our hero Shepard – who was charged with the monumental task of fighting off a massive invasion of machines that threated the very existence of all living beings in the universe. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I will only note that the storyline in ME2 does not disappoint fans of the first game and provides a ton of new twists right off the bat.

  But one great aspect of ME2 is that you really don’t have to play the first game in order to get sucked into the amazing storyline. You won’t feel lost at all, though I will say that if you played ME1 and made substantial progress in that game, you will be glad to know that there are definitely some nice advantages of exporting your character from that game. Having that sense of continuity (and stat bonuses) of seeing your created character from the first game is definitely very satisfying. You really get the sense that something you created is part of a long chain of events, and that is something seriously lacking in a lot of video games these days. It just makes your attachment to your avatar even more interesting (especially considering Mass Effect 2 is the second installment of a planned trilogy – which gives you incentive to really build your character now as well).

  In terms of gameplay – it is extremely intuitive and easy to pick up on. Bioware really listened to what players wanted and addressed some of the shortcomings of the first game. First up, inventory control is pretty simple and not as intense or complicated in the first game. Given how important combat is in ME2, it is good to know that weapons and biotic power management is easy and will not turn off casual gamers. Mass Effect 2 puts a strong emphasis on storyline, and I am glad to see that gamers are not encumbered by dealing with sorting out their inventory or powers in a complicated manner. I also like how they cleaned up little details in the game, such as making load screens not as

  Combat is like ME1 in that you fight real time battles. But this time, they’ve really cleaned up the animations. The previous game was sometimes choppy, and often you get lag when the battles get too heated or intense. Here there is minimal lag and Bioware also added a wonderful cover system that really adds a new dimension to the game. Now rather than just running around like a headless chicken and just standing behind a box, you can actually take cover and put your head down and and take well aimed shots at your enemies. Given that the AI has improved, it does come in handy that you can duck and cover and not get your head taken off by some huge monster or mech due to the poor animations.

  But the biggest part of this game has to be the excellent storyline. The voice acting, like in ME1, is absolutely phenomenal. The plot twists, excellent dialogue, and realistic graphics definitely makes this aspect alone worth the price of admission. Last but not least, your actions will determine how your game ends. As with most Bioware games, you are given plenty of dialogue choices and in-game actions that will play a major role in deciding the outcome of your adventure. You can choose to be a heroic Paragon, or an evil Renegade. The choice is yours and that provides another wonderful element of replay value that is often lacking in other games.

  Last but not least the game simply feels BIGGER and more EPIC than the previous game (which at the time, was already a big production as is). In one point of the game you return to a location in ME1 and everything about it seems improved. The visuals, the interaction with NPCs, everything you can pretty much imagine is just better. I am trying very hard not to provide spoilers, but I can say with confidence that within minutes of firing up the game, you will be totally immersed in the story, atmosphere, gameplay and most importantly – the general fun factor of the game.

  For fans of ME1, seeing old characters return really adds to the sense of continuity and epic scope of the game and the current storyline. For those who like great stories, ME2 provides a plot that rivals most big budget Hollywood productions. There will be more than one occasion where you will feel very tortured about the decisions you make in the game. Over time, players will quickly bond (or detest) certain squad members and that in of itself is an accomplishment.

  In short – get Mass Effect 2 you’ll be happy you did.
• 

  M. Squires
  January 27th, 2010 on 12:36 pm

  Rating

  Did you want better graphics? Did you want a better shooter interface? Well, Bioware delivered…no question.
  
  So Bioware has made a lot of changes to the game (too many to count perhaps), but one things for sure, they created a winner.

  NEW COMBAT SYSTEM:

  Much more like a first person shooter now; defiantly fun to shoot people and pop the head off of someone. Also doesn’t matter as much what abilities you upgrade or what weapons you have; if you can aim then you can kill a bad guy.

  NEW UPGRADE SYSTEM:

  Can’t really decide if I like this or not. There’s a part of me that enjoys how much simpler everything has become and how much time I save, but I think I kind of enjoyed the in depth upgrade and weapons in the first game. This opinion may or may not be shared. Regardless, I was a little to overwhelmed by the greatness of this game to care that much.

  INTERFACE WITH PREVIOUS GAME:

  You’ll hear little reminents of things you did in the past and you’ll definitely get the feel that you had an impact, but it’s not as dramatic I had expected. They hyped it up so much that your last game would have such a big impact on this one, but I haven’t seen much to back that up. I was a level 55 in the first game so I got to start a few levels up in this one and they gave me a little extra cash for being rich in ME1, but it wasn’t that significant. Guess I just expected a little bit more, but I have to admit that any interface with the previous game must have been hard and it’s groundbreaking, so they get my respect.

  HACKING/CODE BREAKING: The new system they designed for unlocking items and hacking systems is a lot more fun. Actually feels a little bit challenging and regardless of your level or path you’ve chosen, you’ll be able to do it.

  VEHICLE: Good news! There really isn’t a vehicle; you’ll pick where you want to go and then you’ll go there. The vehicle from ME1 felt like a shopping cart with one bad wheel to me and I’m glad to see it’s gone.

  PLANET EXPLORATION: Pretty cool system they came up with. You’ll use a radar device to explore a planets surface and then deploy pods to check for what you’re looking for. This is a much improved system from just driving around in my opinion. Be ready to spend a lot of hours looking around. There’s an amazing amount of land to cover in the universe. They really worked hard to give you a lot to explore and it shows. Doesn’t have that empty pointless feeling that the first ME had when I was checking planets. If they weren’t related to the primary objective, every planet felt the same

  THE GOOD:

  1) Story is great and managed to integrate with the first game to include your actions taken

  2) Graphics are on par with competitive titles from this gen; really stunning to just look around at your surroundings

  3) Lots of glitches fixed and too many improvements to count; some things they did were almost to small to even notice, but you can feel they’re there

  THE BAD:

  1) New dumbed down RPG elements feel easy to use but a little empty. If you hated the monotony of upgrading too many small aspects and customizing every weapon for proper ammo and best fit then maybe you’ll like it. But, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a little bit too easy and boring compared to the first game

  2) You’ll have to do a long mission to gain the loyalty of every one of your 10 squad members; it’s kind of cool at first, but it gets a little old. Really? I have to complete a mission to get Garus on my side? Pretty sure I proved my loyalty fighting the Geth and Saren already

  3) The new planet scanning system is cool and I’m glad to be rid of the vehicle, but it starts to get really old searching for minerals. After about 4 hours of it I got tired and decided I had enough uprades. Searched about 60 planets and found 6 side missions, so that feels like there’s probably a lot out there. I didn’t make it to level 30 so I must have missed a lot, but I just got so sick of scanning planets. Not a big complaint though; I don’t know how they could have done it better so I was pleased.

  OVERVIEW:

  GRAPHICS: 10/10
  
  DIALOGUE: 10/10
  
  AUDIO: 10/10
  
  COMBAT SYSTEM: 10/10
  
  UPGRADES: 8/10
  
  STORY: 10/10
  
  INTEGRATION OF PREVIOUS GAME: 7/10

  Whether you liked the first ME or you didn’t, this game is a winner. I have my share of complaints, but the game is an amazing edition to the trilogy and you can just sense the effort Bioware put into this. Everyone will have complaints, but I’ve never seen a developer listen to the feedback and put forth this much effort.

  Two days ago I would have told you ME1 was almost perfect, but this game has shown be the light and really set the bar.

  Thanks Bioware

  Good Gaming
• 

  Neil Hess
  January 31st, 2010 on 11:23 am

  Rating

  Ever since I played through the original Mass Effect, I have been waiting for Mass Effect 2 like a prisoner waits for a conjugal visit. I LOVED the first game, and I LOVE the second one even MORE. The first game introduced us to our galaxy more than 150 years in the future. Exploring the citadel, meeting new species, shooting aliens and robots, were all great but the thing that makes this game stand with the best games of all time (Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7) are two things: Characters and story. Few other video games are able to utilize these two elements to make a game a thoroughly emotionally experience like Mass Effect 2 and it’s predecessor.

  There are some key places where ME2 trumps ME1, and where they do, they turned a great experience into an absolutely outstanding experience. That being said, DO NOT make the mistake of ignoring ME1. The whole Mass Effect experience will be compromised if you play these games out of order, as the ME1 decisions do have a substantial effect on your in game experience.

  Gameplay: Playing through ME1 was fun, but there were a number of aspects that were annoying, bordering on infuriating. Driving the Mako (Which does NOT make a return in ME2), buying/selling equipment late in the game, sometimes ridiculously dumb AI all spoiled what was otherwise a great game in ME1. ME2 fixes these issues (you will still find dumb AI from time to time, but not nearly as often as the first game) and makes the game play as crisp and satisfying as its storytelling and character/relationship building. Endless supplies of ammunition balanced by overheating is now remade into a more traditional clip/ammunition system, which forces you to conserve ammunition. But not once (on the second hardest setting) did I ever completely run out of ammo with my soldier. The Mako is replaced by a shuttle system, which is easy to use. Your Shepard character is highly customizable and now you can chose from a variety of colors for your characters armor from the very first battle. You can now order squad mates to move to areas individually and once your are high enough in level, your powers become more customizable and specialized. New game plus is back in two forms, but I wont get into that because I don’t want to spoil that aspect for people.

  Story: Outstanding. I wont go into great detail, but there were a number of times that the game made me laugh out loud, smile with a sense of revenge, feel sad and even get chills. The great part about this is, there are a LOT of different outcomes for the side stories as you are given a lot of control over the decisions being made. Ending got me COMPLETELY pumped for ME3.

  Characters: All of them have different personalities and there will absolutely be some you like and others you don’t. But that is the beauty of this game. You get to use who you want, when you want. Again, I don’t want to say too much because you need to get to know them for yourself.

  Graphics: Not THE best, but still VERY good. Gone is the slow loading textures of ME1, instead textures load almost instantly and facial expressions look convincing and lips move pretty realistically with what is being said. Special abilities look cool, especially the biotic abilities.

  Sound: Again ME2 has some of the best, if not THE best voice acting of any video game ever made. Go online and look at the cast that was used to voice act. EA spared no expense. The music is appropriate for the game but for some reason I preferred the music in the first game. Not that the new music is bad, I just prefer the first game’s music.

  Some things I would like addressed in the third game:

  Unnecessary profanity: There are times in a game when the foul language felt natural and added to the mood. But there were more times than I liked where the cursing was just adolescent, unneeded and actually took away from the experience.

  Overused battle shouts: I loved having Grunt in my squad, but I REALLY could have done without hearing “I AM KROGAN!” over and over again. Do we really need to hear commentary from the other characters every 10 seconds during a battle? Use it more sparingly and make it less cliche.

  Multiplayer: I know that it would be tough to do, but having co-op in this game would be AWESOME. At least during missions. Or better yet, find a way to do a multiplayer area style like Borderlands. Not a requirement, but it would be WAY cool to have biotic battles with friends.

  Bottom line: I LOVED this game. If you like FPS but could care less about story and characters, you will want to make sure going into it that you know you will be spending a lot of time just talking to people. If you like RPG but don’t care for FPS, you may or may not like the gameplay, but you will still probably LOVE the story. If you are a fan of both: stop reading, make sure you have played ME1 first and then go get ME2. You Will not regret it. I will be playing through the game again and again like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 7. Mass Effect 3 cant get here soon enough.
• 

  Keith Sowa
  February 1st, 2010 on 4:38 am

  Rating

  I was completely blown away by the first Mass Effect and I spent untold hours playing it. I could not wait for this game, and I had high expectations, perhaps too high, I feared. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, not only was I not disappointed, but I was blown away – again. Mass Effect 2 is the same immersive cinematic experience that its predecessor is, and this time brings even more to the table.

  If you’ve browsed the other reviews, and I’m sure you have if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already figured out that Bioware took suggestions from players and integrated them into the game to improve it. As a result, the game has more of a “shooter” feel than the first one did. Granted, the first game was like this, but its combat system was flawed, meaning it felt like a mediocre shooter instead. Combat in Mass Effect 2 is much smoother. The unlimited ammo/overheating system from the first game is gone, in favor of a “heatsink” system that functions like ammo clips in shooters would. Some may feel that Bioware is “selling out to casual gamers” here, but I disagree. In Mass Effect 1, you could reach a certain point where you were so powerful you’d just steamroll enemies with the shotgun or assault rifle regardless of class, especially if you were playing with achievement perks that let you use any weapons. By limiting the amount of rounds you can expend (and don’t worry, if you get low on ammo, switch weapons and wait a couple of minutes and more heat sinks will drop), you are more inclined to think tactically. You’ll have to use your biotic and tech abilities, you’ll want to, and they will have a significant effect on the fight. This game is probably much more palatable to shooter and action fans than the first one was. However, if the cinematic touches, dialog sequences, and plot don’t matter to you, this honestly just isn’t your type of game.

  I will list the complaints I had about the first Mass Effect from my review (updated comments are starred):

  - Ally AI is at times insanely stupid. Sometimes they are a big help, sometimes they are just cannon fodder you send out while you shoot from a safe distance. The squad-based commands do not work very well.

  *No longer true, AI is much improved now. In the first game I didn’t particularly care if my squadmates died, but now they actually matter. If one dies, you notice, and you have to work harder. In fact, the AI in general is better – the enemies are more decisive and they do things like try to outflank you.

  - The graphics are slightly glitchy, most noticeably during the menu screens with the character models. My game also froze once during a pretty inopportune time, I hope these bugs are fixed via update.

  *Roughly 25 hours of play, and not a problem. The loading for the character models isn’t sloppy anymore, either.

  - I am not a fan of the vehicle combat, I feel this could have been done better. The Mako vehicle handles very strangely and is hard to get used to controlling. I’ve died a few cheap deaths while using it.

  *After writing this I eventually got used to the Mako and didn’t mind it so much, but players hated it and Bioware listened, so it’s gone. In fact the whole system of planetary exploration is gone now in favor of a scanning system (scan and probe one particular planet in the solar system to hear what the ship’s AI says, heh). The scanning system does get boring, but I really can’t think of a better way to do it (plus this time you actually USE the resources you find). The old exploration system sucked, though – after you do a couple, all of them look the same with different colors, and the developers either ran out of disc space or got lazy, because all of the buildings and caves were recycled. Fortunately, all of that was strictly optional and had nothing to do with the main plot, but in Mass effect 2, when you do land on planets, they are all unique now.

  - No option to skip past dialog scenes you’ve already seen.

  *What the hell was I talking about? Yes there is. Press X, same thing in Mass Effect 2. I guess I didn’t figure this out before I wrote this review, lol. There’s no way to skip past movie sequences that I know of, though.

  - Too many times having to go to an elevator to load – the game is pretty creative about what it displays during loading screens to distract you, but it gets old pretty fast.

  *The load times for the first game were brutal (especially in the Normandy, I used to cringe when I had to get on that elevator) but it’s not as bad in this game. The load times are still annoying but no worse than you’d get on any other disc-based game. Unfortunately my HDD is almost full so I couldn’t install the game to see the load times that way.

  Another thing I didn’t mention in the first review was the sloppy inventory system from Mass Effect 1 that would get overloaded, and clearing it out was a chore. It was diverse, but unwieldy. How many players would check a weapon and realize they forgot to keep up with the upgrades, so it has Cryo Ammo II on it when they actually have Cryo Ammo VIII in their inventory? That doesn’t matter anymore, ammo upgrades are on the Power Wheel and you can change them during combat if you need to. They are upgraded with the points you spend when you gain a level. This comes in especially handy when you’ve had ammo powers designed for synthetic targets and you need to switch to organics on the fly. When you upgrade weapons, it is permanent, and available to all squad members. This is simple, if unrewarding for some.

  As I also said in that review, the world (well, more literally, universe) the writers created was vast, and ripe for expansion. Bioware did not waste this opportunity, and immediately delves deeper into the universe than the original went. As the plot advances you’ll encounter new places, ideas, and alien races. If you kept your game saves, you’ll randomly run into characters you encountered and you’ll hear comments on things you did, things you may not have even remembered doing. Most of these things don’t affect the main plot, but it comes up often enough in the game that I want to finish another play through with a character from the first Mass Effect (I had a Paragon and a Renegade and I ended the game differently both times, but didn’t finish with a female Shepard, who I think does better voice acting, but I digress). Sometimes this feels a bit forced, after all there are hundreds of billions of people in the galaxy and it’s kind of hokey that you’d meet some of them again, but pointing this out is nit-picky if you ask me. If we’re going to go down that road we may as well point out that it’s hokey that Shepard was brought back to life, that asari live for thousands of years and reproduce and don’t seem to be overpopulating, etc. I put this in the category of “minor gripes” that don’t affect the quality of the game.

  I don’t really have very many complaints about this game like I did the first. I wish the squad assembly screen was more straightforward so I can know what strengths I’m bringing, like the first one had. I wish the point distribution system for leveling up was move diverse.

  Bottom line, this game is a must-buy, the second installment of a classic series. The only reason to delay getting this game is because you missed the first one and had to play it!
  
• 

  Cloud
  February 3rd, 2010 on 12:40 am

  Rating

  Mass Effect 2 is one of those strange games for me in that I was really anticipating playing the game yet the first game was a bit of hit-or-miss affair. The world, storytelling and characters were great but I felt the combat and sidequests were really clunky and until near the end, it had a problem with pacing. But like what Ubisoft did with Assassin’s Creed 2, they took all the complaints and suggestions from fans and tried to make something that was better than what came before it and so we come down to Mass Effect 2. With promises of a darker storyline and improved gameplay, did they deliver? Boy did they ever since a couple things sour the experience but not enough to completely drag the game down. Even though it’s early in the year, I don’t think anyone will forget the game come Game of the Year 2010 time, whether or not it wins given the onslaught of sure-to-be great games this year remains to be seen.

  Story: After the threat involving Saren and Sovereign has been taken care of, the Council and Alliance are not entirely sure that the Reaper threat is still an impending factor and only Shepard, his crew and Captain Anderson seem to believe it’s going to happen sometime soon. Also believing the Reaper threat is still tangible is the Illusive Man and his pro-human group Cerberus and he believes this threat is tied into human colonies literally disappearing without a trace and it’s up to Shepard, old friends and new allies to take care of this threat however this mission is so dangerous that everyone, including you, might not make it back.

  Graphics: Many people criticized the graphics in Mass Effect for having less-than-smooth framerates, textures that loaded in eventually (and it does have that weird Unreal Engine flaw that certain textures, especially on faces, seem to “shimmer” which is in this game as well) but the game had great art design but now Mass Effect 2 has been re-tooled and everything about it is more fluid, the graphics and especially facial animation is spot-on, the art design is as beautiful as ever and the combat has a lot more going on without a hitch in framerate. I did notice a couple of bugs though such as teammates taking cover…2 feet off the ground while an enemy NPC was literally standing in mid-air but they weren’t that common and considering just the size and the amount of stuff in the game, it makes sense a couple of little technical hitches slipped by.

  Sound/Music: The games of Bioware, whether or not you liked the gameplay, always have stellar voice acting and here it’s no exception (though the male Shepard is slightly flat) but everyone does a great job and Liz Sroka as Tali is still as cute and awkward as ever, even moreso since she’s a love interest possibility. The only disappointment is Zaaed, the DLC character since he’s got a cool voice but as a character he’s really flat and he doesn’t really do anything as far as dialogue afterwards. The music is big, operatic, has tinges of electronica/trance music since you can visit a couple nightclubs and there’s some eerie, dissonant music as well so I’d recommend tracking down the soundtrack or however you like to get your OST fix.

  Gameplay: To bring up Assassin’s Creed 2 again, the changes and refinements Ubisoft made almost make it difficult to return to the original since whatever was fixed is not there anymore and you find yourself going “oh right, I can’t do that in this one”. From selecting your biotic powers and tech abilities to cover mechanics, Bioware really refined the game and anything you can nearly think of as far as complaints have been taken into account. The sidequests involving the Mako? So far (DLC in future apparently) they’re gone replaced by quests where you find artifacts or rid bases of enemy factions. Playing as an adept, it was incredibly fun to direct a squad member to a specific location, have them use Pull to act as a “come here!” in my best Scorpion voice then use Warp to send them flying right off the screen all in real-time without pausing the menus is quite awesome and there’s literally some enemy encounters that are actually quite intense.

  And really the word of the day in regards to Mass Effect 2 is “streamlined” and in addition to the combat, the way you handle your characters as well have been refined. Inventory management? Gone. If you find a better assault rifle, everybody can use that assault rifle, which comes in handy if you have the pre-order/collector bonuses. Armor upgrades apply to every character though they’re not customizable so aside from a character costume change you can do provided you complete their loyalty missions, anything you upgrade will apply to everybody and skills have also been simplified. Remember how in the first game you had to put in a certain amount of points to be better at a certain gun or unlock a better skill? Not here, here everybody has only their tech/biotic abilities and your skill points go in improving them with up to 4 upgrades, the 4th allowing you to choose the type of skill it becomes (example: one upgrade might make you a tougher character whereas the other makes your weapons dish bigger damage). But as far as gameplay is concerned, there’s not a lot to nitpick.

  That is until you come down to the mining and space exploration. See, those upgrades you need for your ship and characters will play a huge role in determining who lives and dies in the endgame (the whole mission is seen as a suicide mission after all) so if you want everyone to live, you got to upgrade everyone to the brink including your ship and how do you do that? By waving your cursor around a planet and firing a probe whenever a spike happens on your meter and it’s, well it’s tedious. Granted it’s not supposed to be fun or you’d be upgraded to the max before you hit the 10 hour mark but still, doesn’t have to be this unfun. Also, this is a minor nitpick but there’s a character you get in your squad at the end of the game that is so cool yet so late addition that by the time you recruit him, you’re literally near the end.

  For those of you curious, the Collector’s edition comes with a neat little artbook as well as a comic which details events that happen inbetween the first game and this game and they involve Liara (who by the way, turned into a real ***** in this game), the Collector armor and rifle where he kind of looks like Guyver but insect-like as well as the making-of/wallpaper disc like in Dragon Age. All in all it’s a good edition though I hope the pre-order exclusive armor is put up for sale as well.

  As far as the game itself, this was definately a surprise since I knew it was highly anticipated and everyone was gonna play it but the first game wasn’t completely masterpiece-level but like that ol’ assassin’s game, sometimes the first game is just a leadup to the better thing and if that’s the case, well, Mass Effect 3 already can’t get here soon enough.
• 

  TheRumblePack.com
  February 4th, 2010 on 12:00 pm

  Rating

  It is times like this that make me wish I had a better memory. Now, when 2011 rears its ugly head, I’m going to have to think all the way back to Jan 26 when I contemplate the games that defined 2010. Thank you, Mass Effect 2.

  As I sat down to type this review the first time, I found myself trying to go down a bullet list of pros and cons of ME2. I found myself able to list out a disturbing number of cons that I could easily put into words. The pros, however, weren’t so easily wrangled. As we’ve mentioned numerous times on the podcast, BioWare games have a knack for making you think about the whole, rather than discrete parts.

  I’ve never played a game that is so clearly disjointed. Shooting, dialogue, cut scenes – each segment is completely isolated from the rest. You’re never caught off-guard by the action, unlike in Uncharted 2, where you sometimes don’t realize when the cut-scene is done and it’s your turn to play. In ME2, the game jerks from dialogue to third-person action. The game is very clear here: now is the time to start killing things. The talkie bits are done.

  I stress this disjointed construction because it makes the ultimate impression the game leaves on you all that more impressive. As I think about the game days after completion, daydreaming while doing other things, I find all the segments of the game meld together. I’m left thinking about the experience that was the game.

  And that sums up the most compelling thing about ME2: it is an experience.

  The experience was compelling enough to zombify my girlfriend, someone who usually detests merely watching me play a game, and glue her to the couch next to me for the entire 25-hour adventure. No, she was not mistaking the game for a movie; she was caught in the same strange gravity well as me. If I neglected to visit a crew member in between missions, both my in-game personal assistant and my girlfriend were eager to hear the next dialogue.

  It’s important to point out that the game designers felt that you might want a reminder in the CIC, the bridge and information hub of ME2, of all the characters that want to talk to you. This is a feature that would have been useful in the original Mass Effect, in which I wasn’t sure when I was supposed to talk to crew members, but it is unnecessary in the sequel due to the well-defined structure of the game.

  That well defined structure is actually a point of contention; some people find it the worst part about the sequel, and others find it the strength of the game. I’m in the middle of these two camps. On one hand, I wish that the game afforded you more leeway with handling the relationships you develop with your crew. On the other hand, I understand that framing conversations in an interesting way means that the game designers could be more creative with direction during the dialogue.

  It’s very clear that the design focus of the game was altered from the first. An in-game satire of a game store makes BioWare’s direction very clear: “big decisions and visceral combat.” Everything that gets in the way of these two things was on the chopping block for ME2. Cumbersome inventory? Gone. Plodding Mako missions? Gone. Complex character statistics? Simplified. Poorly implemented cover mechanic? Overhauled.

  As a result, if anything besides dialogue scenes and decision making was your favorite part of the original Mass Effect, you will not like the direction of the sequel. This isn’t to say that you’ll dislike the game as a whole, but I just don’t think you’ll be as excited about the game as others. I was a big fan of the dialogue and story of the first game, and as a result, I couldn’t be more satisfied with the result of BioWare’s pruning.

  The variation between each player’s story becomes the most compelling discussion topic among those who’ve completed the game. I sought out message boards, an act of desperation, in order to share my experience with other players. The fact that I didn’t want to expose my fellow podcast-mates to my version of the ending, even in vague terms, is a credit to the power of the game’s narrative. Suffice to say, the game delivers the parameters of its final mission in a way that had me holding my breath every step of the way, actually afraid of the consequences of the actions built up over the course of the game.

  In the original Mass Effect, the sum total of the decisions you made in the game seemed to matter less. While there were “big” decisions to be made, the consequences weren’t represented. It was very easy to see the structure of the game – make X decision to see X cutscene; make Y decision the second time, see Y cutscene. There may be an easy explanation for how ME2 determines what your ending will be, but as the gamer, I’m completely mystified. If there is a pattern, I don’t see it.

  And that’s the beauty of the refined system in ME2, as I’m left contemplating the possibilities I skipped over. I genuinely regret some of the decisions I made in the game. Normally, I would consider reloading an old save and fixing my mistake – gaming the system. In any other game, I wouldn’t think twice about optimizing, but in ME2, I left those regrettable decisions untouched. I feel like they only add depth to the character I’m creating.

  It’s that ownership over the character who you create that cements this sequel’s status as far superior to the original. Other games allow you to customize the appearance, name and voice of the main character. Mass Effect 2 goes one beyond that – you can shape the identity of the main character, too.

  It’s been more than five years, but we’re finally seeing games that are more than just “next-generation” in graphics alone. And this one isn’t a small step – it’s a giant leap.

  –Reviewed by Nick Kosareo
• 

  Guy in Ohio
  February 4th, 2010 on 6:20 pm

  Rating

  I’m not going to go into a ton of detail that’s already been covered here and everywhere else. What I will say is that this game OOZES polish and production value. There are countless missions and side missions, none of which feel tacked on or rushed. Just doing the bare minimum to complete the game will still yield around 20 hours of play time, but you would be doing yourself a serious disservice by not doing the side missions. At a normal pace, the game can be completed in 30 – 35 hours, and if you insist on doing every single available mission, you’re looking at 45 – 50 hours.

  Considering that most single player experiences offer a fraction of the play time (around 10 hours) at a fraction of the production value, you’d be insane to pass this game up if you own an Xbox 360.
• 

  Kathleen M. Brown
  February 13th, 2010 on 2:43 am

  Rating

  I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the storyline in ME2, saying that it lacked depth, and that the characters were flat. I remember people saying the same thing about the first one, but it simply isn’t true. It’s the same thing with any RPG game(though there are honestly some really lousy ones out there with no story at all no matter how hard you try to get into it), you get out what you put in. The story is only shallow when you don’t look into it, when you don’t invest in the missions and pay attention to what’s going on. The characters are only flat when you don’t talk to them and get to know them, the more time you spend with them, the more you get to know them and the more dialogue options open up.

  I personally thought that it was an excellent follow up to ME1 and did what the middle game in a trilogy is supposed to do, further the plot and set up for the third one. And ME2 did that amazingly well with major decisions that will(or at least should) have a major impact on the galaxy for ME3.

  There were a couple of minor things that I didn’t like. After a while the mining was really monotonous, and I actually started to miss the MAKO (as sad as that sounds). I was kind of irritated that using a single power took all of them out of commission for a cool down period. And I definitely hated though damn thermo-clips. I actually ran out of ammo on the final stretch leaving the collector ship and had to blast husks out of the way with my biotics as I hauled for the shuttle. I was also irritated by the lack of characters like Kaiden and Liara being part of the Normandy crew, and whild I could understand Kaiden’s reservations about joining Cerberus. Liara kind of seemed like she went a little Psycho in the two years that Shepard was dead.

  However, the good parts definitely made up for it. I was so happy that they fixed the texture lag, and that the load screens, while still present, didn’t stay up as long and they at least seemed a little more situationally appropriate. I loved the humor, and especially Joker running through the Normandy cursing up a storm. The characters had very believeable elements to them, and I found myself watching their personalities unfold and thinking about people in my life who they were a lot like (not being alien, or genetically engineered, or completely crazy) but their attitudes and they way they spoke or moved. The Gameplay also felt smoother, and I was so excited that I could actually jump over stuff in combat, and the powers were much more refined and easier to understand (my friend Jennifer said that with the way the biotics powers were named it was like biotics for dumbies).

  All in all it was a great game, and anyone who loved ME1 should love it just as much.
• 

  czombie
  February 13th, 2010 on 4:30 am

  Rating

  I don’t think there has ever been a video game that combines blazing action and a compelling storyline as well as Mass Effect 2. On a shooting level, the game is nearly as good as many of the actual combat-centered games out there. As Commander Shephard, you direct a team of two other squad members in various missions that sometimes involve shootouts and sometimes stealth. Throughout the game, you get access to about ten other potential teammates, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, some who are experts with assault weapons, some with sniper rifles and some with “biotics,” which are essentially magic-like abilities. However, it is with the story and roleplaying aspects that this game really shines. Like with the first Mass Effect game, you actually make choices that affect the future of the game, including the upcoming Mass Effect 3, which will complete the trilogy. Choices range from heroic “Paragon” choices to outlaw “Renegade” choices, so you can actually decide what type of character that you want to be. In essence, you feel like you are the main character in an excellent science fiction story. It’s about as close to simulating reality that I’ve seen in a video roleplaying game.

  Mass Effect 2 is best played after playing the first Mass Effect, as your choices in the first game affect many of the storylines in Mass Effect 2. You’re also able to pursue romances with a greater number of characters in this game than in the first Mass Effect, or you can continue the romantic relationship that you established in the first game. To me, the greatest aspect of ME2 is the work the writers and designers have put into making the other characters and alien species seem completely real. Nobody is a stereotype in the Mass Effect universe like a few other science fiction franchises that I can think of. Ultimately, Mass Effect 2 is utterly addictive, and the game’s creators promise more downloadable missions in the future even after you get through the initial 40+ hours of gameplay. If you want a fully immersive video game experience that will leave you hungering for more, I strongly recommend this game.