Feb 212012
Mass Effect 2
- Improved NPC conversation system where Commander Shepard can take matters into your own hands
- The second act of BioWare’s epic sci-fi RPG trilogy continues the story of Commander Shepard and humanity’s first steps onto the galactic stage.
- Integration with the original Mass Effect game allows players to import saved files and contiue play with those files in Mass Effect 2.
- Choose from 19 different weapons, including devastating heavy weapons that can end a battle in seconds.
- New location based damage system allows for targeting of key weak points, blasting off limbs, igniting enemies, or cripple and disable enemy troops.
The second chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy takes you to the darkest reaches of space, where you must uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of humans across many worlds. Prepare yourself for a suicide mission to save mankind. Travel the galaxy to assemble a team of soldiers and combat specialists, and launch an all-out assault on the heart of enemy territory. Mass Effect 2 is the sequel to BioWare’s hit space-based role-playing game (RPG), Mass Effect. A single player adventure, Mas
List Price: $ 19.99
Price: $ 15.20
Massive Fun 2,
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 dated 2/3/10.) 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. The main storyline, however, remains unchanged. For those who never play ME1, ME2 can be played stand-alone with new characters and certain pre-set assumptions on events in ME1. (See Update below) 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…
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|This is what happens when you listen to the fans,
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…
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|The Effect of the Masses…,
To start off, I want to make one thing clear; this review is targeted towards true RPG fans and people who loved the previous Mass Effect. If you are more of an action or FPS fan who generally enjoys qualities games (even if they do step outside of your comfort zone), then it would behoove you to go grab and play this game right now. Compared to most of the mediocre games out there these days, this game is an absolute gem. With that said, I will now continue with the true review.
Very few sequels can be categorized as `true sequels’ in the essence that you may be playing as a different character with a different story and in some cases, a completely different universe. That is not the case with Mass Effect 2, where you once again take the role of Commander Shepard (whether you choose to be male of female) in his pursuit of the Reapers and peace across the galaxy. As an uber fan of the previous entry, I was expecting a similarly immersive experience that improved on the follies of the first entry.
Well, I have good news; Bioware listened to the critic’s complaints and reworked almost everything to some degree. The bad news is that a lot of the best elements that made the first Mass Effect great got axed. As a result, ME2 (Mass Effect 2) is everything ME1 (Mass Effect 1) wasn’t; it’s well polished, fast paced and flashy. Unfortunately, ME2 exchanged these qualities for the depth, immersion and charm that characterized the first game. True fans of RPGs recognize that this is not a fair exchange and as such seriously tarnished the experience.
In the rest of this review, I will juxtapose everything in this game in relation to ME1. This is because, as with any true sequel, the predecessor is the game that set the standard and is the game that the sequel must live up to. So in essence, this is a review of both games. With that said, enjoy.
*** A summation of this review is provided at the bottom of the page. ***
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“The little things make all the difference in the universe.”
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**Loading Screens**
ME1
Minimal and limited to when you selected a new planet or location and if I remember correctly it usually just showed you in the Citadel. Otherwise you simply walked from place to place or traveled via elevators or air lock (in and out of your ship). Transitions were seamless and provided entertaining conversations between team members and a high sense of realism.
ME2
The loading screens usually showed a flashy schematic of the ship or you presumably landing somewhere. They were aesthetic, but even that novelty wore off after seeing them a few times.
ADVANTAGE – Mass Effect 1; seamless transitions provide a greater level of immersion than loading screens. That was an innovation that should have been kept and expanded upon, not axed.
**Space Exploration**
ME1
You just used your galaxy map to click where you wanted to go.
ME2
Using an over the top view, you actually navigated your ship from galaxy to galaxy and from planet to planet. You needed fuel to bridge the gap to some outer galaxies and probes to explore planets.
ADVANTAGE – Mass Effect 2; This was one area where immersion and depth was actually improved, bravo.
**Outer Planet Exploration**
ME1
You used an all terrain vehicle called the Mako to explore the planets for cities, enemy bases and minerals. This process was tedious and combat in the Mako was flawed at best. It was a very `cool’ concept executed very poorly.
ME2
On story planets you just warp straight into the city via loading screen. On foreign planets you `scan’ the planet from the ship using a giant reticule and send out probes to find minerals and sometimes mission locations. An early upgrade allows you to speed up process, which effectively makes it a bit less tedious and soul sucking.
DRAW – Both of these exploration methods were flawed. Personally, I’d welcome a combination of the two in the third entry. An improved version of the Mako would be welcomed to enter bases on the story planets and provides a good change of pace. However for foreign planets I think being able to scan the entire planet with one probe would speed things up considerably.
**Inner Planet Exploration**
ADVANTAGE – Mass Effect 1; ME1′s planets seemed much livelier and grandiose. Meaning, there were more NPCs walking around and everything was set up as an actual functioning city and ecosystem on a larger scale. In the second game, cities were much…
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