Thoughts on Mass Effect 2:

So I'm just at the point where I've recruited the basic squad members and so I have a few thoughts on the game so far.

1. Galaxy Map:

Who the hell came up with this? Flying the ship around was neat for about the first two minutes, now it's just an annoying time sink. Combined with the planet scanning mini-game this is just some bullshit way to artificially lengthen the game. i hope this is addressed in ME3

2. Combat:

Sure, it may be somewhat simplified from the first game, but I think it's a great improvement. I love the new powers system in this game. I see how some people might complained that it's been dumbed down from the first one but how often were you using all those powers anyways? (I was killing things too fast with my Infiltrator to even worry about my powers) Also excellent job on getting rid of grenades. Except for one mission they were completely useless. I do have gripes with this new "'Thermal Clip" ammo system. Mainly the fact that my enemies seem to have unlimited amounts of them and I have very very few. I much preferred the overheating system of the first game.

3. Equipment:

I'm so torn on this. I don't miss that horrible inventory management from the first game but I do miss being able to customize your squads weapons and armour. This was an area that I really don't think needed to be dumbed down so much as it was. This is an RPG after all, what kind of RPG doesn't have a massive inventory to manage? That being said, I love the new armour customization for Shepard.

4. Squad Mates:

Alright, so only having 6 squad members so far (Zaheed through free DLC) I can't make too many judgements so far but already I have a couple of serious issues with them. Okay, just one of them.

Jack. What the fuck. This is probably some of the worst character design I've ever encountered. What the fuck is with that nipple belt? And she goes into combat like that, how ridiculous. If that had just been the outfit she wore aboard the normandy it wouldn't be so much of an issue. Is Jack some attempt to make this game "edgier" than the first one? It's just comical and any time jack is around it just ruins the feel of the game, IMHO. I hate the fact that all the characters go into combat without donning armour (if they don't already have it as part of their character model) Sure, you can argue that as a biotic they probably have powerful shields that protect them but Liara T'soni wore armour in the first game.

5. Renegade/Paragon System:

Early Conclusions:

Mass Effect 2 certainly has it's issues, as did Mass Effect . Will it manage to overcome these? It's too early for me to tell yet. All I know is that I'm sad I researced the improved armour for the Normanday already as that prevents Jack from dying. I'll just have to find some other way to kill her off in the suicide mission now.