[360/PC] Mass Effect 2 Review

[AgtFox]

Mass Effect 2 Review

Title: Mass Effect 2
Platform: 360/PC
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PC CE), $49.99 (PC), $69.99 (360 CE)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: Graphics are much better, no texture pop-ups/slowdowns; inventory non-existent; voiceovers are well done by actors both big and small; story is top notch; characters are all well fleshed out as long as you follow through with talking to them; danger continually heightens throughout the game

What's Not: Husks are a pain in the ass; a couple glitches seen, but nothing gamebreaking; no 180 degree turn button

Regardless of what I say here, I’m sure most people out there are going to purchase Mass Effect 2 when it releases later today. I am here to tell you that you’ve made a fantastic choice because this sequel builds upon the strengths of the first game. It also gets rid of many weaknesses, but may also bring new ones in depending on how you feel about the changes and additions. BioWare has created an outer space RPG sequel that will be remembered for a long time. That they’ve put out two vast RPG games within the span of a few months is simply mind-boggling.

Let’s first talk about the ability to import your character from the first game. I imported my Shepard, who was a soldier somewhere around level 40. I hadn’t played the first game in a long time and I actually lost my original endgame save in a RROD of one of my 360s, but I did have a save close to the end that I started after the RROD. I finished that off so I could import him into the game. At the end I decided to save the Council (not deciding on a new councilperson), killed Wrex and Kaiden and forget what other plot points came over. The game shows a list of character traits, including relationships, when you import your game. You then have the ability to change what type of character you’ll be. I continued on as a soldier, although these are available as well: Infiltrator (long range weapons, has cloaking ability), Vanguard (biotic/weapon hybrid), Sentinel (biotic/tech hybrid), Adept (heavy biotic) and Engineer (heavy tech). I do plan to play through the game again and possibly many more times to see all the character types.

For pure transparency, I do have to note that EA sent us some story spoilers that they don’t want us to reveal so you can have the full experience. I was surprised by how little they cracked down on though. I am able to at least talk about the opening of the game. Remember when the first video came out where everyone thought Shepard was dead? Well, he/she (for those that use a female Shepard) does indeed die at the very beginning as an unknown ship warps in and destroys the Normandy about 12 days after the events that ended Mass Effect. However, Shepard is brought back to life by another human faction called Cerberus, but it takes two years for them to bring him totally back. Shepard wakes up and finds a much different universe and his true exploits from the first game basically swept under the rug. Remember I saved the Council, so when I encountered them I was shocked that they publicly blamed the attack on the Geth and not on the Reapers. I am interested in seeing what kind of reaction there would be with no Council and feel lucky I saved a game right before the end battle in the first game so I can see that avenue.

That’s just the beginning of the game. Shepard goes through a variety of missions to employ a squad given the recommendations of the man running Cerberus, the Illusive Man (who is voiced to perfection by actor Martin Sheen). He will recruit both new and old members to his new squad. Sorry I can’t say who the old members are, that’s one of the spoilers I’m not supposed to talk about. I can say there are a total of 10 squadmates (or 11 if you count the Day 1 DLC, which I could never download for this review and has since been taken down). I could download the other DLC (Normandy Crash) and it was a very touching mission and one I hope you check out.

Onto the changes from the first game that will either make you smile or frown. The graphics are much better and smoother than the first game. There is rarely a time where textures are being loaded on the fly and I honestly don’t remember one. There’s no slowdown that I encountered or visibly saw. The gameplay itself is very reminiscent of Gears of War. Shepard runs and dives behind cover, can do blind fire and the obvious aimed fire. You will want to stay in cover as much as possible, although if you are a close range character I’m not sure what your plan would be. This game is rather large when you take into account all the planets you can land on and each one is unique in appearance that I encountered.

The inventory system is non-existent this time around. Whether that is good or bad is totally up to you. No longer are you picking up weapons and minerals as you kill enemies, instead new weapons are part of the overall story. In fact there’s a spot I had to choose from three more powerful weapons, but I could only choose one. The minerals (Element Zero, Iridium, Platinum and Palladium), which are far fewer in number than the original, are actually mined as you orbit planets. You bring up a scanner and it will tell you whether there is an anomaly there or not (meaning a new mission). It will also tell you how rich in minerals the planet is (Rich, Good, Moderate, Depleted). You then scan the surface of the planet and watch soundwaves over the four minerals on a chart. When you see a bit of an uptick (or a massive one) you can send out a probe with the right trigger and you get the mineral deposits. You will find this is the only valid way, especially late in the game, to upgrade all the things you want because you won’t pick up enough during missions. The way you get credits is interesting as well. You will find locked items all around and you go into a mini-game where you have to connect four pairs of nodes on a circuit board. It is a memory game and is timed, but it is relatively easy to do and an easy way to pick up credits.

The options on weapons are smaller as well. Shepard still has five slots (pistol, assault gun/sub-machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle and heavy weapon), but each of his squadmates only has two. Each squad member specializes in two specific arm types. For example, Miranda (one you get at the beginning that works for Cerberus) can carry a pistol and sub-machine gun. Those are her only options and your only options if you want to manage who has what type of gun through the left button menu (the right button menu still manages powers). With the smaller range of weapons, there is also no longer upgrade paths for the weapons in your character level ups. You want a good balance on those missions you aren’t required to bring one of your squadmates, so be ready.

There are plenty of missions available as well. There is the main story missions, side missions to make each of your squad members fully loyal to Shepard and general side missions you either pick up as you travel through main hubs or from the aforementioned scanning of planets. In many cases you can use a Mass Relay to go through the systems, but there are times where you have to move between spots in the system you’re in and that will use fuel. You can purchase both fuel and probes in any system that has a Mass Relay in it at a Fuel Depot. I never ran out of fuel, but I wonder what would happen if you did. The areas reachable only by fuel often have interesting missions and often some rich mineral planets in the area.

The story itself runs the gamut of moral choices. I am one of those odd people that like to be a good guy in these types of games, so I attempted to be on the Paragon side as much as possible. There are points in the game where a Paragon or Renegade picture will pop up in the lower left or right corner. If you hit it you will do a move on that side. Only one side comes up at different times. You can still attempt to create relationships with people, although I will be honest in saying I only flirted with the ship’s Yeoman (non-squad member) and never really saw any kind of deep talks with members of the squad I could possibly have a relationship with (I easily could have missed my opportunity). On my second play through (something you can do after beating the game; you can also continue on and finish the rest of the missions) I certainly plan to put a focus on the romantic side of things if at all possible. It may have something to do with my Mass Effect save as well since I don’t believe I had a romantic relationship with anyone since I lost my original saved game that did have romantic relationships. I may also try to start a new game with a new character.

It is obvious as you play through the game with a saved ME1 character that your choices and relationships from there transfer over to this game. I have no idea how BioWare programmed a most likely dynamic dialog structure with everyone in the game. There are so many variables that could have come from the original game and they make a point toward the end during loading areas that your choices will vastly affect the upcoming Mass Effect 3.

Loading screens are probably going to be a sore spot. I’ll point out that I installed both discs onto my 360, so I have no clue how it loads with just the disc. There are loading screens, but they don’t seem overly long and they do contain valuable information that rarely repeats itself. No longer is the loading done while riding an elevator, instead there are actual loading screens. Not absolutely sure that there isn’t still loading while opening up doors you have to hit the A button for, but I have no way to prove whether there is or not. You will also switch discs twice. One time after the first major encounter with a new enemy in the game and another time back to the original disc before the final mission. The disc switches are done well, just be sure to install both discs to the hard drive if you want to do that.

Also of special note is the voice actors employed for this game. Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale return as the male and female voices of Shepard. Joining them is the aforementioned Martin Sheen, Battlestar Galactica vets Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan (in an unfortunate bit role in my opinion) and Chuck actors Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin among others. Yvonne gets special mention since her face is motion captured as Miranda’s face in the game including her non-straight teeth. Some may be taken aback that she is speaking in her native Australian tongue and not the American accent she uses in the TV show. For the amount of lines spoken in the game, and they’re all spoken, the voice actors do a heck of a job.

I only encountered some problems in the game. The lack of a 180 degree turn button was a problem, but not one that destroys the game. There were times where I had no idea enemies were attacking me from the backside until it was too late and I was dead on the ground. A way to quickly turn around and not get stuck trying to turn the character only to continue getting hit would have been nice. The Husk (basically your run of the mill zombies) enemies are once again annoying as they come in waves and I encountered a couple glitches. The first one was in a mission I had Shepard behind cover and he couldn’t move. I had to restart the section. Luckily they have fixed the autosave problem from the first game and do a good job of saving the game so you don’t have to repeat a lot. It basically saves after each wave of enemy or each decision you make. The second was in another mission and a mech didn’t blow up and was frozen on the screen, but I was able to continue on. I’m sure others will find glitches, but those were the only two that really stood out for me.

I had a lot of fun in my roughly 20 hours with Mass Effect 2. It certainly fit the “I’ll play this for 10 more minutes and it turns into an hour plus” category of games that recent releases like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Assassin’s Creed II have occupied. I can’t say I was as addicted to the first game in this series, but something grabbed me in this one. It could be the more minimal (or non-existent) management of things like inventory and shuffling weapons for all the squad. It could be the more Gears of War like firefights. It could be the fleshed out squad members and their stories as well as doing the one side mission for each of them in order to gain full loyalty. It could be the interesting dialog between everyone, even though you no longer banter much while on missions and most talks are on the ship. Who really knows, but I’m willing to bet you’ll find something that will grab you and hold on.

There are supposedly many different endings to this game and really that isn’t a surprise. In fact I think there could be a myriad of endings, far more than the original had. I wish I could share mine and the rumors I’ve heard about others, but that is one of the things I can’t talk about here. I do want to say though that the build up and endgame are well done and there is a final boss that is one to behold. BioWare has done a good job continuing and building the story up with this middle chapter in the trilogy.

There is no doubt that Mass Effect 2 is a must buy whether you played the first one or not in my opinion. I’m sure BioWare does a good job of catching the people up that didn’t play the original, although I have to test that out in yet another play through. I personally think the game has been honed from the first game for the better, but others may think differently. This game grabbed me and didn’t let me go until the credits rolled. Even then I had the wish to continue on finishing missions or starting up a new game (through my saved ME2 profile, the ME1 profile again maybe going Renegade or starting from scratch). This game has a lot of replay value in my opinion and is simply a top notch game. Highly recommended.

Score: 5 out of 5 CoGs

Loren says, “Mass Effect 2 is a game that will not be soon forgotten. Even after playing through the game for 20 hours I want to start it all over again and maybe go a different way and hopefully a different ending. With a more refined view of inventory and weapons, you can concentrate more on killing your enemies on the screen. This is a must buy game if you like shooters and RPGs. The story is well done and advances the overall story arc by quite a few levels.”

*Note - Review based upon the 360 version of game

[Grifter]

I haven't read the review yet mainly because I want to go back to playing (I'm about half way through) but Mass Effect 2 is on par with Uncharted 2 and Batman: Arkham Asylum in terms of quality, character development, immersion and game play.

Every other developer releasing a game this generation has an incredibly high bar to make it over just to stay in the same ball park as ME2, few will even come close.

[Loki]

I'm not all that thrilled with the stripped down inventory system as it isn't explained well.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Loki

I'm not all that thrilled with the stripped down inventory system as it isn't explained well.

There is no inventory, does that explain it? You don't get new weapons out in the open or minerals (except in some crates around the area). You have to mine for minerals on planets in order to get any good number of them. The number of minerals is greatly reduced from the first game to only 4 here.

[Whunpo]

How is the save system in this game? In the first game, the save system was the bane of my existence. Other than that, great review, I am so pumped to pick this up tomorrow and get some serious playtime in.

[Grifter]

Originally Posted by Loki

I'm not all that thrilled with the stripped down inventory system as it isn't explained well.

Instead of getting random Items of which most are throw away you research and create items and upgrades from blue prints you find and/or buy which is where you use the resources mined from planets. Some upgrades effect the whole team some just specific characters and some specific powers, armors and weapons. It allows for varied item load out (and looks for Shepherd) while keeping everything moving at a brisk pace.

My initial reaction was disappointment as well but as soon as I started using it that disappointment went away. I know you can't please everyone but I think a majority of players and Mass Effect fans will like the direction they went, not only with the inventory but with ship travel as well.

Originally Posted by Whunpo

How is the save system in this game? In the first game, the save system was the bane of my existence. Other than that, great review, I am so pumped to pick this up tomorrow and get some serious playtime in.

The auto save feature (at least on the PC version) saves quite frequently and you can manually save anytime you like (except in combat) as well.

Seriously, I'm done now... must go play more.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Whunpo

How is the save system in this game? In the first game, the save system was the bane of my existence. Other than that, great review, I am so pumped to pick this up tomorrow and get some serious playtime in.

I said somewhere in the review that the autosave system is much improved. You won't have to repeat as much as before. It basically saves after each wave encounter or decision you make (just two examples).

[AgtFox]

Hidden in a paragraph: "Luckily they have fixed the autosave problem from the first game and do a good job of saving the game so you don’t have to repeat a lot. It basically saves after each wave of enemy or each decision you make."

Going to bed now, I'll try to answer any questions in a few hours or so.

[Whunpo]

Ahh thanks, I kind of read this in-between some homework, so I must have missed that. Glad to hear it's been improved!

[jpc_theoneandonly]

Great review Fox. I have to wait until about mid feb. do get my hands on this one. I can't wait. I really enjoyed the first one. The extra time that I have to wait will just give me a chance to play through the first one again.

[Wilkz07]

can you skip elevator rides?

great review. picking it up on the way home today.

[NoName]

I started this on the PC last night, it's been incredible so far. It's like they kept all the good parts from ME1 and improved all the pieces people didn't like (or anything that distracted you from killing things).

Darn work getting in the way of my playing. The weekend can't get here soon enough...

[M.C. War Bot]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

I finished that off so I could import him into the game. At the end I decided to save the Council (not deciding on a new councilperson), killed Wrex and Kaiden and forget what other plot points came over. The game shows a list of character traits, including relationships, when you import your game.

Originally Posted by AgtFox

I was surprised by how little they cracked down on though. I am able to at least talk about the opening of the game.

I made it half way through your review before I decided it wasn't worth my time trying to decipher what you were trying to say.

When you start a sentence. And then put a period. In the middle of it (or wrap extra points that could be worked into the body, in parentheses). It. Makes. The review. Really hard to. Read.

Honestly it is not a well formulated review, it is just a mish-mash of ideas and game points.

[Yeti2005]

Great review. I'm picking up the CE version from BestBuy today. Fox any info on the Cerebrus network? I know you didn't use the character from the Day 1 DLC but is everything else in "network" pretty seamless?

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by M.C. War Bot

I made it half way through your review before I decided it wasn't worth my time trying to decipher what you were trying to say.

When you start a sentence. And then put a period. In the middle of it (or wrap extra points that could be worked into the body, in parentheses). It. Makes. The review. Really hard to. Read.

Honestly it is not a well formulated review, it is just a mish-mash of ideas and game points.

Thanks for the words. This is an extremely long review, even for me. Trying to get as many things across as I could for those interested can be quite hard to do in an RPG review. I'm not big on doing RPG reviews since they are time sinks and encompass way too much to hone in on just a few things. Add into it that it's Mass Effect 2 and many people are probably looking for differences between it and the original, something I go into quite deeply and it becomes even more difficult.

If you look at other reviews for the game, I'm also seeing a lot of longer reviews outside the norm for some websites. They obviously had the same kinds of trouble I did in explaining the game as best we could given the spoilers we were asked to not talk about so you guys could experience the game. I would have loved to talk more about the story, but then it might creep into some of those things EA would rather you experience than we tell you. So I had to talk about the more technical side of the game and comparisons to the first.

I think you're overemphasizing the period thing though. I'm not one to do one or two words with a period after it as you're trying to convey. I use regular sentences and everything. I've always used the parenthesis in reviews and I know a used a lot of them here, but as I said in the first paragraph this is an extremely long review so the number of them is far higher than usual.

Once again, thanks for the words though. This type of review is an oddity for me since I try to stay away from reviewing RPG games.

[M.C. War Bot]

I appreciate the time you put into the review and for taking time to respond to me. I love reading all of the sites across the Internet to see what they have to say about video games.

If you look at other reviews for the game, I'm also seeing a lot of longer reviews outside the norm for some websites.

The length doesn't bother me, it's how you write.

I think you're overemphasizing the period thing though. I'm not one to do one or two words with a period after it as you're trying to convey. I use regular sentences and everything. I've always used the parenthesis in reviews and I know a used a lot of them here, but as I said in the first paragraph this is an extremely long review so the number of them is far higher than usual.

Of course I did, this is the Internet after all .

My complaint is how you use your sentences, you don't write very well. If we were having a conversation would you stop every 5 or 6 words and take a breath? No, you'd continue to talk taking small pauses; which is what a semi colon or comma is used for.

When you read a review, a book or even a newspaper article you have to read it out loud to get the full effect of the writing. See how I am writing in longer sentences? If you read my paragraph out loud it'd sound more like a real conversation rather than a mish-mash of thoughts and ideas.

[Ink Asylum]

This game is sitting on a laptop in a bag at my feet, waiting for Steam to unlock it and me to get out of work. Pure torture.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Yeti2005

Great review. I'm picking up the CE version from BestBuy today. Fox any info on the Cerebrus network? I know you didn't use the character from the Day 1 DLC but is everything else in "network" pretty seamless?

Basically when you start the game you can log into EA's servers. You then put the Cerberus code in and at the main screen there are two laptop screens. On the left is the game menu, on the right is the Cerberus Network. As of me playing/reviewing the game, there were only 3 pages of information available and supposedly they are going to put new news there. There is an option to go to downloadable content on the left laptop screen.

I used to have two things to download: the Normandy Crash mission I talked about in the review and the downloadable squadmate. I was never able to download the squadmate and the DLC was taken off yesterday of my available ones to download. Probably has to do with the free stuff that accidently went live yesterday.

We were given just regular versions of the game, so I doubt I'd have access to any of the CE downloads unless they are purchaseable. Any other questions?

[Troggles]

Originally Posted by M.C. War Bot

My complaint is how you use your sentences, you don't write very well. If we were having a conversation would you stop every 5 or 6 words and take a breath? No, you'd continue to talk taking small pauses; which is what a semi colon or comma is used for.

When you read a review, a book or even a newspaper article you have to read it out loud to get the full effect of the writing. See how I am writing in longer sentences? If you read my paragraph out loud it'd sound more like a real conversation rather than a mish-mash of thoughts and ideas.

While I understand your complaint, I have read and re-read the review after reading your criticisms and I am just not finding much evidence to support your claim. There are a few sentences that are short, but I did not seeing a trend or pattern. Some sentences are better off short.

[Karak]

Good review. It hits on some of the parts but did you write it as you played it or take notes as you went and then put it together as a complete package. I know you said that EA wanted you to keep some stuff out of it but there are more changes from ME1 to ME2 that should probably be mentioned.

I played until 5am this morning from last night.
My thoughts on the sequel.

Graphics-Amazing just really top of the line and brings the sci fi element into its own. Trully makes the game seem alive. The amount of characters onscreen in some scenes has to be tripled at least. My lord the bar and all the people and the dancers was just amazing. Omega alone is just stellar.

Music-Sound was incredible. Biotic powers, weapons, and everything is just perfect. I am not a fan of the new soundtrack. The roaring orchastra from the first doesn't seem to have made it and the music here doesn't have the same feeling as the original which was heavenly.

Gameplay-Perfect. I didn't even think of the "spin 180" button so thats cool. I am playing on the hardest difficuty and died 2-3 times. Mangement of your characters is handled with ease and a good amount of AI flexibility that makes them seem far more intelligent.

Funfactor. So far its got to be a 10 if rated on fun alone. There are some really stupid decisions that have been made. Basically going backwards on some of the good stuff from #1 that just doesn't have any excuses. As I always seem to be saying though, what matters is just how much fun you are having. The cover, control, ai, and plot/story basically blows the roof off.

Except the ship and mining...which uniformally blows. Just no excuse. Basically a total move backward from the "Captain" feeling of the first to a more SNES pilot feeling in the second. A step down in at least 1-2 generations.