An Intergalactic Home Away From Home
The brilliance involved with the first Mass Effect led me to be skeptical that Bioware could pull out another piece of galactic gold with its sequel Mass Effect 2, but to my surprise they’ve really pulled out the stops. On my first play through, which took roughly 25 hours, led me to find a captivating storyline, a revamped battle system, and a strong cast of quirky characters making for an exquisite star-hopping experience. Virtually every part of the first ME1 was improved in this literally star-studded sequel.
My first experiences of the story seemed a little jarring because I came in wanting another story like ME1, but after discovering a the game has a much darker mood to it, I took the adjustment well. The story starts with Shepherd aboard the Normandy, when they are shot down by a massive and mysterious ship. Now, this is a pretty big deal for a few reasons: for one, the Normandy is supposedly the fastest ship in the galaxy and it couldn’t get away; two, the Normandy had its stealth systems on and should have been undetectable; and three, Shepherd dies! Now before you pull out your tissue box and wallow in despair, you’ll be glad to find out that through two years of extensive research and large sums of credits he’s brought back to life.
All of this happens within the first ten minutes, and throughout the rest of the game you’ll find a similar arc of events constantly hitting you with interesting twists, leaving you wanting more and more. Zombie Shepherd (although not really a zombie, it’s still the same Shepherd we’ve all come to love) is a testimony to Mass Effect 2 having a much darker mood than its predecessor. The language is much more obscene and the game is much more violent. Like ME1, you dive into those moral and philosophical decisions through choosing dialogue, and never before in my 20 years of gaming experience have I found such customization of plot and alteration of characters and relationships. For each character, there is a subplot that plays a huge role in your party’s success or failure towards the end of the game. Not once did I ever feel that each of these subplots was Bioware trying to put in filler; each story is rich and in-depth, leaving you attached to all of the characters in the game. Even upgrades to your ship affect the ending. As I played it through my first time, I skipped some of these upgrades, so be warned. Get the whole experience as you play through it the first time.
Mass Effect 2 marks a new era in shooter/role-playing with its use of celebrities in its voice acting, including Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan, The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss, Seth Green, and Martin Sheen. The money shelled out for these big names pays off; the voice acting throughout the game is utterly superb, creating a foundation for some great characters that add a grandiose amount of depth to the story. Shepherd returns as strong as ever, although there are a few instances where his actions seem a little, well, corny and out of character when compared to ME1. Importing your character from the first game will make Shepherd look a little different too, and it skewed one of my characters a great deal, so it’s a good thing they put in the option to give any of your imports a face-lift.
The game play features so many vast improvements over its forbear, providing an experience that is smooth, quick, and clutter-free. First, the fixes: No more elevator wait times, which is great because staring at your character standing in an elevator for about a minute got really old, really quick. Paired with faster load times, the game seems a lot more fluid. And remember that little land rover, the MAKO? The one that you’d land on planets that all looked exactly the same? Well that’s all gone. Good riddance; although what it has been replaced with isn’t a whole lot better. Now, if there’s an anomaly on a planet you can land directly on it by launching a probe, which is nice because it saves on those boring MAKO drives. But, in order to upgrade equipment you must scan the surface of the planets for raw materials, which involves taking a little crosshair and slowly dragging it around the surface of the planet, launching probes to collect materials. It gets mundane pretty quick, but the chance of an anomaly keeps it somewhat exciting. Mass Effect 2 also uses a new inventory system; no longer will you have a cluttered inventory containing about 20 of the same weapon. You’ll find about three different versions of each gun throughout the game, and you can upgrade them. This is great for two reasons: You don’t have to spend a half an hour converting all of your extra guns and equipment into omni-gel, and because all your characters use the same upgraded guns, leaving you a lot of room to diversify your experience and use different characters on each mission, creating a new experience every time you play it.
Every battle in the game is tense and challenging, and the game’s AI will consistently keep you on your toes. Your enemies are smart and adaptive, and you need to position your teammates, lay down suppressing fire, and flank in order to get the upper hand. The class system in the game is much more balanced; each class brings new depth into the battle system and each of your teammates has their own unique powers, leaving a lot of room to create a number of your own personal strategies. Also new to the game are combined biotic powers. You can use lift to float enemies into the air, and then use throw to send them flying into walls or, my personal favorite, things that explode. Different combined powers have some very interesting effects. You have an interesting array of enemies throughout the game, and you’ll find each level in the game refreshing because your enemies keep the game play fresh.
Mass Effect 2 has done a great deal in the progression of the shooter/role-playing genre, and I’m sure it will serve as an archetype for many games in the future. It provides not only an action-packed interstellar experience, but it will leave you thinking you’ve made a home in a galaxy far, far away. A must have for any gamer.
MOVEMENT Likes: All ME1 bugs were fixed, great voice acting, strong characters, engaging and evolving battles, captivating story and darker mood.
MOVEMENT Dislikes: Monotonous planet scanning, Ending could be considered a spoiler of Mass Effect 3, awkward character import.
MOVEMENT REPORT CARD: A
- Frederick J. Pecor / MOVEMENT South
