| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PlayStation 3 | 9.90 |
| Overall | 9.90 |
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A year ago I played the PS3 version of ME2, this was before I had a 360 and before I played the original. I had always wanted to play Mass Effect, an action oriented sci-fi adventure from one of the best developers in the business, it sounded perfect. So i jumped on the sequel when it hit and fell in love. Mass Effect 2 gave me everything I wanted to see in an RPG, that is to be less of an RPG and more of an action game. It is one of the greatest experiences I have had all generation long. I am a huge sci-fi fan so the story was right up my alley. I never expected to be so immersed in this galaxy Bioware created but because it was handled with such care and detail it is easy to get into the story. Every aspect of the galaxy is documented in an encyclopedia like database. Here you learn about all the species, technology and history. This is told in such a way that is not overbearing and longwinded like another RPG series *cough*ElderScrolls*cough*. By the end of the game I had found a new favorite universe that I wanted to continue to explore. Mass Effect tells the story of Commander Shepard and his crew as he goes against impossible odds to fight an evil race that will kill all life in the galaxy. The second game's story feels more like a side story, putting the story of the incoming Reaper invasion on hold for a story about battling the Collectors. One of the largest complaints about this game is how the story is not as epic as the first, which is a valid complaint but the detour allows for exploration of more individual tales of the shady areas of the galaxy. Where the first game feels like Star Wars, a big battle of good and evil, ME2 is more like Star Trek where you explore different star systems and solve problems many dealing in moral situations. In ME2 you learn a lot more of the criminal aspect of the galaxy, especially the faction of smuggling gangs. The amount of teammates you find doubles from the first game and each of these characters have their own storyline which fleshes out their personality. The result is a game where I felt far more a part of this galaxy, I felt like a ship captain that really knew his crew. Then there is Shepard himself, Bioware really put every single leadership quality into this character. He (or she) is a character that you want to succeed, the game makes it believable that this one person can save the galaxy. I loved every second of the stories and situations you get into. There are plenty of choices to make throughout and of course you wont know the impact until the third game, such an amazing concept. Also this game has a wicked sense of humor, I laughed out loud plenty of times. It has all elements of a great sci-fi show but in a game, it's remarkable. Then there is the game itself and here is where I really fell in love. I am not a big RPG guy, I have always wanted my RPGs to be focused more on action and less on stats. I HATE when I have fifty million useless items to carry around and I hate it even more when I have an item limit. I don't like having a million little choices that raise stats by a minuscule amount that is insignificant. Mass Effect 2 gets rid of all the useless crap in RPGs and just focuses on the core aspects of level building and major power upgrades. When you spend points to upgrade a power you are always increasing that power in a significant way. You can still customize your characters in different ways but it is streamlined so you don't spend lots of time in menus and so that your choices have bigger impact. Items are gone, yes! No item screen, no equipment to worry about, it is all handled in a simple easy to grasp way. Every thing you find in the game world is an improvement, you will not find 50 useless items before finding one good one. If you get a weapon upgrade it is automatically added when you research it. The same goes for armor. It is a simple system that keeps your character growing but allows you to stay focused on the action which is the most important part of the game. This is a shooter first and foremost. For many many hours you will be running around and getting into gun fights with all sorts of bad dudes. If the core mechanics were not well done the game would suffer tremendously but thankfully ME2 is a solid TPS. The cover mechanics work extremely well, almost to well as the game relies heavily on staying behind cover. Shooting feels great and responsive with a nice assortment of guns to play with. But where ME2 sets itself apart from other shooters is all the powers you can have. You can choose from many classes and they all play differently, no shooter on the market allows for such variety in how your character plays. You can be a crazy force power user, focusing on pushing back hordes of enemies or sucking them into a energy field. You can be a tech focusing more on disabling shields and barriers. Of course you can be a soldier and just shoot everything, dont worry your teamates will provide the powers. The three team setup works beautifully in this game as you have much better real time control over the entire team. With a quick press of the d-pad you can tell your teammates who to attack or where to take cover. You have quick keys for one power on each teammate and you can still pause the action at anytime to use any of your powers. It is a huge improvement over the first game and I have never played a game with co-op teammates where I feel like I have so much control of all their action. As you travel the galaxy you end up in a wide variety of situations which keeps the action interesting from start to finish. From finding a crashed cruiser and navigating its hull to entering an abandoned ship and finding its VI computer murdered everyone. Each of the characters' individual stories give you moral choices to make which have consequences on the action. Whether I was helping Quarians battle a Geth Colossus or going through a Krogan rite of passage where I had to battle a Thresher Maw on foot, the game keeps the story and action in perfect harmony. This game has much more enemy variety and many cool boss battles. The shield, barrier and armor system creates much more balance for all your powers. I could not put the controller down, I had to see what situation my the crew of the Normandy would end up next and I could not wait to fight my way through any challenge. My version had all the DLC incorporated into the game, honestly I don't know how it would be without it. These were by far the best side quests in the game offering great variety as they introduce vehicles. The hovercraft is a big improvement over the crappy car from ME1 and it allows for platforming like levels. What I loved about exploring the galaxy is that every planet you land on is handcrafted, nothing is repeated. Now most areas are basic hallway design but it's made so beautiful by breathtaking backdrops. Major props to the artist that make these backgrounds cause they make the levels. Graphically the game is stunning at times and kind of meh on others. Again looking out into the backgrounds is so picturesque that i want a painting of it. When you get up close to some textures it looks very old school. The animation can be wonky at times, overall it is uneven but most of the time it is stunning. The sound has issues as well as voices drop out or cutoff many times making subtitles necessary so you can see what they would have said. Also many times the sound ends up out of sync with the action. Thankfully the music is fantastic hearkening back to 70s and 80s sci-fi. I guess I should explain why I did not give this game one percentage point more of some imaginary scale to make it a nice 10. Well it is cause I believe the game can get better. The action can get better (and it does in ME3). The story can get better. Even the stat building can get better. Mostly though it is because ME2 sticks to the core gameplay too much, you will be on foot fighting enemies almost all the time. I like my games to surprise me a bit, throw a curve ball every once and a while. There were so many times where a foot chase or even small puzzle could have worked perfectly. Just do something more, it doesn't have to be a cover shooter 100% of the time. I love this game, I love this universe, I just want to lose myself in it. I recently played it again on a different class and changed a few choices and i was hooked just like I was the first time. It is so playable, so replayable, you dont play just to see the story, it is a blast to play. I believe this is Bioware's greatest achievement. Instead of praising them for essentially creating the first perfect action game RPG hybrid people want to kill them cause they didn't make the same RPG game for the hundredth time. How dare they try something new!!! GRRRR!!! So dumb. Thank you Bioware for taking all the best RPG elements and mixing it perfectly with a shooter. It is a dream game for me and the best part is that it all continues in the next game. |
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Posted by Dvader Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:27:53
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gamingeek (5m)
Anyway, incredible game. I loved the 1st one, and was totally amazed at how much they improved things in this one....like RE2 to RE1 level improvements.