Mass Effect 2

January 26, 2010 - Mass Effect took the role playing genre to new heights and now Mass Effect 2 has taken the throne not only for best sequel but one of the best titles this generation.

Mass Effect 2 is far more superior to the original in every way. The high action cut-scenes and gameplay has been improved, a deeper character formula and another breathtaking story to continue the sci-fi trilogy.

Once you complete a couple of trivial tutorial missions you are introduced to the Illusive Man. You have been given a mission to save humanity at any cost against a threat no one believes, The Collectors. Luckily for you the Illusive Man provides you with a list of potential squad mates. It’s now up to Commander Shepard to track them down, recruit them and obtain their loyalty.

The partners who sign up all have their own compelling side stories, rescuing family members, to personal quarrels which need to be settled. It’s this what crafts the main focus of the story with each having their own motivation for joining up and wanting to help Shepard save humanity.

Some are soundless and shy, overconfident to unemotional. Either way, BioWares ability to create these unique individuals is matchless. In addition is the energetic voice acting done Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man among the other cast.

What made Mass Effect stand out was the conversation feature between the player and non-playable characters. Allowing the player to choose crucial decisions and interesting results throughout the course of the game. All of this has been left untouched apart from ability to interrupt during a dialogue.

Mass Effect also has the ability for the player to engage in actions throughout certain cutscenes using the Paragon and Renegade responses, such as saving an innocent person from being shot to delivering a punch to the face of a gang leader in a police interrogation room.

The Paragon and Renegade option also returns in the dialogue circle, this can affect your relationship with NPCs throughout the game and vitally the loyalty you will receive from squad members when in certain situations. Using the Renegade option in weapon merchant’s and gift stores can let you exploit the seller into giving discounts or use the Paragon to let the seller give you certain items which wouldn’t be for sale.



Using these options will also change the appearance of Commander Shepard, a positive mind will heal his scars but a negative mind will make them not heal and re-open. With my play-through I opted to gain as much points as I could in Renegade and by the end my Shepard looked more cybernetic than human with a “terminator” likeness such as red lensed eyes and skin disfigurement.

The real deal with Mass Effect 2 shines in the story. Whether or not you decide to use a save from the original Mass Effect the story won’t change significantly apart from past characters returning or not. Certain cut-scenes will be played our slightly different and the reception you receive will have a different experience.

Each choice that you made in the previous game is put to you again, did you regret the decision of sacrificing a squad member or was it made for the better of survival. These decisions are then reflected again through parts of the game and will then be put forward into Mass Effect 3.

The game still has it’s minor faults such as character clipping and very long loading screens but certain areas have improved from Mass Effect. The frame-rate stays at a solid 30 frames per second, not once did I see slow down through my entire play-through.

There’s no longer that lengthy elevator scene or the texture loading at the beginning of a new cut-scene or level. AI has improved, squad mates will attempt to flank enemies and use their best suited weapons/abilities for specific rivals. If they feel their being over-runned they will fall back and defend.

Side quests feel more important than before, their not necessary to do but you can gain vast amounts of experience and point from doing so and even find upgrades for weapons and armor. Doing these will also boost your character level and abilities, giving you a better chance to defeat The Collectors when the time comes.

Throughout the game you will have the chance to unlock various rooms, safes and devices. There are 2 ways to unlock these, bypass or hacking. Bypassing is to find a matching pair of circuits without mismatching. When you move over a node, it reveals it’s circuit type. Activate the node and then quickly move the cursor to find the matching node, if you find a match then the pair will unlock.

Hacking is to find a line of code in a section of scrolling codes, the target your looking for is displayed above, you must then navigate the scrolling code to look for a match while avoiding the red-coded segments. This needs to be done three times in a row for a successful hack.

The tedious missions with the space buggy have been removed, instead your giving a galactic map of the galaxy and the opportunity to explore planets across the solar system. Each one of these planets allows you to scan for various substances and launch probes in search for platinum, iridium, element zero and palladium. Depending on the planet, results will alter on the substance you find. You can then use these to purchase upgrades for certain weapons and powers.

Another perk when scanning planets is you will come across anomalies, these are usually beacons of distress or hostile take overs. You can then proceed to the planet and carry out the N7 missions, you may need to kill a group of mercenaries or activate a satellite, it’s nothing complex but it all counts towards leveling up and gaining experience. You may even find special weapons that you would not find through the main mission or be able to purchase. BioWare has done a great job of offering a variety so nothing gets stale and tedious.

The biggest change that I felt in Mass Effect 2 was the combat, even though this game is a role-playing game at times it feels like a shooter, it handles very well in combat scenes even if you decide not to use biotic powers. Character customization is a big deal throughout the game, if your not loaded up properly you will struggle, maybe not at first but eventually your luck will run out.

You can use your party’s powers to good effect such as pulling enemies into the air or overloading ones shields. The higher ranked commanders have multiple defense barriers so it’s in your favor to use the best suited weapons and powers that you and your squad use. Not all enemies can be taken down straight away, you may need to take down barrier defenses before you can get to work on the armor and health.

The power-wheel allows you to pause time and choose each ones powers, these all vary depending on the class. Using an Engineer against a Mech will allow them to override the system and take control too Sentinels who can turn Humans into blocks of ice using the Cryro Freeze power.

Depending on your active squad members each unique power will have a different outcome, and using the best ability against the right enemy will help a great lot when in combat. An addition on the power-wheel is the ability to map quick map buttons to powers, this is of great use when in combat since you don’t need to keep pausing every second of an assault.

Powers themselves can be upgraded. You have the option to manually upgrade each segment or allow the game to auto-level up, The latter is recommended for novices to the game. The powers have four slots and with every upgrade it will increase power, speed, reload and distance.

New to Mass Effect 2 is the heavy weapons, they can be lethal, highly destructive but limited by ammunition. Some are acquired on missions while others are made by doing research aboard the Normandy.

Players can customize Shepard’s appearance by using the armour locker, here purchased and unlocked armour will be available for players equip. Each piece of armor has a unique gameplay stat bonus. Along with the armour locker you can visit weaponry and equip unlocked weapons for Shepard and his squad. These lockers can also be found throughout various sections of missions.

The thing which I found most amazing was the quantity to detail, it’s un-common for you see a title with so much content and the variety to last up to 60 hours without the dullness. Sure there has been many RPG’s in the past which have been great, but I never felt bored once while playing Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effect 2 is nearly flawless, it’s very rare to get a movie like this with so much detail and a strong story let alone a game. It has a remarkable visuals and effects, strong voice work with an incredible soundtrack.

I look forward to the final piece of this trilogy and to see what BioWare can produce, because so far it’s been a master piece.

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