Well the day has finally arrived. Mass Effect 2 comes out today. It is possibly the most anticipated game of 2010 for me and its only February. I can already give you my review without playing a second of it. I love it. In many ways I have to love it whether it turns out to be good or bad. For me it represents so much potential. I loved the first Mass Effect, even though, on a technical level and even in general, I believe it was a pretty flawed game. I celebrate the Mass Effect franchise and Bioware (its creator) for making a futuristic RPG. We just don’t get that many, and that’s the cold hard fact of the matter. Don’t get me wrong, I love a traditional RPG. The Elder Scrolls series is one of my favorites, but anytime I can trade in my sword and bow for a spaceship and gun and head out into the vast expanses of space in my spaceship, I will jump at the chance. Mass Effect gave me that chance. It gave me a ship, a lovable crew, an enemy, and a galactic map and let me have at it, but it was flawed. I thought it was too small, too restrictive, and the planet-side missions were dull and ultra repetitive. The graphics rendered far too slow and the combat system made me want to cry. The characteristic that made Mass Effect most like a traditional RPG was the items and abilities menus for your squad, but navigating these effectively was like trying to fly; it was simply impossible.
Bioware promised that Mass Effect 2 would fix all these issues and deliver a far more satisfying experience. And boy have they delivered. They have absolutely stunned me with how much better this game is than the original. It has shattered all of my expectations by being better than my ideal game. I have had the time of my life playing this game. It is instantly one of my favorites of all time.
That being said, let’s dig right in. The first thing you run into when starting ME2 is the ability to import a save file from the original game. I thought this was a great touch, but I had no idea how immersive it would prove to be. I figured the main decisions you made, such as who lived and who died, would port over into your new game. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not a second goes by without something from the old game popping up in your new game whether it be a news flash, a message, a side-quest, or a full blown squad member and of course who lived and died matters too. This has a two-fold effect. On one hand it is absolutely delightful to hear how your past decisions effect your new world and tie everything together. This is where the oft joked about “Emotional Engagement” aspect that Bioware’s marketing team jammed down our throat comes into to play. But they were right, its as if all your hard work in the last game didn’t go to waste because you are just continuing it, except its not a crappy 2-hour long DLC add-on mission but a full blown game. The second effect it has is to unknowingly expand the universe. Most of the info from the old game doesn’t actually require you to take action but it ties off loose ends and answers questions you might have had about the original ME. It makes the galaxy feel bigger because other things are going on that you hear about, while you continue on your new mission with all the new characters.
The second thing you notice is the pure joy you feel during your first battle. Its still third-person and its a cover based system which I have a strong aversion to, but it is light years away from the jerky, slow and horrific combat from ME1. You have new weapons, ammo and the ability to aim down the sight. Hallelujah! The same biotics and weapons menus exist and the squad controls are very similar to the original ME. Its the way your squad carries out your orders that makes you so happy. Your team fires at the enemy instead of the wall the enemy is behind. They advance on their own using covering fire and barriers and they use their biotics to great effect. The new combat system really panders to the shooter crowd and I think this is a good thing. It means intelligent and fluid combat for us RPG-ers and possibly a wider fan base for Bioware. ME2 also gives you the ability to sprint outside of a combat environment. At last backtracking through a level to find something you missed doesn’t take a century!
Finally, before I deal with the story and go into spoiler territory, I want to briefly address the much lamented removal of the so-called RPG components. I personally never saw ME as an RPG. You have limited free-roam, the game doesn’t continue after the main quest is over, it’s not that big of a game, etc. etc. I put the ME franchise in a category with a name like, “pseudo-RPG”, “guided shooter”, or “story shooter”. The first ME reminded me a lot of Deus Ex: Invisible War or Jade Empire (also Bioware). There were a couple choices to make but it was more of a good/evil choice in a pre-ordained story arc rather than true freedom. Yeah you have side-quests but not like Oblivion where you might spend days working on becoming master of the mages guild before completing the main quest. The ME system of armors and weapon mods was so maze-like and utterly confusing so as to make me completely indifferent to its removal. I have never been into stats like which armor gives me the most cool-down effect. I do like a plethora of appearance options, but I care about appearance only. I don’t want to have to think about which weapons and ammo give me the highest stats. Instead I want to choose shiny black armor or white armor with blue trim. ME2 has some appearance options but not nearly enough for the RPG buff, myself included. Take the captain’s quarters. Here you have the ability to accumulate unique items from throughout the galaxy like fish for your fish tank. I love this part of traditional RPGs. Quite frankly there is not enough of this in ME2, but I do not miss the mystifying item menus from ME.
***Spoiler Alert***
The story was one thing I had no doubts about. Bioware is incredible at creating immersive, “emotionally engaging”, and interesting stories to set their games in. They built on the story ME started and expanded it greatly. To begin, the Normandy is attacked by a mysterious ship and destroyed. Most of the crew escapes, but Shepard is spaced and suffers a breach in his hard-suit. This happens shortly after the events of the previous game. Cerberus, the shady and fanatical human organization, collects Shepard’s lifeless body and begins to rebuild it. Two years pass and you wake up in a Cerberus base under attack. Long story short, you escape and flee, ending up in Cerberus headquarters where you meet with the Illusive Man, your new boss, and get caught up on the galactic history. I loved this aspect of the ME2 story arc. I really enjoy working for Cerberus. I think the Illusive Man is an awesome character and really hope that ME3 gives you option to side with Cerberus without compromising the Paragon path. The Illusive Man gives you a new Normandy, twice the size with four decks, and good old Joker at the helm. The Illusive Man then sends you out into the void to amass a new squad which can swell to 10+ members including some old faces and a host of new ones. I really enjoy the squad based RPG experience. I like the way ME2 introduced each squad member and then gave you the chance to complete a personal mission for each member in order to gain their full loyalty. This increases the games length and provides you with background on each of your squad members. The recruitment of your new squad takes you all over the new galaxy map, including 4 major locations: Omega Station, Illium, The Citadel, and Tutchanka. Other activities a player may choose to pursue include upgrading the Normandy and the squad, scanning planets for resources, and completing side quests. You also learn that your enemy is the Collectors, a race of aliens living on the other side of the Omega-4 relay. When you decide you are ready, you pursue the Collector’s through the relay and discover a massive space station. Inside you discover that the Collectors are building a massive human reaper. You destroy the reaper, which of course comes alive, and are faced with a decision: keep the base for research or destroy it forever. I kept the base for Cerberus because I really, really want to be on Cerberus’ side. I have a feeling, though, that Cerberus will turn out to be evil in ME3, after seeing the type of dialogue options that existed and what my squad said to me afterwards. You also have the ability to pursue a relationship with one of your crew members. I chose to remain loyal to Liara who will not join you in ME2, much to my dismay. Much more happens but I do not have the time to go into that much detail.
My final thoughts on ME2 are as follows.
Loved
-The amount of content from the original game that showed up in ME2.
-The overhauled combat system resulting in fluid, intense combat thats a joy to wage.
-The huge squad and the personal missions for each squad member.
-Working for Cerberus and the Illusive Man.
-The new locations like Omega and Illium.
-The ability to run in a non-combat situation.
-The removal of the extremely boring Mako missions and the ultra-confusing armor and weapon mod menus.
-The fluidity of ME2. The camera moves intelligently in dialogue, the ambient sound is great, graphics are crisp and render correctly, squad is intelligent in combat and combat is a delight.
-The music is amazing just like it was in ME1.
Disliked
-The massive “human” reaper was so dumb, maybe we will find out more about it, but its like they didn’t have a big boss and so they just threw that in there for kicks. Unoriginal and did not fit in at all.
-Liara being pre-occupied with her “work” and not joining you. Hello I’m Commander Shepard and I saved the galaxy.
-The seeming inevitability that I will have to destroy Cerberus and the Illusive Man in ME3.
-Not being able to put Jack out the airlock the second she came on board my ship.
-The lack of personalization in armors and items to accumulate. A couple model ships in my cabin and light and dark hard-suits for my squad is a far cry from the type of personalization seen in games like Oblivion and Fallout 3.
