Mass Effect 2 Review ~ All Things Listed

Last summer, I managed to finish Mass Effect 2. I'm a long time fan of what Mass Effect has created over the years, but I was only capable of playing the first one long after its release, barely a year before the second one's release. It is a very unusual second entry, because it changes so much in so many aspects. To start off, the game leaves you in a space shuttle called Normandy on the verge of destruction, all due to an attack from a troop of vicious creatures called reapers. You are then thrown into space in a successful attempt to save Joker's (the ship pilot) life. Thanks to modern techniques and the state in which space has conserved you, you are brought back to life. Here is where it all starts. You are introduced to the Illusive Man, who gives some of his crew onto you with the following task: to recruit a battle squadron so that you can gain intel on those so called reapers who are a total threat to humanity. It doesn't take a genius to find out this is not the usually generic game with a weak storyline that gives an excuse to all the fuss you're making around the universe.

Once the game starts you are already shown how good the game looks and how well the lighting techniques are employed ingame. Sometimes people will think that the blooming is perhaps too intense and over saturated, but the thing is that it sets the mood everywhere you go. Another thing is the quality and the variety of the environments. Sometimes you're thrown into hot and arid planets, other times you're exposed to extremely low temperatures where everything is covered by snow. This is all thanks to the lighting effects, but where the game shines at its best is in the explosions. When you shoot a barrel or a rocket everything is lighted and fiery bits fly all over the place. Moreover, the game runs very fluidly on any computer that is at least eight years old. If you've got a 256 mb card with just 1 gig of RAM, the game won't flicker even a bit or slow down. So, in the end, the game looks gorgeous and you don't even need a NASA computer to run it at highest settings. However, the game also has its very noticeable flaws. The game tries very hard to look like a movie, in terms of the cutscenes. Sadly, these cutscenes are poorly executed due to their ambiguous camera angles.

Great, lush, environments

The gameplay is another star in the game. The very first thing you notice is how well the characters are portrayed and developed. Everyone has a different story, and each story defines them as a person (or alien). Along the game you'll develop very close friendships with all your squad mates, and in the end you'll decide which one of those friendships you want to take to the next level. When you talk with these characters you are offered missions that will make them loyal (or not). However, these characters aren't put there for decoration, they are very useful teammates in combat situations. Each one has its mastery in different abilities such as fire, technological or biotic weapons. Those are also abilities you can adopt to yourself when you develop your character. It grants an immense amount of replay value because you can either be a master in combat, technology, or biotic powers. All of these abilities are extremely fun to trigger in combat, but you must also use them well. The game also lets you develop your character in terms of personality. When you maintain conversations with different people the game always lets you choose the tone in which you want to speak to them. You can be a fair, honorable commander, or a rebel. These are supported by situations in which they let you talk one way or the other, depending on the personality you've built up. These are also introduced in cutscenes, as they give you opportunities of reacting fairly or unfairly. The only aspect of the game I don't like is how much the game has changed from the first one. The first one was incredibly difficult and what you did with your squadron and the powers you employed was crucial for the team to survive. When I first played this game I hardly used my squad at all, and only found them useful at times. I was also brokenhearted due to the fact that the managing of weapon attachments and power armor gadgets was completely obliterated. Instead, you had to find materials by putting probes into all types of planets scattered around the universe to build weapons and add-ons. It was a huge disappointment, because I loved how you could manage what your squad carried and what you carried for a more effective battle.

Thane is one of the newer acquisitions, while Liara is an old acquaintance

Now let's get to the sound. I would say the sound is the icing on the cake, really. The acting is absolutely marvelous. The sound direction is also flawless, because the environment is incredibly vivid. If you're in a crowded metropolis you'll hear background music from a disco, levitating cabs hovering through the sky, and great crowds having conversations everywhere you go. On other times, places will be desolated, and the only thing you'll hear is the sound of your steps and the ones of your companions. However, the best thing still is its soundtrack. It has a very unique and futuristic style that hasn't been present in any other game. It totally revives the original Mass Effect theme that made it so epic. One other last thing is how they combine it into cutscenes and into combat situations. It fits so well into every thing you are doing in the game that it takes part in it so flawlessly that it magnifies your emotions to the point that it works like an emotional catalyst.

Now, what can I say about the lasting appeal? Well, I neared its 100% completion by finishing every single mision in the game, and I'm still up for more. That's how Mass Effect 2 works. Then I looked at my last save and I had 60 hours of play recorded into it. This game is HUGE, and when I say HUGE, I mean 60 hours of HUGENESS. Its story and character design really sucks you up to the point that you're thinking of them at all times. There are also a lot of things to find, like missions scattered around the universe and dozens of items to unlock. The game also has an immense amount of replay. You could be a good, genteel, biotic freak in one game, and a bad, cruel, gun maniac on the other.

So, the final verdict is... an absolute buy. I have friends who have tried the game and didn't really like it because you have to constantly pause to command your squad, but when you get used to it the combat becomes very very fluid. Another thing I want to say is the way the characters are made. I insist on this matter because in the end you actually get to know each and every one of them and fear for their lives. When you get to the end and your squad begins to weaken, you really get affected to those that get injured in combat to the point that you miss them when they're gone later on in the game. When I finished the game and the credits rolled in, I found out that in the end it's not about making a tactical or hardcore experience, but more of a way to interact virtually with beings that in the end make you feel differently in the actions they make.