Mass Effect 2

With the summer vacation already half gone, we realize how important to make the most of the time we have. Doing so means avoiding games that leave you bored and disappointed. I assure you that Mass Effect 2 will leave you feeling neither of those things, in fact it will probably leave you wanting more.

[WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD]

Mass Effect 2 picks up where Mass Effect left off, with Commander Shepard patrolling the edges of the galaxy, and hunting down any remaining geth resistance that survived the attack on the Citadel. Unfortunately the Normandy and her crew get an unwelcome surprise from an unidentified vessel which manages to locate them despite the Normandy’s advanced stealth systems. The unknown vessel makes short work of the Normandy and most of her crew, including Commander Shepard who gets “spaced” while saving Joker, and on that note the game begins.

2 years later you wake up abruptly as the station where you have been happily sleeping in is attacked by its own security mechs. While finding your way out of the station you find out that you are alive because of Cerberus, a black ops, pro-human, organization that is determined to do whatever it takes to raise humanity above all other alien races. This may come to some players as a shock since in Mass Effect, you were not exactly on friendly terms with Cerberus, especially after they went on killing a high ranking Alliance officer for trying to expose their cruel,unethical, and illegal experiments.

Later on you discover that Cerberus “re-built” you because of an impending doom on humanity, which few people know of. The reapers are back and attacking human colonies. Not directly, but through their servants the Collectors…

[END SPOILER AREA]

This game is one of the most polished and complete games I’ve ever played, with a story just as gripping and interesting as the first one. This could be due to the literary genius of Drew Karpyshyn, one of the writers of the Mass Effect franchise. The story along with amazing game design and a completely revamped combat system, makes playing Mass Effect 2 much more fun and smooth. The crashes to desktop that some people experienced in Mass Effect are fixed, in fact I do not recall the game crashing on me even once. The new combat system is smooth and much more streamlined then the last one. Note that streamlined in this case is not a bad thing, its a god send, and once you play with this combat system you will find it hard to argue in favor of the old Mass Effect one.

Besides the fixing of the combat system and 99% of the glitches, Bioware adds a slew of new features to Mass Effect 2 such as the Paragon/Renegade conversation interruptions, the ability to customize your armor color/parts/material, etc. and that new combat system that I personally see a huge improvement.

The story is even more engaging than in the past game with more places to visit and the removal of the rather tedious planet missions, instead they have been replaced with a higher quality of hand crafted side missions, while they are fewer in numbers than in Mass Effect, they are far more interesting and diverse.

There are a lot more “recruitable” characters this time around and they are each very developed with their own story to share and with many different character specific abilities to bring to the table.

While I think that the game is absolutely perfect, that is not true there are still some issues with the game technically, specifically with abilities such as the vanguard charge, which sometimes works and other times, well not so much. Also, there are ways to “break” the game using glitches and such to get into locations you shouldn’t be in, etc. However these game breaking things only happen if you are working intentionally to achieve them, in all my 3 playthroughs, I have never accidentally broken the game.

Another thing worth mentioning is that some RPG elements have been removed, clearly showing a greater focus on action rather than RPG in the is action/RPG. The leveling system has been simplified and the ability to install mods to your weapons and armor is no longer there. Along with that there are fewer weapons and armors available than in Mass Effect (unless you want to buy all the weapon and armor DLCs released by Bioware). This was  my only disappointment with the game, however I should add that the weapons that are there are very fun to use and interesting in their own right.

It should me mentioned that while some RPG elements have been removed, the story and the cinematic feel of the Mass Effect franchise is still there and better than ever before. Stuff like the romance options are still there and done very well.

There was some controversy with the Cerberus Network add-on pack which players got for free if they purchased the game new or for a price if they bought the game used. Personally, I think that what they did was a great way of rewarding those who bought the game new/on release, etc. However, with many stores discontinuing the sale of used PC games that becomes a problem only for console gamers. For those wondering, purchasing the game through Steam still gives you the Cerberus Network key which you can use to download your free DLC.

All in all the game is amazing and it’s pros far outweigh it’s cons, and with the price drop to $20 on Steam there really is no excuse for not owning this game.

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