Review: Mass Effect 2: Nothing Lost in This Fight

Game:  Mass Effect 2
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: Xbox 360 and PC (Reviewed on Xbox 360)    

Fight For The Lost

 It has been three days since I completed the main campaign in Mass Effect 2 (ME2) and I am still contemplating my final decisions in the game.  For a game to have that impact on me speaks to its massive emotional effect.  Okay, enough of the puns.  Mass Effect 2 is more of an experience than a game.    

You play Mass Effect in one of two ways:  you either begin or continue.  You can simply start a new game (which assumes decisions for you) or if you finished Mass Effect (ME), you could import your save file into Mass Effect 2.  I highly recommend the latter but it is not necessary to enjoying the game.  I imported a full paragon character from Mass Effect and wanted to continue along that path.    

Importing a saved Mass Effect file has multiple benefits.  You receive bonus credits, skill points and much more.  Several characters, messages, and even missions present themselves to you because of your actions in the first game.  News stories broadcast on various planets, people’s initial reactions to you, and even dialogue options have a carry-over effect and this continuity factor makes ME2 a more cohesive gaming experience.  However you choose to embark on Mass Effect 2, you are Commander Shepard.  Saren, along with an ancient villain, revealed in Mass Effect, set out to destroy the universe.  After stopping their efforts in Mass Effect’s conclusion, you begin Mass Effect 2 a complete two years later.    Shepard again is tasked with a save-the-galaxy-from-eminent-destruction directive.  This time, he’s not doing it under the authority of the Alliance, the universal government in Mass Effect.  This time, Shepard works under the Illusive Man, a man with a dark past and an even darker sense of human excellence.  He tasks you with the mission of gathering several top recruits to form your team to survive the impending suicide mission.   

The majority of the story consists of gathering your team from many locales across the galaxy.  Bioware does a fantastic job bringing each location to life.  Everything from the Krogan world of Tuchanka to the Asari establishment of Ilium has a purpose, individuality, and story to its existence.  Non-playable characters (NPCs) have great facial animation and voice talent that really draw distinction between the many, many NPCs you encounter in the game.  The most impressive accomplishment is Bioware’s attention to detail for each character.  Entire planets felt filled with individuals as opposed to faceless NPCs.      

As with any Role-Playing Game (RPG), you fight a lot and thankfully the combat is smooth and refined in Mass Effect 2.  Team members can now be directed individually to different cover points.  The cover mechanic is also improved but is not without its faults.  Several times when I pop-up from cover to shoot and involuntarily break cover, I wanted to return to cover but then would leap over into a firefight.     

Movement in itself is smooth if slow.  Some areas are massive in scope and moving across such large terrain at the speed of digestion is tedious.  Movement can also be hindered and stalled due to characters getting stuck on the environment.  This problem was rampant in the predecessor and sadly carries over.     

The artificial intelligence in Mass Effect 2 is improved over the first game.  Your squad mates will duck if they see you need to shoot an object or enemy they are obstructing.  They also instinctively take cover when the opportunity arises, thus minimizing the need for micromanagement.   

The previous game’s inventory system on the console version was a complaint of many and is now fixed.  When more powerful guns are available, you and your AI characters will select those automatically, provided they are trained to use it.   Minerals become extremely valuable in Mass Effect 2 and play a vital role in the upgrade process.  You exchange mined resources in to upgrade anything from Biotics to expanded Fuel Cell Cores for your ship.  These upgrades augment biotic powers, gun damage and accuracy, shield powers, and even the Normandy.  This system complements the traditional character progression system in Mass Effect 2 determined by experience points.   

You gain fewer skills but each level matters.

Character progression is also much more automated than what we came to expect from the original game.  There are only four skills for NPCs and six for Shepard where ME featured 10 skills per character.  This makes your Sheperd feel less like your Shepard and more like a default lead character.      

There are a total of eleven characters you can add to your suicide team.  A crazy biotic, a fight crazed Krogan, and a deadly assassin Drell are all optional characters you can add to the team.  Each character brings his or her own assets to the team.  Developing relationships with these characters is crucial to your success in the Mass Effect 2 whereas in the first, this was optional.  I felt very close to each member on my team and because Bioware anticipated that, the game’s finale carries much more gravity.     

If you took the time to build your team in Mass Effect, all your surviving crew make an appearance in Mass Effect 2.  While some encounters are temporal, some members can be added to your team.  Those that do return under your command trade old skills for newer skills so their stats do not carry over.  Complain about that if you want to but if you were out of action for two years, you would be rusty too.      

Mass Effect 2 points you at an objective and lets you tackle it the way you want.  The game provides you with so much choice that deciding where to start is often the most difficult part.  Male or female, paragon or renegade, vanguard or sentinel, imported or new, Mass Effect 2 values choices like no other game before it.  Bioware’s execution of their vision of a continual, personalized storyline is like nothing I’ve experienced before.  Mass Effect 2 is not a game but an experience that no one should miss.Score:    

Get it or Forget it:  LetsGetIt
5-point scale:        5/5 (1-2: forget (rent) it, 3-4 Get It, 5 Lets Get It)

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