Mass Effect 2

The second game in the Mass Effect franchise builds upon the successes of the first title and charts new territory in presenting one of the most ambitious and engaging RPG experiences to date. The Mass Effect universe is bigger than ever as players have more freedom to explore the galaxy, and the game’s epic storyline will take you to many more interesting locations. Combat has been refined, and all of the aspects of the first game that didn’t work were cut completely from the sequel. The first Mass Effect was an amazing experience, but the sequel delivers so much more.

This review is for the PC version of the game. The 360 version should be identical except for the control scheme.

Upon installing ME2 onto your computer, you can run a utility to set the graphics settings and also import your ME1 character. This is as simple as selecting the folder on your hard drive that contains the ME1 save files. After you startup a new game, you will be given the option to start a new character or import your ME1 character. If you have multiple ME1 characters, you get to choose which one to import. You will get to see a brief summary of the decisions you made in the first game for each save file before the import so that you can be sure you are importing the one you want. Choosing to import a character will provide bonus experience and resources, and you start out at a higher level. Your appearance customizations will also import, but you get a chance to change the look of Commander Shepard as well as switch to a different class.

Your decisions from ME1 take shape in the very first scenes of ME2, and have a direct influence on the storyline throughout the entire game. Any romances remain intact, characters who died in the first game do not return in the sequel, and even characters you saved will come back to contact you. Minor characters from the first game that you may have only interacted with for one scene can return to ask a favor of you again. I was constantly running into characters that remembered me from the first game, but I have no recollection of them. It must have been a colossal undertaking on BioWare’s part to create all the possible story arcs based on your past and recent decisions made within the game. I came away truly impressed.

The cast of ME2 includes a few old faces and many new ones. Shepard’s relationships with his or her crew members are explored more thoroughly this time around. Each member of your team has a personal quest that can be completed to gain their loyalty. These quests expand your understanding of each character’s motivations and the personal demons they each struggle with. You walk away feeling more connected to each team member, and none of them feel like they weren’t given the attention they deserved. Be warned, some of your team members have conflicting interests and if you are not careful you can lose the loyalty of some of your crew which can have dire consequences in the later parts of the game.

Conversing with other characters in the game is largely identical to ME1, with one new improvement. During some conversations, you can interrupt the conversation with a paragon or renegade action when you see a right (paragon) or left (renegade) mouse button displayed. A paragon action may be stopping one of your teammates from shooting someone in cold blood, and a renegade action may be punching an unarmed civilian who has information you want. It’s a nice way to let the player spontaneously influence the events unfolding before them.

The original Mass Effect, as amazing as it was, contained many flaws and BioWare has heard our complaints and responded accordingly. The Mako is gone, and the cookie cutter side missions with the same 3 base layouts have also been cut and replaced with more involved and rewarding side missions. Inventory management has essentially been reduced to choosing a weapon load out for each crew member and only Shepard’s armor can be customized. The weapon add-ons from the first game have also been removed. There are weapon and armor upgrades you acquire, but they usually affect the entire squad and not just a particular weapon or individual. The role playing aspects have also been cut back. Each crew member has only a handful of powers to level up, and a single passive skill that improves basic skill such as damage and armor. Many people may be turned off by all the streamlining, but I actually welcome the changes. It definitely improves the pace of the game when you don’t have to spend 15 minutes managing inventory and skills between missions.

Combat in ME2 is more refined than the original. The cover system is nearly identical to Gears of War, which is certainly a good thing. And there are always plenty of things to shoot on the battlefield that will explode and destroy any surrounding enemies. The unlimited ammo/overheating system of the previous game has been scrapped, and ammo must now be picked up on the battlefield. This means you have to be more careful with your shots, especially with guns such as the sniper rifle. The heavy weapons are a lot of fun, particularly the flamethrower and nuke launcher. The flame thrower provides some mild entertainment as enemies flail around while on fire, while the nuke launcher is a nice way to clear a room full of enemies and kill yourself in the process if you are not careful. Keep in mind that certain weapons and ammunition powers are effective against different types of enemies, so pack accordingly before each mission. Squad member AI is pretty good, although on some occasions I’ve noticed my team members hanging back doing nothing while I obliterate enemies on my own.

The only faults I can really find in ME2 are the load times and the the new mini-games: planet scanning, hacking, and bypassing. Planets must be scanned to find resources in which to purchase upgrades. You essentially move a scanning receptacle across the surface of the planet and launch a probe to collect any discovered resources. It sounds boring because it really is. The hacking mini-game boils down to quickly selecting matching blocks of computer code that scroll up the screen. Once you match three blocks, you hack the computer system to gain access to information or credits. Lastly, the bypass mini-game requires you to match symbols on a circuit board to override terminals or locks. These mini-games are tedious, boring, and overused. BioWare, please remove them or make them more interesting in ME3.

Concerning the load times, the long elevator rides of ME1 have been replaced with boring load screens in ME2. At least in ME1 you could listen to some news or banter between your party members during loading. In ME2 you are forced to stare at a boring loading screen for what often seems like an eternity. I don’t know why loading takes so long, I have a fast computer and a top of the line ATI video card, and I could frequently go grab a beer and come back before it was done.

Boring mini-games and loading screens aside, Mass Effect 2 is an amazing accomplishment that BioWare should be very proud of. Even though it is accessible to players who have never played ME1, I strongly urge players new to the franchise to play the original game first an import your character. To not do so would be a disservice to the entire experience. Mass Effect 2 is a game that should be experienced by anyone who enjoys great storytelling and polished gameplay. The final moments of the game will leave you wanting more.

Aaron Faby
Editor