After the climactic end of the first game, Commander Shepard returns to the Normandy and is attacked by an unknown starship resulting in…[pause for emphasis] HIS DEATH. The hero of the first game dies! Well, or so you’d think. He’s recovered from space and resurrected by the Illusive Man of the Cerberus group--a pro-human organization who you danced around in the first game.

Shepard has been brought back to destroy the Reapers, who are responsible, as they are teaming up with these other aliens called Collectors to harvest human beings for total universal domination. It’s your job to recruit a strong, able-bodied team to combat them before they wipe out the human species. Depending, of course, on how you play the game if you want to be a good guy or a bad guy--I mean, Cerberus is a shady organization and can the Illusive Man be trusted? Why were you brought back from the dead?

The first Mass Effect game by Bioware in 2007 was a freaking masterpiece. A colossal space odyssey of epic proportions full of action, amazing originality, and a sense of science fiction converged with the RPG formula to create something totally and utterly unforgettable. If you thought the first one was pretty amazing, you haven’t seen nothing yet. The sequel (also available on the PS3 and PC) not only expands on everything they did with the first game, but improves in so many ways. The graphical prowess, combat system, and complex narrative are all superior in every way.

Mass Effect 2 is a cinematic experience. You can either play as a Paragon (good) or a Renegade (bad) through the choices you make in the game and the dialogue you choose to exhibit towards other characters. You can talk to most playable characters and conduct conversations similar to the Elder Scrolls games, but what you say and how you come across dictates where the conversation is going to go and what information you’re going to get. As you play the game you take on missions through talking to people and each new area as an ample amount of things to do that break up the main story line. However, the bulk of the game is tracking down each of your teammates and playing through loyalty missions that will either make you closer to them or make them distrust you.

There’s a great variety of characters this time around with some returning like Garrus, who was one of my favorite and most-used characters from the first game, as well as Jack who’s this p!ssed off, bald, punk-rock lady who’s been experimented on and wants payback. All of the characters are really cool, but depending on which paths you take to complete their missions, some of the later characters’ stories feel rushed and don’t grow. You basically enlist them to join you and then go up into the finale. It’s not a bad thing, of course, because you’ll be having a blast, but the structure was very strange.

The major RPG elements step back this time around in favor of a more action-based perspective similar, somewhat to Gears of War. You still gain levels as you play, except that you gain experience at the end of each mission, not per enemy you take care of. Instead of light sabers and stuff, you are armed with a collection of weapons based around shotguns, pistols, assault rifles, heavy weapons, and sniping rifles. These weapons help you strategize how you want to want to take our enemies and add multiple levels of intrigue as you update them to make them stronger, and find new weapons as you play. I used the sniper rifle way more in this game than in the last one and there were many smart moments that made me think about what I was going to do this time around instead of just blasting through enemies.

There’s the other large change: you don’t have unlimited ammo this time around. You have to conserve it and find it as you go about your business and running out of ammo is terrifying especially later in the game. I also have to admit that this game is much harder than the original--so I’d recommend playing through the first one to familiarize yourself with everything (most definitely the story!) before attempting this one. If you kept your save from the first game, you can translate it to the sequel. Not in terms of levels, but back stories of characters and how you handled situations in the previous game will be remembered.

The only piece of gameplay that hurt my experience with Mass Effect 2 was the inclusion of planet scanning. Just as the Mako missions from the first game were a headache, they’ve been replaced with the tediousness of scanning planets for resources as you traverse the universe on your ship, the Normandy. Basically, to update your weapons and ship, you need to collect crucial elements that you get from launching probes into planets and gathering them. This gets olds very quickly and I have to admit that there were probably three times I booted up the game only to planet scan for a few hours and then save and stop.

Graphics-wise, these are some of the best things I’ve seen a system capable of presenting. Shown in 1080p high-definition, you will feel like you are in this world. The graphics don’t have many bugs and glitches as were showcased in the first game and there’s very little slowdown or lengthy loading times I experienced, which is crazy considering how large the game is. In fact, on the Xbox this game spans two discs randomly, while the PS3 version only needs one. Bioware has created their own original franchise and everything looks fresh and awesome from the costumes to the environments and characters and locations--you will be stunned at what you will see, especially in the last part of the game.

I was also pleased with the aural presentation of the game--the quality of which is what every video game should try to accomplish. Hundreds of voices will speak to you, all with an amazing demeanor that is realistic and well-directed. Because of how well-written the game is, all of the character responses are even and justified, and sometimes plain hilarious if you are playing as a Renegade. The music is very appropriate, though, some of the music does get repeated far too much without many long original scores. I love the atmosphere that is created through the use of electronic sounds as it gives a sense of wonder as opposed to something masculine and menacing like other sci-fi games try to do.

Mass Effect 2 set me back about forty hours, which is up the half of that I spent with the previous game. I wonder how much of that I was planet scanning… There are a ton of opportunities for side quests that are all quite fun, including one that is unforgettable where you play as Joker, a Seth Green-voiced character who runs the Normandy. This is one of those games that pays for itself in barrels. You have a high-caliber story that is easy to follow and full of surprises, entertaining and exhilarating action segments, and genuinely human moments--as well as many gameplay mechanics that are just plain fun to try out and play with for hours on end. If you are a fan of the first Mass Effect you need to continue playing just to reach The Empire Strikes Back portion of the trilogy before the crazy finale of Mass Effect 3.

© Jason Haskins, 2012


Mass Effect

Recommended: Yes