Mass Effect 2 (2010)

I am so glad I got back into Mass Effect 1 when I did - finishing it, loving it, and going straight onto the second game. And I'm also super happy I did just that, as it kept my drive for the series and made me super engaged to put all the hours into the game I did. And each time I entered the Normandy, went into the captain's cabin and fed the fish I really made myself feel like I was Shepard, taking those steps to fight the collectors.

I'm super tired as I stayed up all night finishing the game and I'm deathly tired. But I don't mind about my unplanned random reviews, the thing that matters to me is that I get my point across that OH I LOVE THIS GAME!!

I adored the first one and while I wasn't sure going into it, especially knowing some of the (personally beloved) rpg elements were replaced by stronger combat, the second game certainly knocked it out of the park. The extra focus on combat didn't jar me out or really bore me at any point. I loved getting to know all the crew on the ship. And I gained a newfound love in returning characters like Tali (my romance option this playthrough) and Garrus, and new ones like Samara, Thane, Jack and Legion.

Overall, I absolutely loved this masterpiece. People were right. And I'm so glad I went straight into it from ME1, as it kept my engagement high throughout. Now, away to the end of the trilogy!

This review is spoiler-free.

I tried to keep this short, but Im so upset about replaying this game, I couldn't. Basically, you take all the good features from the first game, and you either remove then or tone them down so much they dont matter anymore. Thats Mass Effect 2.

Don't get me wrong: This was my first ME game I ever played and it was one of my favourite games of all time. But ME1 is just so. much. better.

The RPG features (the skill tree) has been scaled down heavily, so now, instead of 10 different things to skill up, you have 3, and 1 "loyalty skill" that you can invest points in when you have completed the backstory mission for the specific follower.

Combat is more Action-driven, its a bit more intense than the first game, but as long as you stay in cover and kill enemies fast enough, nothing can happen to you. Followers sometimes bug out, which is annoying, but not neccessarily game-breaking.

Character-development sometimes seems illogical and the changed Paragon/Renegade reputation system most of the time makes no sense at all. BioWare has chosen the liberty to decide what is good and bad for you, and it doesnt work as well as in the first game.

No more planetary rover-exploration, this system was replaced with the annoying and time-consuming system of scanning planets for minerals (which you sometimes need for upgrades) and side-missions by launching probes when the radar flares up.

Overall, ME2 takes out the immersion of the first game, and what I felt left with was a subpar Hybrid shooter that leans more to senseless shooting action than complement the unique RPG features of its predecessor.

I play through every game I review live, watch me complain on https://www.twitch.tv/justgonzi

Mass Effect 2 is the game that kick-started my modern gaming experience. While I've always played videogames, I never finished one or was hooked by a game in any meaningful way. Games were toy-like; something to fool around but nothing to think deeply about, and certainly not something to react emotionally to.

But that changed about 10 years ago when, by chance, I encounter a list of "the top games of the decade" which included Mass Effect 2 on some now-defunct forum. So clueless was I about videogames that my thought was not to play the first one, because "if it's more recent, it must be better".

I'm fuzzy on the exact details, but I had a few false starts. First, as usual I started the game playing as female, but I scrubbed that playthrough when I realised that I couldn't romance Tali. I loved that character from the beginning and I took the hard choice of not only restarting the game, but doing it with a male Sheppard.

But that didn't go far either. I'm not sure when, but it must've been when Sheppard was talking about how Tali had helped him taking down Saren during her loyalty mission, that I realised that I was missing something important by not playing the first game. So, again, I decided to cut that playthrough short and start from the proper beginning (you can read my thoughts on that game, if you'd like).

At 1 in the morning on the 18th of November, 2010 (exactness courtesy of me tweeting about it at the time) I had finally played through both games and was absolutely blown away. I had never in my life been so engrossed by a videogame. Suddenly I understood how games could make me laugh, cry and feel things beyond the mere mechanics of gameplay.

So with that in mind, it is utterly impossible for me to give an account of these games that even approaches a semblance of objectivity.

By some standards, Mass Effect 2 is a let-down from its predecessor. Most of its systems are streamlined to bare-bone levels, the overarching story does peanuts to advance the main threat, and I let's not talk about the last-minute revelation --not to avoid spoilers, but because it's so ridiculous and lame. But it's also undeniable that from a technical perspective, it is a step forward. The combat, in particular, is much more enjoyable and less awkward.

Forget about shooting and ripping enemies apart with biotics. Where Mass Effect 2 shines bright is the quiet moments spent with your crew. Almost every single one of the 10+ members of your team is an interesting, fleshed-out, memorable character. Getting to know them and their stories in between missions is, by far, the best part of the game. Each one of them has a distinct personality, a take on the mission, and not only they fit perfectly within the galaxy, but they help with the world building tremendously.

Yes, I imprinted heavily on Tali due to her good-natured personality and the fact that she's super capable but not a seasoned killer like most of the rest of the squad. But almost all of the crew is interesting in their own way and will appeal to players with different personalities from mine.

Another welcomed addition to the Mass Effect world is humour. It took me 4 playthroughs to realised how humourless the first game feels and thankfully the second game solves that particular issue. Even though the plot is still serious and you can't lift a rock without finding some high stakes assignment, both Sheppard and your crew regularly make jokes, laugh and make comments that are not super relevant to what's going on. Lair of the Shadowbroker dials that to eleven, bringing stellar in-fight patter and hilarious callbacks.

Before signing off, let me leave you with some advice. If you're planing to dive into this game, at least consider installing the "No minigames" mod. Not only it removes the annoying minigames, but it bypasses the need of planet scanning, which is by far, the most tedious part of the whole game.

So, forget all about the forgettable overarching plot and an atrocious final reveal, which doesn't even make up for more than 10% of the content, and revel on the small-scale character moments that bring life to the galaxy.

The strongest/best feature of Mass Effect 1 was the storytelling, dialogue, and lore. The best thing Mass Effect 2 did was double down on that. In addition to continuing an excellent main story, ME2 added rich "loyalty" missions for each recruitable squad member that not only effect the main story, but are in many ways the most enjoyable parts of the game.

Some other improvements include eliminating the pointlessly-time-consuming equipment management system in ME1, eliminating the planetary exploration component (scanning planets for resources, while not exactly riveting, is much less tedious than driving around endlessly on featureless, impossibly craggy terrain), and smoothing out some of the jankiness of ME1's combat.

Biggest downsides: the sidequests (other than the squad's loyalty missions which are all EXCELLENT content) still feel like standard boilerplate RPG filler - none of them have any dialogue and most of them have no choices to be made, and rather than a subplot or story just have the barest writeup of an excuse for going to a place to kill some things and get some XP. In fact there seems to be even more of this flavorless filler content in ME2 than there was in ME1. Also while the combat feels more engaging than ME1 (different ammo types are more meaningful, enemy types & tactics are more varied, and the terrain and flow is more amenable to the player's choice of tactics such as sniping vs CQC vs shootout), it's still got some very frustrating encounters where it feels like you're being punished for your class/build choices. Squadmate AI/control is pretty janky and unreliable, perhaps only slightly better than it was in ME1, though squadmates do seem more useful (perhaps more powerful if not actually better-programmed).

In short, the combat is still somewhat of a letdown (but hey it IS an older game), but it is more than made up for by outstanding dialogue, meaningful/impactful player choices, and an engaging and compelling plot.

After 39 hours of 'scanning' the Milky Way, I have finally finished Mass Effect 2 in hardcore, along with Overlord, Firewalker, Lair of the Shadow Broker, Stolen memory and Arrival DLCs. I should have played the game in insanity mode. Though the combat wasn't a cakewalk, most of the difficulty faced was due to my lack of concentration while playing the game. The covers were too conveniently placed and the medi-gels were redundant. The galaxy seemed much more vibrant this time around and many of the missions on the unexplored planets were quite engrossing. Time to download Mass Effect 3 and conclude this epic trilogy.

Actual Score: 4.5/5

A second instalment in what is probably the best sci-fi shooting RPG.

In game you become resurrected captain Sherppard to face the ever present danger from the Reapers and their newest lackeys in the form of Collectors. To stop them from harvesting humans you need to travel the galaxy far and wide to recruit your allays and defeat the Collectors.

This game does not differ very much from the first part but it doesn't have to to be good. The graphics, the voice acting, the music - everything is top notch. You get a wide array of weapons with which to shoot your enemies. And special powers to augment your weapons and strike your enemies. The gameplay is very nice and smooth, you control your character from third person view, and can give commands to your two team mates. In most situations they do just fine with only once in a while necessity to directly issue orders.

The environment is pretty, varies from place to place and is well designed. The shooting in most cases is a familiar cover based fire fight. You one from one cover to another, reload and shoot with weapon best suited for the situation.

The only problem I had with the game is that there is not that much of a main story line. Most of the missions can be treated separately as most of them is either recruiting a new team member or helping him out with his specific task. Almost all of them need a separate recruitment and all of them come with a single mission not really related to the main task. For a completionist this sets the main mission on hold and you get the feeling of "no hurry - we've got time" contrary to the what the game would like to make you feel.

Space exploration is fun as well though looking for resources can be a bit tedious at times. But each mission is designed with care and creates a solid, atmospheric experience.

Overall really liked the game and can highly recommend it to anyone liking sci-fi.