<img src=http://www.juegosdb.com/wp-content//2009/11/mass-effect-2-cover-433x613.jpg>
(WARNING: This review may contain minor spoilers concerning the opening)
I will admit that whenever a sequel comes out for a game I like, I become schizophrenically ambivalent. The argument in my head usually comes down to this:
Optimist Side: Oooo, there's going to be more of the game that I loved!!
Cynic Side: Oh great, they're gonna take what I love and mess it up for the sake of money.
Optimist: Oh my gosh! I hope they add more to the world and new things that I'll like!
Cynic Side: They're going to mess up everything and play it safe.
Optimist: I'm going to reserve the special edition and hope it'll be good!
Cynic Side: Hold on and wait for it to die down, it'll be in the discount bin in a few months at best.
One of the more recent victims of this phenomenon is the upcoming Portal 2. Certain exceptions aside, the cynic side usually wins. Mass Effect 2, thankfully, was able to bypass this whole argument by one simple fact: Bioware has made it clear that Mass Effect is going to be a trilogy. By that reckoning, in all technicality, Mass Effect 2 isn't a sequel but the second act of a huge game. As for the praise the game has gotten, I'm afraid I'll have to knock some heads and lay down some truth because there are elements that are keeping it from earning the scores that it has received.
The story continues the adventures of Commander Shepard, after saving the galaxy in Mass Effect 1. Everything is fine, until a ship comes out of nowhere and performs a laser drive-by. The entire crew manages to escape except Shepard who is blown into the vacuum of space. Two years later, Shepard awakens to find to his surprise that he is still alive. Turns out an organization has spent the past two years reviving him in order to battle a new threat that has been abducting entire human colonies. In order to go forth, Shepard must recruit a new team and command a suicidal mission to save the galaxy...again.
First thing I wanna get out of the way is the Import Character feature, I freaking love it. It makes the game feel more personal, which is something this installment desperately needs. If you finished Mass Effect 1, you will be able to take your Commander Shepard and slip him right into Mass Effect 2 with every characterizing detail intact. Your Paragon/Renegade scores stay the same, your level upon completion is altered to give you a veteran's exp bonus, and, if you so desire, your appearance and class will remain unchanged. The side missions of Mass Effect 2 are also more tightly done and are not just tedious fetch quests made to artificially lengthen gameplay.
Unfortunately, the honor of tedious game extension has gone to the Planet Scanning system. Here's my theory for why this happened. Since Mass Effect 1, the developers realized that a lot of mainstream games have very subpar vehicle sections, including their own Mako sections. In order to not only make their title stand out but to find a viable and logical replacement for resource collection, they thought the best solution would be to replace the vehicle sections with a gameplay feature that involves slowly going over a planet with a scanner and deploying probes whenever there is a spike on the charts. What further exaserbates this boring change of pace is the fact that this has to be done in order to get the best weapons and to allow the best ending. Also, it just makes me feel like Captain Planet should be kicking my ass for resource abuse or something.
Hilariously enough, the game has jumped a mainstream gaming cliche only to fall into another one, namely the cliches of 3rd person shooters. For people who actually enjoyed the shooting sections of Mass Effect 1 for its tense moments of split second resource management and brutal difficulty that made you have to pull off every trick in the book to survive, they are probably going to be really really bored with Mass Effect 2's sections. Instead of keeping a close eye on the team's health and shield status and walking into every fight with some degree of a plan, Mass Effect 2 is now interchangeable with just about every other 3rd person shooter on the market, from the regenerating health down to hiding behind chest-high walls. To further accomodate fans of this style of gameplay, the micromanagement of guns, ammo and armor have been scrapped for a simpler upgrade system, which is something I don't have a problem with.
<img src=http://www.thetechherald.com/media/images/200945/masseffect2_1.jpg>
"Med gel? We don't need no stinkin' med gel!"
What I do have a problem with is how paper thin the Class System is this time around in the Mass Effect universe. When it comes down to it, despite what Class your Commander Shepard is in the beginning of the game, by the end of the game his Class has gone from Soldier to "Will Fuck You Up" in terms of ability and weapon specialization. Let me give you an example from my playthrough. In Mass Effect 1, my Shepard's Vanguard Class made it so he was only good with pistols and shotguns, which meant I had to get in close and risk being physically crippled for the next fight. As a result, by the end of the game, my Shepard became a damage absorbing tank and deadly with pistols. Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, had it so my Shepard was able to use almost any type of gun, be a great hacker and safe cracker, and his biotic abilities are so powerful they can clear out a room, turning the Class system for the main character into a joke.
For the inevitable arguments against my opinion about how these changes to the game are to make it more intense and action-packed, that is the problem. Mass Effect sold itself as an Action RPG, and for the most part, pulled it off pretty well. Mass Effect 2 on the other hand, feels more like a 3rd person shooter with RPG elements tacked on. The only moments where any Role Playing take place are when you are on the Normandy, rearranging the knick-knacks in your quarters, customizing the appearance of your armor and casual uniform, and during moments of dialog choices that come down to Charm, Intimidate, Neutral, Friendly, or Hostile. While I'm on the topic of the dialog choices, what the hell happened to the Charm and Intimidate options!? In Mass Effect 1, the Charm and Intimidate ability was measured by how many points you poured into them. In Mass Effect 2, Charm is related to your Paragon score whereas Intimidate is related to your Renegade score. Why is this such a commonly accepted change? What if I don't wanna role play as an asshole Renegade or a sweet-talking Paragon? Once again, not an Action RPG, action game with RPG tacked on.
To fans of Action games in general, this might not seem like a big complaint, but to RPG fans, these small things can either make or break a game. The simplified combat I can understand, but it gets repetitive and bland. The upgrade system would be perfect if it weren't tied to the boring Planet Scanning. But the RPG elements are the last straw for me. Put all of these elements together and I get the overwhelming feeling that the Shepard I'm playing with isn't the same I grew attached to in Mass Effect 1. Even when I fought every step of the way to keep my Shepard the way he is, the lack of weapon specialization and regenerating health made me see not Commander Shepard: flawed yet determined human Spectre, but Commander Shepard: the Six Billion Credits Man.
Otherwise, the voice-acting is still top notch. The graphics have improved and are constant throughout the game. The writing is still great, and the story presents itself very well. The environments, despite giving the uncanny feeling of just being large shooting galleries, are more varied and give the game a sense of scope in more ways than one. Also, the game is almost twice as long as Mass Effect 1 in the main story campaign alone. So, to summarize, not as much RPG as I liked, still a good Action game. Overall, very good, but a few points short of perfect. As to the developers who might be skimming over this review by some wild chance, try a more even mix of RPG and Action. But remember, if you try to please everyone with your product, it will please no one.
Buy or Rent? I'd say if you can ignore some small hiccups in the RPG department and want to dive deeper into the Mass Effect Universe, Mass Effect 2 delivers. This game is a Buy.
(WARNING: This review may contain minor spoilers concerning the opening)
I will admit that whenever a sequel comes out for a game I like, I become schizophrenically ambivalent. The argument in my head usually comes down to this:
Optimist Side: Oooo, there's going to be more of the game that I loved!!
Cynic Side: Oh great, they're gonna take what I love and mess it up for the sake of money.
Optimist: Oh my gosh! I hope they add more to the world and new things that I'll like!
Cynic Side: They're going to mess up everything and play it safe.
Optimist: I'm going to reserve the special edition and hope it'll be good!
Cynic Side: Hold on and wait for it to die down, it'll be in the discount bin in a few months at best.
One of the more recent victims of this phenomenon is the upcoming Portal 2. Certain exceptions aside, the cynic side usually wins. Mass Effect 2, thankfully, was able to bypass this whole argument by one simple fact: Bioware has made it clear that Mass Effect is going to be a trilogy. By that reckoning, in all technicality, Mass Effect 2 isn't a sequel but the second act of a huge game. As for the praise the game has gotten, I'm afraid I'll have to knock some heads and lay down some truth because there are elements that are keeping it from earning the scores that it has received.
The story continues the adventures of Commander Shepard, after saving the galaxy in Mass Effect 1. Everything is fine, until a ship comes out of nowhere and performs a laser drive-by. The entire crew manages to escape except Shepard who is blown into the vacuum of space. Two years later, Shepard awakens to find to his surprise that he is still alive. Turns out an organization has spent the past two years reviving him in order to battle a new threat that has been abducting entire human colonies. In order to go forth, Shepard must recruit a new team and command a suicidal mission to save the galaxy...again.
First thing I wanna get out of the way is the Import Character feature, I freaking love it. It makes the game feel more personal, which is something this installment desperately needs. If you finished Mass Effect 1, you will be able to take your Commander Shepard and slip him right into Mass Effect 2 with every characterizing detail intact. Your Paragon/Renegade scores stay the same, your level upon completion is altered to give you a veteran's exp bonus, and, if you so desire, your appearance and class will remain unchanged. The side missions of Mass Effect 2 are also more tightly done and are not just tedious fetch quests made to artificially lengthen gameplay.
Unfortunately, the honor of tedious game extension has gone to the Planet Scanning system. Here's my theory for why this happened. Since Mass Effect 1, the developers realized that a lot of mainstream games have very subpar vehicle sections, including their own Mako sections. In order to not only make their title stand out but to find a viable and logical replacement for resource collection, they thought the best solution would be to replace the vehicle sections with a gameplay feature that involves slowly going over a planet with a scanner and deploying probes whenever there is a spike on the charts. What further exaserbates this boring change of pace is the fact that this has to be done in order to get the best weapons and to allow the best ending. Also, it just makes me feel like Captain Planet should be kicking my ass for resource abuse or something.
Hilariously enough, the game has jumped a mainstream gaming cliche only to fall into another one, namely the cliches of 3rd person shooters. For people who actually enjoyed the shooting sections of Mass Effect 1 for its tense moments of split second resource management and brutal difficulty that made you have to pull off every trick in the book to survive, they are probably going to be really really bored with Mass Effect 2's sections. Instead of keeping a close eye on the team's health and shield status and walking into every fight with some degree of a plan, Mass Effect 2 is now interchangeable with just about every other 3rd person shooter on the market, from the regenerating health down to hiding behind chest-high walls. To further accomodate fans of this style of gameplay, the micromanagement of guns, ammo and armor have been scrapped for a simpler upgrade system, which is something I don't have a problem with.
<img src=http://www.thetechherald.com/media/images/200945/masseffect2_1.jpg>
"Med gel? We don't need no stinkin' med gel!"
What I do have a problem with is how paper thin the Class System is this time around in the Mass Effect universe. When it comes down to it, despite what Class your Commander Shepard is in the beginning of the game, by the end of the game his Class has gone from Soldier to "Will Fuck You Up" in terms of ability and weapon specialization. Let me give you an example from my playthrough. In Mass Effect 1, my Shepard's Vanguard Class made it so he was only good with pistols and shotguns, which meant I had to get in close and risk being physically crippled for the next fight. As a result, by the end of the game, my Shepard became a damage absorbing tank and deadly with pistols. Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, had it so my Shepard was able to use almost any type of gun, be a great hacker and safe cracker, and his biotic abilities are so powerful they can clear out a room, turning the Class system for the main character into a joke.
For the inevitable arguments against my opinion about how these changes to the game are to make it more intense and action-packed, that is the problem. Mass Effect sold itself as an Action RPG, and for the most part, pulled it off pretty well. Mass Effect 2 on the other hand, feels more like a 3rd person shooter with RPG elements tacked on. The only moments where any Role Playing take place are when you are on the Normandy, rearranging the knick-knacks in your quarters, customizing the appearance of your armor and casual uniform, and during moments of dialog choices that come down to Charm, Intimidate, Neutral, Friendly, or Hostile. While I'm on the topic of the dialog choices, what the hell happened to the Charm and Intimidate options!? In Mass Effect 1, the Charm and Intimidate ability was measured by how many points you poured into them. In Mass Effect 2, Charm is related to your Paragon score whereas Intimidate is related to your Renegade score. Why is this such a commonly accepted change? What if I don't wanna role play as an asshole Renegade or a sweet-talking Paragon? Once again, not an Action RPG, action game with RPG tacked on.
To fans of Action games in general, this might not seem like a big complaint, but to RPG fans, these small things can either make or break a game. The simplified combat I can understand, but it gets repetitive and bland. The upgrade system would be perfect if it weren't tied to the boring Planet Scanning. But the RPG elements are the last straw for me. Put all of these elements together and I get the overwhelming feeling that the Shepard I'm playing with isn't the same I grew attached to in Mass Effect 1. Even when I fought every step of the way to keep my Shepard the way he is, the lack of weapon specialization and regenerating health made me see not Commander Shepard: flawed yet determined human Spectre, but Commander Shepard: the Six Billion Credits Man.
Otherwise, the voice-acting is still top notch. The graphics have improved and are constant throughout the game. The writing is still great, and the story presents itself very well. The environments, despite giving the uncanny feeling of just being large shooting galleries, are more varied and give the game a sense of scope in more ways than one. Also, the game is almost twice as long as Mass Effect 1 in the main story campaign alone. So, to summarize, not as much RPG as I liked, still a good Action game. Overall, very good, but a few points short of perfect. As to the developers who might be skimming over this review by some wild chance, try a more even mix of RPG and Action. But remember, if you try to please everyone with your product, it will please no one.
Buy or Rent? I'd say if you can ignore some small hiccups in the RPG department and want to dive deeper into the Mass Effect Universe, Mass Effect 2 delivers. This game is a Buy.
