In spite of its flaws, I thoroughly enjoyed Mass Effect. The sequel was my first pre-order of 2010. I even splashed out for the "Collectors' Edition". (I bet that pun got both grins and grimaces at BioWare...).
The opening task in Mass Effect 2 is to retrieve over 500 MB of DLC including an additional character, missions and equipment. BioWare's recent Dragon Age: Origins featured similar content and this trend is set to continue for purchasers of new copies of EA titles.
Re-using Mass Effect saves is handled well. Veterans are rewarded with additional cash, experience and resources but not anchored to past appearance or class choices.
Mass Effect 2 makes a good first impression. Prettier than its predecessor, it's visual style doesn't seem far from other Unreal Engine 3 titles but if it ain't broke...
Gameplay:The next revelation is that everything is streamlined. Mass Effect 2's take on RPG is a stark contrast to both its predecessor and the micro-management of Dragon Age. Elements such as leveling up and allocating skill points "intrude" only after discrete missions. All team members get an equal share. No need to worry about who killed what or even whether what was killed at all - completing the objective is paramount, not grinding out XP.
Equipment upgrade and distribution is similarly low-touch and egalitarian, yet still rewarding. Improve one weapon class and the whole team gets a sharper shooter.
Saving is also polished. Autosaves are frequent but not invasive. The most recent mission attempted includes a checkpoint to allow restarts on demand.
Storytelling:The strong writing continues with NPC-stories and side-quests that are generally darker and more interesting. Needy whiners and inept losers are fewer. In fact, while still unabashedly space opera, the plot feels more mature. There's strong language but, except for one "troubled" recruit, it's used sparingly and the result makes a stronger impact. Physical violence is frequent but rarely graphic (Setting screaming enemy NPCs ablaze during combat doesn't seem to count).
Both humor and gravity are delivered with quality acting. Mordin, The Illusive Man, Engineer Donnelly and Zaeed are some personal favorites.
Shepard's reputation precedes you. NPCs are frequently in awe or in fear of past exploits.
The tale also holds its share of twists and surprises. Major and minor characters from the original re-appear, but they rarely behave as one might expect. The final operation is epic but unfortunately its climactic confrontation feels trite and uninspired.
Gripes:(May seem nitpicky but two complete playthroughs takes about 100 hours)
- Planet Scanning. It beats Mass Effect's ugly, repetitive side-quests but the novelty wears off quickly and there are dozens (maybe 100+ ?) of areas to explore. It's unfortunate that it's a necessity for upgrades. (It seems like something EDI should be able to do automatically - maybe launch 30 probes for 90% of the available resources?). Also if a planet has been scanned but its resources have been only partially harvested, there's no way to tell other than re-scanning. (An earlier cue for Rich through Depleted would be helpful).
- Care for some ants-in-the-pants or whiplash with your dialogue? Some of the NPCs stand up, wander around, then sit down again every time they answer a question. Others try to look Shepard in the eye while facing in the opposite direction...This tranforms serious conversations, into Benny Hill auditioning for The Exorcist. Characters also still "pop" from one pose to the next far too often.
- Upgrade review menu order. Most things can be upgraded in multiple ways e.g. weapons can use more ammo and deal more physical/shield damage. However names differ for each upgrade so the alphabetical list (which grows long in the later stages) makes it difficult to answer questions such as "How powerful is this weapon class? How good is the ship? How talented are the biotics? How badass is Shepard?". For example:
- AP Sniper Rifle
- ...
- SMG Shield Piercing
- Sniper Rifle Damage
- Submachine Gun Damage
- Talent details. Talent name comes first, followed by text description, then numbers. When descriptions span multiple lines, comparison becomes more difficult than it needs to be. Reversing the description-number order would make this more legible.
- Repeated, idiotic soundbites during battle. This was an issue in the first game and persists in the sequel. It's especially aggravating when a teammate is asked to use a special power and they spout triumphant drivel after ineffectually blasting a wall rather than harming the death-dealing target.
Using powers from cover. It just doesn't work reliably - again the terrain absorbs the brunt of the firepower. (Maybe biotics and techs just hate the ground?)Intentionally not aiming directly at targets allows projectile powers to curve around obstacles. This helps, but shouldn't it be done automatically? It also means you need to learn two ways of "shooting" and switch constantly between them...- Ammunition re-fills. If a gun's ammo is depleted at the end of a mission, it starts the next in the same state. An odd inconsistency given the resources ultimately put at Shepard's disposal...(does this also make the game incedibly tough for Soldiers on higher difficulty settings?).
- Inter-NPC banter gone. While lengthy elevator loading is not missed (although I suspect it takes roughly the same time, but looks different), the verbal sparring between teammates is. (Admittedly it's difficult to see where this part of the old experience would fit in the new, denser universe).
Sounds:The soundtrack by Jack Wall is available. Tracks that stand well on their own include "The Lazarus Project" (very Danny Elfman), "The Normandy Reborn", "Suicide Mission". "Thane" is also worth a spin for those who've "been there, done that". Discopolis from Kris Menace & Lifelike may have graduated from the same school of music. :-)
PS The Firewalker DLC marks a return to vehicle-based exploration and combat, and a new platforming element (??). There are improvements - the Hammerhead is more fun to pilot than the Mako. The level design is more varied than the wastelands of Mass Effect but similarly devoid of features. The Hammerhead is a little fragile so battles (still) devolve into long range shoot-outs against barely visible targets. Both these issues hurt the sense of scale - the Hammerhead seems more toy than a tank. Ultimately the experience is still less rewarding than the standard third-person action and the sparse storyline played out over 5 missions does not compensate. But hey, it's free, so gift, horse, mouth, right? :-)
PPS Evil Val Kilmer? Spaceman Randy Couture?
