Game Details

Title: Mass Effect 2
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: EA
Website: Official Site
Game Type: RPG
Multi-player: None
Age Rating: 15
Length: Long (20+ hours for Completion)

My Impressions

The original Mass Effect is still one of my favourite RPGs and has enough depth and variety to it that I still occasionally play it despite having completed the game and obtaining all of the achievements. The sequel then has a lot to live up to then, though being a Bioware game I had few worries that it would live up to them, though probably not be quite as awesome as they make it out to be! After playing and completing the game this impression was as expected confirmed and Mass Effect 2 is one of the best RPGs for the Xbox 360 though not without some flaws.

On the positive side a lot of what was wrong with the first game has been fixed, the combat is much improved and you have to think about things more and not just run and gun. In many ways the gameplay is now a third person shooter/RPG hybrid and while I am not that big a fan of third person shooters I still found the game enjoyable to play though am finding it less so while going for the  insanity difficulty achievement.  The graphics as you would expect are a big step up and there are far fewer graphical glitches and texture pop ins occurring, though as with any game they occur from time to time.

I found the main storyline to be just as compelling as that in the first game, and found the environments and missions to be much more varied especially in terms of the uncharted world side missions as you no longer have to put up with the Mako and having to try to climb impossible slopes to enter a base which looks exactly like the one from the previous planet. This time around you go almost straight into the action and there is much less repetition in missions with some side missions being linked together. I also enjoyed getting e-mails from people I met in the first game, though I was disappointed there was no opportunity to reply or follow up on them, I also enjoyed encountering people from the first game again, Conrad Verner is as funny as ever and I am already wondering what Commander Shepard’s biggest fan will be doing in Mass Effect 3.

The game is by no ways perfect though and there are a few things that could have done with improving. The first is that if you had played the first game and taken the Sole Survivor origin then you should have a VERY big grudge against Cerberus as you learn they are the ones responsible for you being a Sole Survivor and this is not referenced at all, and you are not given any chance (that I am aware of) of bringing up specifics of what you know Cerberus did, though they are mentioned in news broadcasts from time to time. Linked to this is that Bioware have gone the Knights of the Old Republic 2 route of having decisions made in the first game not really mattering that much in the second and for the most part only being mentioned in passing.

The biggest flaw though has to be the Resource Gathering planet scanning mini game which is fine for the first couple of planets but gets tired fast, and I am sure that around 5-10 hours of the 30+ hours it took me to complete Mass Effect 2 is simply due to having to scan planets for resources to obtain upgrades. These flaws aside though Mass Effect 2 is a superb game and if you enjoyed the first Mass Effect you should not be disappointed with its sequel.

My Recommendation

Buy

While probably not quite as good as it is hyped to be, Mass Effect 2 is still a worthy successor to Mass Effect 1 with big improvements all round. If you enjoy sci-fi action RPGs with depth then it is a must buy game.