Mass Effect 2 - Review

Okay, this is not a review, I just couldn't come up with a better word. It's basically just my impressions, including a summary/comparison to ME1. Also, if people want more information or have specific questions, just ask.

I write this based on two playthroughs, one as a Sentinel, and one as an Infiltrator. I'm currently doing a Soldier game, and will do one with a Vanguard as well (by the end of the week). I have tried most classes though.

I'll just add a section per element, and my thoughts on it. Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first.

Sound
The voice acting is quite possibly the best I've heard in a game, and the music is fairly good as well. Seems like there is more variety in terms of music and sounds than in ME1, which adds to the various planets and quests.

Graphics
As expected - upgraded version of ME1. The faces, in particular, are better. Combined with the sound, it creates the best cinematic experience I've ever encountered in a game. However, you could read all about this in the gazillion reviews that are out, so you all knew this already.

Gameplay
This is where it gets interesting. It's definetly more shooter than it was before. The use of abilities has been toned down a bit, especially biotics. Basically, most powers have little or no effect on enemies that are using some sort of defense (you have to break the defense first). There are a few abilities designed to break down defenses, but the most consistent way of doing this is shooting. Of course, once the defenses are down, the enemy is practically helpless, so if you just continue shooting..

Which brings me my biggest geef with ME2 - the lack of variety in terms of ability usage. Whether you use Throw or Pull or Singularity or whatever, you're always faced with the same problem - break down defenses first. Once that is done, however, the enemy is practically dead (health drops really fast once defenses are gone), so you might as well put a few extra rounds in'em for good measure and call it a day.

Some abilities, like Charge (Vanguard), Adrenaline Rush (Soldier) or Tactical Cloak (Infiltrator) are very useful, and have a unique feeling. However, they are in the minority, and it's fairly obvious to most classes where you get the most bang for your bucks (in terms of levelling a character).

Also, most gun fights end up exactly the same - the enemy lines up behind crates, your team lines up behind crates, and then you duke it out by shooting them whenever they pop up from their crates. While certain fights are very exciting, the formula gets repetitive and tedious, especially compared to ME1 where "rushing" the enemy was a viable tactic for some of the tougher classes (primarily Soldier and Vanguard, but also Adept once you had enough biotic powers).

Generally, I still find ME1 gameplay superior to ME2, simply because I prefer the use of abilities that ME1 offered. I'm just not a shooter fan; I consider it tedious unless you add something to it.

Story
It's fairly solid. A nice twist along the way. A lot of options that will certainly affect ME3. I am somewhat dissappointed at how little certain decisions in ME1 affected ME2, but it still added a nice touch here and there.

Nothing out of the ordinary though. Also, I strongly suggest playing ME1 first, as it will make no sense at all otherwise.

NPCs
You can gather a total of 11 NPCs (including Zaeed, the DLC). Most of them are actually somewhat interesting. Some are even very good in a gun fight, especially if you order them around a bit. The only drawback here has to do with the gameplay issue - their special combat abilities remain unused a lot of the time since all the tough enemies are so well protected.

I still find Wrex a better companion than any of the companions in ME2, but he's also the only one. The rest is generally better than the usual BioWare setup, especially Thane and Dr. Solus. I also consider Legion a very interesting addition, one that is certainly not stereotype.

Final thoughts
All in all, I consider ME2 a worthy successor to ME1. If you enjoyed 1, you'll enjoyed 2. If you didn't, you won't. To me, the game has been streamlined a bit too much, and still has a feeling of "console" (more so than 1 did, especially the clunky interface that requires far too many clicks, since there are very few shortcuts). It's definetly more shooter than RPG now, though you do make some tough choices from time to time that has huge consequences/impact on the people around you.

That was all I had time to add for now. Like I said, if you have any questions or want some info, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the impressions!

This is the funniest game I've ever seen! I've got to find and Indenture-Tech T-shirt somewhere.... "Tired of being a slave to your employees? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Maylander said:

Basically, most powers have little or no effect on enemies that are using some sort of defense (you have to break the defense first). There are a few abilities designed to break down defenses, but the most consistent way of doing this is shooting. Of course, once the defenses are down, the enemy is practically helpless, so if you just continue shooting..

Which brings me my biggest beef with ME2 - the lack of variety in terms of ability usage. Whether you use Throw or Pull or Singularity or whatever, you're always faced with the same problem - break down defenses first. Once that is done, however, the enemy is practically dead (health drops really fast once defenses are gone), so you might as well put a few extra rounds in'em for good measure and call it a day.

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Very interesting. I hadn't heard that particular criticism of the game before. My impression from reading the previews was that the "powers" were upgraded and more a part of this game than before. You're saying they are actually less a part of the game now, because of the need to rely on guns to take down shields.

What about the Engineer class (can't remember what it's called)? Don't they have a shield override power that is useful?

Both Sentinel and Engineer have that particular ability. However, it often requires several uses before taking down the shield of a single enemy, and since using one ability puts everything on cooldown, you limit yourself to trying to bring down the shield of that one enemy.

Overall, I'd say the ability usage in ME2 is better than the beginning of ME1 (where you spend most of the time waiting for cooldowns), but it's certainly not better than high end ME1 characters with maxed out biotics. Not even close.

Also, most abilities tend to have less effect than in ME1, where certain abilities (like Singularity) were very overpowered. Don't expect to throw around super powers capable of disabling half an army here.

Well that's disappointing. I went through ME1 as a Soldier and was looking forward to something different (i.e., fun with tech/biotic powers) for ME2. Your review makes me want to go pure Biotics, to sort of force the issue, or force myself to rely on those abilities rather than just bang-bang.

Anderson said:

Well that's disappointing. I went through ME1 as a Soldier and was looking forward to something different (i.e., fun with tech/biotic powers) for ME2. Your review makes me want to go pure Biotics, to sort of force the issue, or force myself to rely on those abilities rather than just bang-bang.

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Personally I was running a male Adept at first but found the 'one at a time' thing very limiting, so I have been focusing more on my female Vanguard.

As an aside, I have only hit a single instance where I was referred to incorrectly as a male thus far. Much better than most games. The romance dialogs so far have been ... well, of mixed quality, let me just say.

I played it as an Infiltrator - and I found the class much more comfortable than in ME1 - where I found it weak and nearly useless.

The combination of Level 4 Tactical Cloak and Level 4 Operative is devastating. You slow time for 6 seconds every time you zoom your sniper rifle and you're invisible when cloaked - dealing extreme damage near the end - and that's not counting headshots. My sniper rifle damage far exceeded any heavy weapon I tried, for instance. Only the very top tier enemies didn't drop in 1 head shot.

I despise the heat sink mechanic - but it's no biggie.

I started out on veteran, and found it easy enough - but the endless filler combats made me turn down to "medium" just to make them less annoying. With the above combination, the game is a total pushover - but it felt right for what the game really is - which is a majestic interactive movie with an adrenaline rush on occasion. Ultimately not the experience I'm looking for in a game, but a fine one all the same.

I really like some of the 'set piece combat' sequences ... but that only tends to make the contrast with the various filler segments more stark ...

Anderson said:

Well that's disappointing. I went through ME1 as a Soldier and was looking forward to something different (i.e., fun with tech/biotic powers) for ME2. Your review makes me want to go pure Biotics, to sort of force the issue, or force myself to rely on those abilities rather than just bang-bang.

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I had a hard time choosing a class in ME, I actually started it 4 times with 4 different classes, and never finished it. I tried everything except Engineer and Sentinel. I tend to favor the hybrid classes a bit, and I'm leaning towards finishing the game as a Vanguard.

JDR13 said:

I tend to favor the hybrid classes a bit, and I'm leaning towards finishing the game as a Vanguard.

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I actually tend to favor pure classes, but really didn't want to play as just a shooter, and have ended up enjoying Vanguard ...

txa1265 said:

Personally I was running a male Adept at first but found the 'one at a time' thing very limiting

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Well, that's no good. So I better stick with a hybrid class.

After taking a look at them, I think Sentinel appeals to me the most. I'll give that a shot.

Anderson said:

After taking a look at them, I think Sentinel appeals to me the most. I'll give that a shot.

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I thought about trying a Sentinel, but I like engage the enemy directly more than that class allows.

I finished the game as a sentinel. I enjoyed the diversity with sentinel. I actually barely used weapons, exept against scions that otherwise took ages. I used override to tear away shields, warp to tear away armor and finally I could just use push. Push, which I had as an area effect, was my primary weapon. I pushed people over and expected my allies to kill them. I rarely had to take cover, the armor you get as sentinel was really tough.

The characters was the primary greatness with Mass Effect 2. I loved them all, some more than others.

Mass Effect 2 surprised me in a lot of ways. At first I was really mad about the nerfed skills and other little things that they got rid of, but the game sucked me in. I've found myself playing till 3 am on more than one occasion because I simply had to know what was going to happen next.

Not many games do that to me anymore, but this one did. It's been a lot of fun playing it so far. Gotta love the characters this time around. Familiar faces with some crazed lunatics mixed in.

Same here. Gamespots video review said "this game stays with you" and it's true. I still think about the game, I woke up last night and in my sleepiness I pondered on what to do next, despite having finished the game. Not many games manages to do this to me.

My thoughts is completely disabled from it's mechanics. I was absorbed by the "roleplaying system" more than the combat. I fought for the next cutscene, the next dialog, the next event.

I still miss a proper morality system that boosts my "grey" morality though.

Hmm, that's interesting.

I enjoyed the game quite a bit for the most part - but I uninstalled right after completion and haven't really thought about it at all since.

Even with the best games/movies this emotion lingers only for a few days. I haven't deinstalled the game yet but will soon enough. My game partition is like 750gb so I am not in a hurry.

JemyM said:

Even with the best games/movies this emotion lingers only for a few days. I haven't deinstalled the game yet but will soon enough. My game partition is like 750gb so I am not in a hurry.

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Some games tend to linger a long while, though.

I beat Bloodlines for the first time about a year ago, and it still lingers with me for some reason, for instance.

ME2 is good, but to me it's like fast-food.

ME1 had a lot more impact and actually still lingers a bit. Hmm, odd…