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INTRODUCTION
Mass Effect, by Electronic Arts (EA), sets the benchmark for third person role playing actions games. It is as close to a DVD movie as a video game can get, because, unlike most first person games, players can see and hear the player character as well as the non-player characters (NPCs). This movie-like quality greatly enhances the compelling story, which is the hallmark of the Mass Effect Trilogy.
THE PLOT
**Spoiler Alert**
This second episode of the Mass Effect Trilogy begins with the death (yes, DEATH) of Commander Shepard, in a fiery ambush of the Normandy, two years after he/she defeated the traitorous Saren Arterius in the battle of the Citadel. But, thank the goddess, he/she is later resurrected in Project Lazarus by the Illusive Man, leader of Cerberus, a shadowy and ruthless "human supremacist" organization, for the sole purpose of sending the legendary commander to investigate a new cataclysmic event in the Galaxy entire human colonies have been vanishing without a trace, leaving behind empty buildings. To confront the threat, Shepard travels across the Galaxy to recruit up to a dozen of the most dangerous characters to his/her elite team, at locations including Illium, an asari colony, and Omega, a lawless mining station built on a hollowed out asteroid in the Terminus Systems, for a mission from which every member of the team, including Commander Shepard, may never return.
**End of Possible Spoilers**
THE CHARACTERS
Players who had completed Mass Effect 1 (ME1) can import a Save Game from the list of Character Saves into Mass Effect 2 (ME2). During the file transfer, they have the option of changing the class of Commander Shepard, for example, from adept to vanguard, as well as his/her physical characteristics. This is possible in the storyline on account of Project Lazarus--a very clever way of putting Shepard on reset. If Shepard was imported at a high level in ME1, players will be awarded with bonus squad points and research metals at the start. (See my comment dated 2/3/10.) All the NPCs who were alive at the end of the ME1 are transferred. Furthermore, the story in ME2 unfolds in accordance with the decisions made by the players in ME1, for example, whether Shepard set the Rachni queen free in Noveria, whether he/she resolved the conflict with Wrex on Virmire peacefully, or whether he/she called in the human fleet to save the Council in the battle of the Citadel. The main storyline, however, remains unchanged. For those who never play ME1, ME2 can be played stand-alone with new characters and certain pre-set assumptions on events in ME1. (See Update below) New characters in ME2 include Thane, a drell master assassin, Legion, a free-thinking geth, who is stalking Commander Shepard, and Subject Zero, a female human biotic gang and cult member, with head-to-toe tattoos. Other than the geth and the Reapers, new enemies emerge in ME2. They include the Collectors, a winged insect-like species who are suspected to be working for the Reapers, and Scions, which are grotesque experiments of the Reaper, as well as monstrous beings created by the Reapers out of other species they abducted.
THE GAME/COMBAT SYSTEM
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) and combat system have been vastly improved in ME2. Gone are those annoying texture pop-ups in ME1. So are those long elevator rides--they are replaced with loading screens. Battle scenes are more realistic: enemies are thrown against walls, limbs are blown off, and wounded fighters continue to fight by crawling on the ground. Players can hit the enemies where they place the reticles, like in a shooter. (This is not so in ME1, where hits are calculated based on the number of skill points assigned by the players to the characters.) Players can now issue attack orders to Shepard's squad mates by using the directional-pad of the controller (of the Xbox 360), and manually prompt Commander Shepard to duck behind covers. The limitless ammo is no more in ME2. It is replaced with removable "thermal clips". When a clip is spent, it must be ejected and replaced with a new one. Players are therefore advised to take note of the amount of thermo clips available during battles. Instead of only four weapon types as in ME1, there are nineteen in ME2. One of my gripes with ME1 was the lack of heavy hand-held weapons. In ME2, they are available to the soldier class player character (as well as Commander Shepard of all classes). These heavy weapons knock down multiple enemies in one gigantic blast. A sentinel class player character now dons an ablation tactical armor, which makes him/her very tough to kill. An engineer class player character can launch a drone to aid him/her in battle. An adept class player character can spawn micro-singularities around the enemies, annihilating them en masse. Tactical cloak, which renders a combatant invisible briefly, is available to an infiltrator class player character. A vanguard class player character can dash around the battlefield with a new biotic power--the "biotic charge", which propels him/her forward at tremendous speed and force, to attack or evade the enemies. There is no longer any class restriction in armor. Medi-gel, used in the ME1 to regenerate health, is replaced with auto-regeneration, although the players still need it to cast the Unity reviving power. (Note: auto-regeneration is also available in ME1, but only as an upgrade to the armors.)
THE DIALOGUE
The dialogue wheel in ME1 is the most innovative dialogue system in all the games I have ever played. When used probably, it delivers a continuous and seamless dialogue, and hence the movie-like quality of the game. In ME2, the dialogue wheel is further improved. A new "interrupt" system is introduced. When prompted by the players with the left or right trigger of the controller (of the Xbox 360), Commander Shepard can interrupt the dialogue with "heroic" or "hostile" action to get the answer he/she wants. Furthermore, instead of the previous static camera position in ME1, the camera moves around during conversations in ME2, adding further cinematic effect to the game.
THE CHOICES
Like in ME1, choices made by the players influence the outcome of the game in ME2. For example, in ME1, on the planet Virmire, Commander Shepard (and hence the players), was called upon to decide which of the two squad mates he/she would rescue; the one left behind was consumed in a subsequent nuclear blast. In the same manner, decisions of the players in ME2 throughout the game may eventually lead to the annihilation of the entire ground team in the final mission, including Commander Shepard, or the survival of every team member, or something in between. Players with a "dead" Shepard will not be able to import him/her into ME3. The same thing is true with a "dead" teammate. They can play ME3 with a generic Shepard, but not "their" Shepard. Furthermore, with Shepard killed, players can't return to the game world after the final mission and continue to play, for example, to complete a side quest, or to explore a new locale. They will have to start a new game or reload with a previous save-file and replay part of the game for a different outcome. This gives incentive to players to make sound decisions throughout the game, before heading into the final mission. (See my comment dated 4/23/10.)
THE CERBERUS NETWORK
The Cerberus Network is a cleverly designed in-game portal through which players can access "Downloadable Contents (DLCs)" from EA. Players activate this network with a one-time access code, which is included in every new game purchase. Game renters and used game buyers will have to pay for the code. This arrangement is apparently a ploy by EA to combat the rental and used game market, which has been undermining retail sales of new games. Players who access the network will receive the first DLC pack on January 26, 2010, the date on which the game is released in North America. This first DLC introduces Zaeed, a rough and tumble mercenary who will join Shepard's elite team. A future DLC will introduce the Hammerhead, a hover tank to replace the much-maligned Mako in ME1. (Note: There is no driveable vehicle in the core game.) In addition, new missions and in-game items will be released to gamers by EA through this network.
CONCLUSION
ME2 comes with 2 discs. Players have to swap discs (twice per game) at some points. There are 90 voice actors playing 546 characters with over 30,000 lines of dialogue. New voice actors in ME2 include D.C. Douglas, Martin Sheen and Adam Baldwin. In conclusion, ME2 is a role-playing game with the look and feel of a shooter. It is a must-have game of the year.
Update: A ME2 DLC called Genesis allows a new player to make major decisions in ME1 without having to play it. Check it out.
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Did you want better graphics? Did you want a better shooter interface? Well, Bioware delivered...no question.
So Bioware has made a lot of changes to the game (too many to count perhaps), but one things for sure, they created a winner.
NEW COMBAT SYSTEM:
Much more like a first person shooter now; defiantly fun to shoot people and pop the head off of someone. Also doesn't matter as much what abilities you upgrade or what weapons you have; if you can aim then you can kill a bad guy.
NEW UPGRADE SYSTEM:
Can't really decide if I like this or not. There's a part of me that enjoys how much simpler everything has become and how much time I save, but I think I kind of enjoyed the in depth upgrade and weapons in the first game. This opinion may or may not be shared. Regardless, I was a little to overwhelmed by the greatness of this game to care that much.
INTERFACE WITH PREVIOUS GAME:
You'll hear little reminents of things you did in the past and you'll definitely get the feel that you had an impact, but it's not as dramatic I had expected. They hyped it up so much that your last game would have such a big impact on this one, but I haven't seen much to back that up. I was a level 55 in the first game so I got to start a few levels up in this one and they gave me a little extra cash for being rich in ME1, but it wasn't that significant. Guess I just expected a little bit more, but I have to admit that any interface with the previous game must have been hard and it's groundbreaking, so they get my respect.
HACKING/CODE BREAKING: The new system they designed for unlocking items and hacking systems is a lot more fun. Actually feels a little bit challenging and regardless of your level or path you've chosen, you'll be able to do it.
VEHICLE: Good news! There really isn't a vehicle; you'll pick where you want to go and then you'll go there. The vehicle from ME1 felt like a shopping cart with one bad wheel to me and I'm glad to see it's gone.
PLANET EXPLORATION: Pretty cool system they came up with. You'll use a radar device to explore a planets surface and then deploy pods to check for what you're looking for. This is a much improved system from just driving around in my opinion. Be ready to spend a lot of hours looking around. There's an amazing amount of land to cover in the universe. They really worked hard to give you a lot to explore and it shows. Doesn't have that empty pointless feeling that the first ME had when I was checking planets. If they weren't related to the primary objective, every planet felt the same
THE GOOD:
1) Story is great and managed to integrate with the first game to include your actions taken
2) Graphics are on par with competitive titles from this gen; really stunning to just look around at your surroundings
3) Lots of glitches fixed and too many improvements to count; some things they did were almost to small to even notice, but you can feel they're there
THE BAD:
1) New dumbed down RPG elements feel easy to use but a little empty. If you hated the monotony of upgrading too many small aspects and customizing every weapon for proper ammo and best fit then maybe you'll like it. But, I couldn't help but feel that it was a little bit too easy and boring compared to the first game
2) You'll have to do a long mission to gain the loyalty of every one of your 10 squad members; it's kind of cool at first, but it gets a little old. Really? I have to complete a mission to get Garus on my side? Pretty sure I proved my loyalty fighting the Geth and Saren already
3) The new planet scanning system is cool and I'm glad to be rid of the vehicle, but it starts to get really old searching for minerals. After about 4 hours of it I got tired and decided I had enough uprades. Searched about 60 planets and found 6 side missions, so that feels like there's probably a lot out there. I didn't make it to level 30 so I must have missed a lot, but I just got so sick of scanning planets. Not a big complaint though; I don't know how they could have done it better so I was pleased.
OVERVIEW:
GRAPHICS: 10/10
DIALOGUE: 10/10
AUDIO: 10/10
COMBAT SYSTEM: 10/10
UPGRADES: 8/10
STORY: 10/10
INTEGRATION OF PREVIOUS GAME: 7/10
Whether you liked the first ME or you didn't, this game is a winner. I have my share of complaints, but the game is an amazing edition to the trilogy and you can just sense the effort Bioware put into this. Everyone will have complaints, but I've never seen a developer listen to the feedback and put forth this much effort.
Two days ago I would have told you ME1 was almost perfect, but this game has shown be the light and really set the bar.
Thanks Bioware
Good Gaming
Best Deals for Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits
To start off, I want to make one thing clear; this review is targeted towards true RPG fans and people who loved the previous Mass Effect. If you are more of an action or FPS fan who generally enjoys qualities games (even if they do step outside of your comfort zone), then it would behoove you to go grab and play this game right now. Compared to most of the mediocre games out there these days, this game is an absolute gem. With that said, I will now continue with the true review.
Very few sequels can be categorized as `true sequels' in the essence that you may be playing as a different character with a different story and in some cases, a completely different universe. That is not the case with Mass Effect 2, where you once again take the role of Commander Shepard (whether you choose to be male of female) in his pursuit of the Reapers and peace across the galaxy. As an uber fan of the previous entry, I was expecting a similarly immersive experience that improved on the follies of the first entry.
Well, I have good news; Bioware listened to the critic's complaints and reworked almost everything to some degree. The bad news is that a lot of the best elements that made the first Mass Effect great got axed. As a result, ME2 (Mass Effect 2) is everything ME1 (Mass Effect 1) wasn't; it's well polished, fast paced and flashy. Unfortunately, ME2 exchanged these qualities for the depth, immersion and charm that characterized the first game. True fans of RPGs recognize that this is not a fair exchange and as such seriously tarnished the experience.
In the rest of this review, I will juxtapose everything in this game in relation to ME1. This is because, as with any true sequel, the predecessor is the game that set the standard and is the game that the sequel must live up to. So in essence, this is a review of both games. With that said, enjoy.
*** A summation of this review is provided at the bottom of the page. ***
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"The little things make all the difference in the universe."
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**Loading Screens**
ME1
Minimal and limited to when you selected a new planet or location and if I remember correctly it usually just showed you in the Citadel. Otherwise you simply walked from place to place or traveled via elevators or air lock (in and out of your ship). Transitions were seamless and provided entertaining conversations between team members and a high sense of realism.
ME2
The loading screens usually showed a flashy schematic of the ship or you presumably landing somewhere. They were aesthetic, but even that novelty wore off after seeing them a few times.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; seamless transitions provide a greater level of immersion than loading screens. That was an innovation that should have been kept and expanded upon, not axed.
**Space Exploration**
ME1
You just used your galaxy map to click where you wanted to go.
ME2
Using an over the top view, you actually navigated your ship from galaxy to galaxy and from planet to planet. You needed fuel to bridge the gap to some outer galaxies and probes to explore planets.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; This was one area where immersion and depth was actually improved, bravo.
**Outer Planet Exploration**
ME1
You used an all terrain vehicle called the Mako to explore the planets for cities, enemy bases and minerals. This process was tedious and combat in the Mako was flawed at best. It was a very `cool' concept executed very poorly.
ME2
On story planets you just warp straight into the city via loading screen. On foreign planets you `scan' the planet from the ship using a giant reticule and send out probes to find minerals and sometimes mission locations. An early upgrade allows you to speed up process, which effectively makes it a bit less tedious and soul sucking.
DRAW Both of these exploration methods were flawed. Personally, I'd welcome a combination of the two in the third entry. An improved version of the Mako would be welcomed to enter bases on the story planets and provides a good change of pace. However for foreign planets I think being able to scan the entire planet with one probe would speed things up considerably.
**Inner Planet Exploration**
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; ME1's planets seemed much livelier and grandiose. Meaning, there were more NPCs walking around and everything was set up as an actual functioning city and ecosystem on a larger scale. In the second game, cities were much more abbreviated and robotic. There purpose for this seemed to be shortening the downtime between the fast paced story missions. They succeeded to that end, but the sacrifice in doing so was overall quality.
**Mini Games**
ME1
There was basically one quick time reaction mini game used for all hacking sections.
ME2
There a few different mini games that would show up when required to hack something. They were engaging, intelligent and actually fun...which is saying something as most the time I just find this sort of crap to just be in the way.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; Big improvement here, nothing much else to say.
**Bugs and Glitches**
ME1
Almost every time you entered a new area in ME1 you could see the layers and textures dropping onto your characters and environment piece by piece. There was also numerous other random bug's and glitches and the occasional slow down in combat.
ME2
The game runs incredibly smoothly from beginning to end with few to no glitches at all. This might be a first for Bioware.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; Well done Bioware, it would be nice to see this trend continue in all future games.
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"It is not the destination, but the journey that makes an experience worthwhile."
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**Story**
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; To be far, it is unrealistic to ever expect a sequel to contain a better story than the first entry in a trilogy; which is expected (and did so very well) to set the stage for events to come. With that said, I felt ME1's story was WAY better. Sarin was a worthy antagonist and the story contained revelation after revelation. You had to make many pivotal decisions affecting the good of the entire galaxy and, more importantly, future entries to the series. ME2 focused much more on the cast (which we'll get to in a second), it did not have an antagonist that I cared about and contained much fewer relevant story arcs.
**Characters**
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; While I loved the cast of the first game, this was what the second game concentrated on and they did a fabulous job in doing so. Your primary goal was to gather an elite squad with which to track down the reapers. All of the new characters are very unique, powerful and relevant. And a couple of my favorites from the first game made a triumphant return to your main party. Each character has a primary side quest associated with them, which helps flesh their back story out a bit and adds a ton of value to the game. Even the final events leading up to the games conclusion focus on its wonderful cast.
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"When all else fails, you can always start blowing stuff up!"
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**Battle System**
ME1
While ME1 did a great job integrating TPS action and RPG elements into a cohesive blend, the combat remained more focused on the RPG elements. You had a ton of skills and your success in battle was mostly based upon your manipulation and strategy of their execution. You could use all your skills independently and they recharged independently. There was no ammo, you simply had to make sure to not to overload your weapon by firing it too much or too fast. You are encouraged to focus your concentration on a single weapon as you have to flow experience into them to increase their accuracy, effectiveness and power up their weapon unique skills.
ME2
While still blending TPS and RPG elements, ME2 began to tip way more on the TPS end of the spectrum. Your characters have fewer skills and when you use one it forces all of your skills to recharge prior to using another. You now have ammo and no longer have to upgrade your weapons, which encourages you to use different weapons depending on the situation.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; Many of the assessments I've made so far are hard to argue with, which is not the case here. Battles in ME2 are much faster paced and being encouraged to constantly switch weapons (which I did think was an improvement) provides battles with a heightened sense of intensity. I personally preferred the methodical and strategic combat of the first game though. It really irked me that you could only use one skill at a time in ME2 per character. I usually had a skill I preferred over another which meant that was the one I always used. Had I been allowed to use more than one at a time like you were able to in the first game, the battle system would have been much more satisfying.
**Customization**
ME1
There was a complex inventory system and you could customize each weapon and armor with several of its own upgrades. There were a ton of skills to upgrade which affected your battle prowess, infiltration and mediation skills. Later in the game you were able to choose a secondary specialization.
ME2
Inventory was axed, at your ship you can customize you armor with different helmets, chest plates, etcetera and even customize color and appearance. You could upgrade weapons or armor as a class amongst other things at an upgrade station. There were far less skills (4 for the main character and 3 for the secondary party members plus a skill that upgrades their stats) and there were no skills affecting outside of battle prowess. Later in the game you could choose to inherent one specialty skill from a team member.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 1; This was a joke in my opinion. Yes, axing inventory made it easier to get back to the ever important slaughtering of enemies, but it greatly watered down a great product. And less skills means less thought, which once again waters down a great product. On a positive note, they did add a unique specific skill to each class in ME2, and for a couple of these classes, these are uber cool.
**Weapons**
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; I had to specify a section for this because this was a huge strength of the ME2 battle system. In the previous ME, certain weapons, such as the shotgun and sniper rifle weren't very useful because, respectively, you had to either get to close to your enemies or it was too tough to aim prior to pumping a ton of experience into the skill. Now there are powers directly associated with closing the gap between you and enemies fast and there is a much improved cover mechanic. Also, they've added power weapons and though you can only equip one at a time, the addition of rocket launchers and other powerful cool alien weapons is certainly a welcome addition.
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"In the end all that matters is value, the bang for your buck."
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**Relevant Content**
ME1
A run through of the first game could be done in about 10-15 hours if you just stuck to the main planets and played through what I like to call the `relevant content'. That being main quests and unique side quests along the main storyline. You could significantly increase your time spent if you explored a lot of planets in what is essentially pointless and fruitless filler.
ME2
If you do all the main quests and character specific side quests you could probably spend about 30+ hours finishing this game.
ADVANTAGE Mass Effect 2; This isn't even close, ME2 has about 2X as much relevant content as its predecessor. This is a very significant upgrade and gives ME2 a huge boost in core value over its ME1.
**Replay Value**
DRAW There was more depth and significant decisions in the first game and though significantly shorter in duration, the quality of the time spent was much higher. I played through ME1 three times trying to perfect my Shepard and relished every play through. I couldn't even get myself to complete my renegade (evil) play through of ME2, once was enough. With that said, ME2 contains a new game+ feature, which is very cool because you can start the game with all your best skills. And class specific skills could give you added motivation to give the game a second play through. My bias shifts me in the direction of ME1, but ME2 does have some nice incentives to play again.
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"Now for a shout out to all those other elements not worth talking to death..."
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THE DRAWS
With regard to graphics, music, voice acting, conversations and anything else I didn't mention both games executed tremendously well and deserve a high grade draw. That's it, that's all I have to say on that topic ;).
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"All things must come to an end, even this review"
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The best way I can describe this game, as a true fan of RPGs, is by saying it took one step forward and two steps backward. Before I elaborate further on that, here is a list of what was improved and what was made worse.
Juxtaposed to Mass Effect 1, Mass Effect 2 had...
+a better space exploration system
+better hacking mini games
+far smoother performance (flawless really)
+a deeper and more fleshed out character cast
+much faster paced battles with a better array of useful weaponry and cover mechanic
+some cool new character and class specific powers
+a much longer main story with more relevant content
+a new game+ option absent from ME1
-a much choppier and less immersive experience due to the elimination of seamless transitions replaced by loading screens
-a method of foreign planet exploration (scanning) that was just as flawed as the Mako
-lifeless and robotic feeling planets
-a much less engaging story
-considerably much less depth in its battles and customization
The purpose of these changes was obvious in my eyes, to make this game more appealing to a larger group of gamers and to that end they succeeded mightily. Mass Effect 2 is fast paced and the downtime between battles is made short. It is smooth and has powerful, interesting and well fleshed out character cast to fight alongside you. I just wish Bioware could have made their improvement without sucking so much of the depth and charm out of the experience. I also found that the frenetic pace was a little too much for what is still an RPG. As a gamer that almost exclusively plays RPGs, I find this to still be the strongest available experience recently released. It is, however, a disconcerting step away from entertaining the true fans of the genre, the fans who they should remain faithful to beyond all else because we'll be the ones still there when everybody shuffles on to the next fad.
I can strongly recommend this game to anyone, but for the true RPG fan I would suggest waiting until the price of admission drops. It is not so special or pertinent as to warrant the extra $$$.
Honest reviews on Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits
Playing Mass Effect 2 is like watch a good movie, a movie where you can interrupt the flow at certain points and take control of the characters and slightly change the plot. Mass Effect has always been about telling a grand story, and the middle part of the Mass Effect trilogy has made improvements over the first title, the story is deeper, and a bit more interesting and complex than ME1 (Mass Effect 1). Unfortunately with the improved story comes the removal of nearly every single traditional RPG element. Playing the game, I feel like I am being dragged through the story instead of being PART of the story like I did in ME1. Without the RPG elements to break up the story and to give something else to focus on, the game became a bit repetitious. Overall, amazing story, lacking gameplay, and cover based shooting made the game fun, but I wanted different things than what the developers of ME2 wanted.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Mass Effect 2 Platinum Hits
First off, I wanted to make it clear that this is an outstanding game, one of the best I've ever played. As proof of this I've played through the career three whole times, and plan to play it at least once more before the release of Mass Effect 3. Generally I don't replay games, and that is definitely the most I've ever played a game, except for maybe Rock Band. That being said Bioware dumbed this game down so far from the mastery of the original Mass Effect. This game is one of the most polished games I've ever played. However I feel like they accomplished this by completely eliminating any originality and progress in the gameplay. They stripped almost all of the RPG gameplay that I loved, leaving such a simplistic leveling system (with a really low level cap) and hardly any skills. Also, they got rid of all of the weapons and add-ons in favor of a series of upgrades. In my mind, while this made it easier for a young stupid player that's too impatient to enjoy RPG's, for me it was a useless system. I never felt more powerful after buying a new upgrade, it felt exactly the same, either because the upgrade didn't add enough or the enemies always got more powerful at exactly the same rate.
In all of the videos during the game, the characters have so much more power than the minuscule amount of abilities you have in gameplay. Essentially, ME2's gameplay is just a very basic cover based shooter with a few interesting powers. Especially at higher levels, you have to stay behind cover most of the game if you don't want to die every couple seconds. Also, I find it amazing that in the future we replace bullets with cool-down clips that work exactly the same way. In fact some of the guns have less ammo than the present. At the higher levels this becomes a big problem, as multiple times I ran out of ammo, especially with the guns I liked the most. The technology of the world does not match the gameplay, while it absolutely did in the first game. Still however, the gameplay is fun even at its most basic.
Now onto the story, while compared to everything else on the market it's amazing, but compared to the original Mass Effect the main story is pretty weak. Essentially there are only 4 missions in the main story, and there isn't really any main nemesis. There's just some goofy Collector that repeats annoying phrases and has no motivation for all the evil its doing. In the first game there was a guy we could chase after, feeling like we're always a step beyond, and then after that an even more massive evil with very interesting reasoning. Here we have one faceless enemy with no reasoning, there's never a twist or anything to compete against. Also, the act of killing Shepard at the very beginning of the story is such a goofy way to restart everything. However, the bulk of the game's missions involving recruiting and gaining the loyalty of characters is really fun and original. I loved it, at times it almost felt like a sci-fi version of the game series Suikoden where you'd collect 108 characters/stars (most of them weren't actually playable). In fact I'd love to see more of that in the next game, it really involves you in the story to gather these people/aliens and than talk to them.
However, that brings me to another part of the game that I'd love to see adapted in ME3. It makes no sense to only take 2 other characters with you to fight hundreds and hundreds of enemies. I mean I understand the benefit of a small team, but you really never do any sneaking around. Also, it's implied that all of the characters are leaving on the mission even though you only have 3 total characters. From this, I'd love to see two additions, first it would be nice if each character had its own experience points so you'd be rewarded/punished by underusing or overusing the other characters. Secondly I'd love to see more characters on screen, even if they aren't playable. If it's too difficult for Bioware to achieve, they could just have more missions like the last mission on this game, where you have two separate teams.
Even after all of the above complains, I still think that this game is amazing, and my favorite game of 2010.
