Mass Effect 2: Impressions
This is the point where I would usually do a half-assed review. I have put in some time into Mass Effect 2, and definitely have my gut reaction to the game. I am roughly 15 hours in, but I have to go away from my keyboard a lot, so I am not sure I can use that to gauge my progress. That being said, I feel that I have a sense of how good it is. However, since the game is very story driven, I don’t feel right writing it as a 1/2 assed review. This sumbitch could fall apart at the end, but I hope like hell that it doesn’t.
I played through the first Mass Effect a few times, and loved the experience of the game. The universe felt real, and most of the characters were done very well. The story was pretty good, but the cinematic feel of the game helped elevate it, delivering an experience you don’t often get in video games. After all was said and done, it was one of the best games I have played in recent memory, but there were definitely issues that I had trouble overlooking.
Moving onto the new hotness. So far my time with the game has been incredible. All of the major issues I had with the first one are fixed, or completely changed. The story is darker, and the interactions with characters seems improved. I am having a very hard time pulling myself away from the game, and am trying to focus on everything that it has to offer because I don’t want my time with it to end. This got me thinking about Bioware’s upcoming MMO, The Old Republic. I have never been one of those people that said, “They should be making a Mass Effect MMO instead of a Star Wars one”. Knights of the Old Republic was my all-time favorite game. Bioware’s version of that world on an increased scale? Hell ya. But, now that I have spent more time in Mass Effect’s world, I am starting to think that I would rather play there. The worlds and alien races are all interesting to me, and I already know what race I would play (Turian baby!). This place is so fleshed out that it is kind of incredible to think that it didn’t exist in some medium before video games.
I may just be caught up in the moment. I am really, really enjoying the hell out of this game. It just might knock KotOR down and become my favorite game of all time. I am not saying that it’s perfect. There are a few very minor issues that I have, mostly dealing with a small number of interactions that seem forced to make the story work. Overall though, they are very minor compared to how much awesome there is in this bad boy. Everything else in the game clicks, the visuals, the music, the gameplay. Yes, the gameplay, the first games weak link, is much better. All of these things come together nicely.
So, time to go boot it up again and see who I’m going to bone. And important part of any Bioware game.
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This game continues to impress. I was worried for a moment that the game was going to be over quickly, but once I got a little further in I realized I still had a ton of more content to explore.
Each mission has its own unique story, some with more heavy moral choices that others, like Archangel’s for example (no spoilers ftw!).
If you haven’t bought it already, you should. It and its prequel will remain on my top 10 favorite games of all time.
I’m trying to make my way through the first one as quickly as possible, while not rushing past all the side quests.
Doing so is making me loathe the Mako……..fucking Mako…..
I don’t mind the Mako in terms of it’s controls, but spending 5 minutes rolling around mountainous terrain just to get to a point of interest got old fast (like in 5 minutes).
I’m seriously considering saying fuck it and skipping to the next one.
No way man, I figured out which lady is getting the Shepards Crook….it’s on like Donkey Kong
I am sooooo happy the Mako is gone. Sure, it was a clever concept. But I’ve no doubt that my crew would have bailed and refused to ever, ever get into that vehicle again with me controlling it. That and we would have been cleaning up space puke every time. It was always an adventure. I did get better controlling it with time, but hated when I had to do anything of significance with it.
And back on topic. I love ME2! It’s like reading a good book. I don’t want to put it down so I can see what happens next. I’ve decided I’d rather pay 15 bucks a month for a new chapter of Mass Effect each month than a MMO.
Yeah the Mako was bad, but be prepared to hate just as much “Probe launched…”. The only thing I did not feel I was doing as much was actually exploring. There are the missions you find by scanning planets and other side ones too that you can get from searching computers and talking to your team. It just feels like I am staring at a scanning screen like an extra on a Star Trek episode (you know the one in the red shirt that is about to die to a horrible explosion…yeah that one). That was my ONLY gripe about the game, but with the Cereberus Network, they can add in mods or new missions, etc.
Hell I am still stuck on the first mission (first real one) right now on Insanity difficulty (yes I am a masochist). I beat the first one on it, but I may have to change classes as the Adept is extremely squishy.
I have some sympathy for Bioware on this one. Mass Effect was such an amazing, nearly perfect game that surpassing it was an effort almost automatically doomed to failure. But what surprises and disturbs me is how Mass Effect 2 seems to have intentionally fumbled that effort by taking much that was great about Mass Effect and deleting it on purpose.
7 comments
This game continues to impress. I was worried for a moment that the game was going to be over quickly, but once I got a little further in I realized I still had a ton of more content to explore.
Each mission has its own unique story, some with more heavy moral choices that others, like Archangel’s for example (no spoilers ftw!).
If you haven’t bought it already, you should. It and its prequel will remain on my top 10 favorite games of all time.
I’m trying to make my way through the first one as quickly as possible, while not rushing past all the side quests.
Doing so is making me loathe the Mako……..fucking Mako…..
I don’t mind the Mako in terms of it’s controls, but spending 5 minutes rolling around mountainous terrain just to get to a point of interest got old fast (like in 5 minutes).
I’m seriously considering saying fuck it and skipping to the next one.
I am sooooo happy the Mako is gone. Sure, it was a clever concept. But I’ve no doubt that my crew would have bailed and refused to ever, ever get into that vehicle again with me controlling it. That and we would have been cleaning up space puke every time. It was always an adventure. I did get better controlling it with time, but hated when I had to do anything of significance with it.
And back on topic. I love ME2! It’s like reading a good book. I don’t want to put it down so I can see what happens next. I’ve decided I’d rather pay 15 bucks a month for a new chapter of Mass Effect each month than a MMO.
No way man, I figured out which lady is getting the Shepards Crook….it’s on like Donkey Kong
Yeah the Mako was bad, but be prepared to hate just as much “Probe launched…”. The only thing I did not feel I was doing as much was actually exploring. There are the missions you find by scanning planets and other side ones too that you can get from searching computers and talking to your team. It just feels like I am staring at a scanning screen like an extra on a Star Trek episode (you know the one in the red shirt that is about to die to a horrible explosion…yeah that one). That was my ONLY gripe about the game, but with the Cereberus Network, they can add in mods or new missions, etc.
Hell I am still stuck on the first mission (first real one) right now on Insanity difficulty (yes I am a masochist). I beat the first one on it, but I may have to change classes as the Adept is extremely squishy.
I have some sympathy for Bioware on this one. Mass Effect was such an amazing, nearly perfect game that surpassing it was an effort almost automatically doomed to failure. But what surprises and disturbs me is how Mass Effect 2 seems to have intentionally fumbled that effort by taking much that was great about Mass Effect and deleting it on purpose.
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