Mass Effect 2 is quite easily one of the best games I have ever played. The breath of it’s epic scale, the magnificent sci-fi motif which rivals some of the best sci-fi works seen in movies, the huge cast made up of humans and aliens, each one with a story to tell, and of course the hybrid shooter and RPG mechanics all made for one awesome game which I would had not played if Mass Effect 2 had adhered to some of the Western RPG (WRPGs) clichés which I have come to hate. But thankfully Mass Effect 2 is an awesome beast of a game that will easily go down in my all time favourites list (a list which mostly comprises of JRPGS).
To say that I’ve had a sordid relationship with WRPGs is a bit of an understatement as every time I have taken the plunge to engross myself in a block buster game I have been bitterly disappointed. Throughout the last decade I have tried to play and ‘hopefully’ enjoy a game of this genre but it has always resulted in varying degrees of disappointment: be it the 90’s juggernaut Diablo 2, BioWare’s own Baldur’s Gate 2 or the fans favourite Planescape: Torment. It all came to a melting point in 2004 with the release of Fable for the Xbox as it became my most hated game of the last generation and I am still confused at why Fable has received 2 sequels and a lot of good press. For 4 years WRPGs became a no go zone for me as I was (still am) happy with RPGs of the Japanese kind, but when the first trailer of Mass Effect started to appear on the net I became genuinely intrigued. Here was a WRPG which was not set in a medieval fantasy setting and nor did the game play resemble anything like any other game of the genre. And by the time I finished Mass Effect I had become a huge fan of BioWare and as well as breaking my WRPG ‘fast’. But I did not imagine that the sequel would be so good that I would end up buying BioWare’s other WRPG franchise as a result.
Mass Effect 2 literally makes a mockery of the original!! If I compare both the games, Mass Effect feels like a broken, glitch ridden and clunky game: Mass Effect 2 is THAT good. Sequels are always better than original games, but Mass Effect 2 just takes this notion to another level. It seems that BioWare took everything that was good in Mass Effect and just cranked it up in terms of improving on those bits: the meandering plot narrative is replaced by a rollicking adventure saddled with a sense of urgency and desperation, and while Mass Effect 2 is the second part of the trilogy, its plot was still amazing and acts as a catalyst for the events in the final game of the series. The characters have added depth, complex personalities and twisted past and getting to know them and their past makes for some very interesting conversations and plot points. Return of some of the old members made the whole experience a bit more…. personal. The massive amounts of tweaking in the shooting mechanics made the cumbersome action sequences from the original a forgotten anomaly and made Mass Effect 2 game play more fun and tactically rewarding.
Combining action and RPG genres have been done before with games like Deus Ex or System Shock 2, but BioWare’s effort in Mass Effect 2 deserves special praise as the game has totally perfected the hybrid genre and raised the bar for other developers. The shooting segments were fun as well as having all the strapping of an action game like for example the cover system which was much easier to use, or the bevy of weapons which could be researched and upgraded. The new tactical commands, (which personally I didn’t use much), was also a neat addition. But the major complaint I have with Mass Effect 2 was the stripped down (nay dumb downed) RPG mechanics, and as an action RPG this was a bit of a moot point for me. There were very character customization options to choose from, there were no options of customizing weaponry or armour. I am hoping that if BioWare can address this issue in Mass Effect 3 it will be awesome!
Mass Effect 2 production values are staggering esp. the audio aspects. The visuals are really good considering that I never regarded the Unreal Engine to be capable of producing beautiful and detailed graphics. Some of the planets were downright magnificent as were some of the indoor environments. Facial animations were off the charts as every emotion was captured with insane detail while the general animation is also really good even though sometimes they would be a little wooden and stiff. There were quite a few instance were the visuals were not that good for example there were few occasions when the textures loaded a little slow, nowhere as bad as in the original but there were quite noticeable. Some of the characters supported the ‘vacant stare’ syndrome which was really creepy and kind of distracted me. But still the graphics are really solid which makes for a fine looking game.
The voice acting is really top of the line. Every voice actor has done a tremendous job in ensuring that the characters all sound natural and convincing. The cast members have some of the big names of the voice acting industry which includes the like of Ali Hillis, Steve Blum and Jennifer Hale as well as stars from movies and television like Martin Sheen, Seth Green, Tricia Helfer and Ynvonne Strahovski and their performances dispel the theory that big stars make the worst voice actors. Martin Sheen is one fine example as his performance as the mysterious Illusive Man was excellent. But one thing is for certain though that WRPGs uniformly have some of the best voice acting, far excelling ones found in 60% of JRPGs, and Mass Effect 2 is no different.
Ok so now to THE most important question: which one of the fine ladies in Command Shepherd harem did I explore the romantic angle of? At first Miranda Lawson (modelled on the lovely Ynvonne Strahovski) was the most obvious choice and I was doing everything as prescribed on online guide sites to further the relationship between Miranda and Shepherd. But half through the game that focus started to waver with the introduction of the biotic Samara, the calm and wise yet deadly Asari Justicar. Too bad that the game didn’t let me (i.e. Shepherd) go after her but the seed of doubt was sown. When Tali Zorah van Neema (member of the original game as well) was brought in the fold it really make made me forget about the buxom temptress and go for the ‘alien next door’ type!
There is something about Tali, even though she wears a full body suit and a mask, which has made her a cult figure amongst Mass Effect fans: Is it her personality, or her independent pilgrimage or her voice, I sometimes wonder. Even in Mass Effect I always enjoyed conversations Tali and Shepherd would have and now with the romancing option available I was more than curious to explore that path (to be little disappointed by how the whole thing ended..Let’s just say it was…tasteless). So yeah, Tali is also my favourite character followed by Samara, hell the entire cast was a country mile better than Mass Effect 1 and I cannot wait to see what new characters are introduced in the final game.
I take my RPGs very seriously, so I was taken aback at the pure awesomeness of Mass Effect 2. As I mentioned earlier I consider Japanese RPGs to be the ultimate representation of the genre and I still am on the fence about the typical Western RPG (with BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origin I am more than willing to try though), but Mass Effect 2 is just too good to be ignored. Every aspect of the game show cased BioWare’s high calibre as a celebrated game developing company. It is very easy to see that this game was a labour of love where everything made sense from the battle mechanics to the awesome story. Mass Effect 2 is a genius of a game that will go down as one of the best RPG ever made and anybody who knows me and my fanatic support of JRPGs; this may be one hell of a comment! My playtime: 36 hours 2 mins and my rating: 9.4.
