Chris Kavan's Game Review of Mass Effect 2

In Space, No One Can Hear You Save Humanity
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/04/11

While I think that Mass Effect 2 was a pretty good game, I have to say it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Maybe it was because I had just finished L.A. Noire - but the difference in graphics was noticeable. While the story was exceptional, the sandbox experience delivered by Fallout and Oblivion wasn't quite there.

Don't get me wrong, the game is definitely worthwhile - the scope and feel of the game are excellent. There are a lot of characters, and each one feels fleshed out enough to give them justice. There are a lot of different abilities and weapons to choose from, and likewise enough variety of enemies to keep things interesting.

Since I'm a PS3 gamer, I didn't get the chance to play the first ME game. Luckily, this version comes with a handy little pre-game choose-your-own adventure comic that catches you up to speed while touching on the major choices of the first game. It's a nice touch and succinctly sums up the story.

You can customize your Commander Shepard character (male or female) and I have to say it was a good way to start. While your background is a bit irrelevant, the full control over your face, hair, etc was pretty robust. Also, the classes you can pick present some interesting options: you can go full-on commando and pick straight-up weapons, be a techie and take the engineering course or work the special powers by becoming a biotic. Or you can choose to mix and match the classes as well. It gives enough variation that if you play though with different abilities, it does affect the game.

The game opens with a bang - literally as your ship suffers an attack and you, well, get vented out into space and die. Lucky for you a man with near-unlimited resources and a somewhat shady organization rescues you. Like the $6 Million Dollar Man (or in this case the $4 Billion Credit Commander) - you're rebuilt and wake up three years later none-the-worse for wear (well, a bit scarred but for being dead, I can live with that).

After surviving the first mission you find that your last mission has been somewhat glossed over - the boogey-men of the galaxy, The Reapers, have been written off - but now that human colonies are starting to disappear, the Cerberus network is called into action. Led by the enigmatic Illusive Man, this human-centric organization is ready to take on the Reapers starting with the group who is taking colonists, the secretive race known as Collectors. However, in order to do so you must gather an elite team and convince them to take on what is most likely to be a suicide mission to Collector space - a place no other ship has ever returned from.

So there you go - you're off to gather your team of scientists, biotics, master technicians, assassins and warriors to take on this dangerous mission. The story is top-notch. In fact, it's the strong point of the game. And more important, your actions have consequences. If you don't gain the loyalty of your crew or don't bother to upgrade your ship, it will impact who lives and who dies. Different dialogue options can open up romances as well as letting you play as a "good" character or "evil" character, though that aspect doesn't have a huge impact on the game.

However, where I find Mass Effect 2 lacking is it wasn't as open a world as I was hoping. The closest comparison I can think of are the Fallout games. But whereas Fallout is a true sandbox game, Mass Effect 2, while letting you explore quite a few planets, keeps you on a linear path for the most part. You land, go from point A to point B, maybe fight a boss-like enemy at certain points, and go back to your ship. Sure, there are a few cities to explore, along with wandering around your ship, but it's still a pretty finite area you have to run around in. I have to admit I was hoping for a bit more freedom, but I can see where space would limit those possibilities.

Speaking of planets, I spent a lot of time gathering elements but used only a fraction of them. Elements are easy to find, but credits? No so much. Even after doing all the side quests and DLC missions, I still never had enough to purchase all the upgrades. Sure, you can argue to don't NEED all the upgrades, but that's not the point. It just felt like the game could have been a bit more judicious on the money side of things.

The voice acting for the game is pretty good. You have some bigger names: Martin Sheen as the Illusive Man, Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda Lawson, Tricia Helfer as EDI and Carrie-Anne Moss as Aria T'Loak - plus returning from the first game, Seth Greene and Keith David. Unlike some other games, your main character is rather talkative - with voice-over veteran Jennifer Hale playing the female version and relative newcomer Mark Meer doing the male version. Once again, while the voices are good, I was once again suffering from L.A. Noire withdrawal and couldn't help but find things a bit flat - even with a bunch of aliens thrown in for good measure.

Gameplay itself is good - the use of weapons combined with biotic (or tech) powers gives each battle a twist. Some powers work on machines, some work on organics. Enemies with armor or biotic barriers must be treated differently than unarmored foes. Plus being able to pick two companions for each mission also allows a certain freedom. I usually stuck with muscle and biotics, but certain missions are made much easier if you pick the right people for the job.

There are RPG elements to the game, though I would not classify this as an RPG. You do level up and can also upgrade weapons and powers, but other than that it's pretty much a classic FPS. People who try to argue otherwise are simply deluding themselves. However, the RPG elements are at least implemented in a way that makes sense and doesn't feel like something that was just tacked on.

To conclude, I found Mass Effect 2 to be a good experience, but one that left me wanting a bit more out of it. I still blame L.A. Noire for spoiling me on visual and voice acting, but that's only part of the issue. Just like FFXIII (though nowhere near as bad) Mass Effect 2 keeps you on a pretty linear path. There is some leeway, but not enough to make feel like a truly open game. However, story-wise, it ranks up there with the best of them and I have no doubt I'll be getting the third game when it arrives.