Post by The Legendary Simple Starfish on Feb 9, 2010 9:46:46 GMT -5
***DISCLAIMER: My opinions are very controversial, and quite frankly not everyone is going to agree (remember, I don’t like Half Life). If you have a different opinion please speak it, just don’t be a jerk about it. I felt like writing this because I thought of getting a general game discussion going, rather than the site STILL living/breathing “Staff, RPG, RPG, Staff, POSTYS *coughs*, RPG, RPG, Cbox, RPG”. Plus, I thought it would be fun I’m no journalist. If my review sucks, say so, just again, don’t be a jerk about it. Thank you, and please enjoy the review.***
Title: Mass Effect 2
ESRB: Rated M for Mature (I think 15 and up would be a negligible)
Players: 1 (No Online Play, DLC Available)
Game Type: RPG Shooter Mix
Platform: Xbox 360, PC
My heart pounds. Bullets pepper my position as my squad mate biotically pulls two mechs over my head into a wall. A goliath mech lumbers over, machine gun blazing. It hesitates for a moment to reload. I peer over with missile launcher in hand and hammer away at the mech. The explosion of the colossus sends us stumbling backwards, but the fight is won. Shepard’s back and he’s packing enough firepower to save the galaxy all over again; and he doesn’t miss a beat.
Before you even start your new adventure, you’re given the choice to start fresh with a custom made Shepard (male/female) or import one of your old play-throughs from Mass Effect. Choosing the latter will pop a little screen making sure it’s the right save you want, telling you about the important choices you made in ME1 that influence the story arch in the sequel or what quests will appear (SPOILER: A certain “Conrad” makes a “stunning” appearance). Starting from scratch will give you a cannon story, so don’t threat about missing out because you didn’t play the first one (although I’d highly recommend it). Either way, you’ll be given the option to choose your character class –from the gun slinging soldier, the hacking tech, the similar-to-a-Jedi Adept, or sub groups of the three. The classes are far more diverse this time around, each of them having their own weapons and unique standout abilities like invisibility and shockwave. Leveling up your character has been streamlined, making it more likely for you to reach your full potential for when you encounter “the suicide mission”.
Speaking of the story, you (re)start your life as Commander Shepard patrolling the outer reaches of the Milky Way following the events of the battle at the Citadel against Sovereign, a sentient reaper machine that has been harvesting life for thousands of years, and his army of Geth, a race of robots with artificial intelligence. His team’s been assigned to sweep out any remaining pockets of Geth, but before you can even mutter “It’s a trap!” things go horribly wrong and you’re sent spiraling out of your ship as it’s obliterated before your own eyes; suffocating in the process. Needless to say, you’ve had better days.
You awake in a strange space station, and a few combat tutorials later (unlike the original where they just handed you a gun and said “have fun”) it is revealed to you that a pro-human group named Cerberus has devoted the last two years rebuilding you from meat and tubes back into the old you. However, it becomes obvious that they aren’t the most ethical organization in the galaxy, as some may recall having to deal with some of their operatives and horrible genetic experiments in the original. That in mind, the leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man, assures you the goal of their work justify its means. Whether you can trust him is your decision, but either way: humanity is in grave danger. It’s up to you to assemble a team, gain their loyalty, and hone yours and their skills so you can defeat this new threat to humanity. Be warned, failure to gain your squads trust and knowing them well could result in theirs and/or your death; and I’m not talking about one of those “Game Over: Try Again” deaths. When you’re going through the suicide mission, if you die, you’re dead for good. Mass Effect 2 ends for you right there, and you can’t play as Shepard in ME3.
The Illusive Man is one smooth operator, but what is he hiding behind his guise?
Mass Effect 2 raises the bar it’s older sibling set before it and climbs several stories before it sets it back down. Everything is miles ahead of the competition; I’ve never seen or heard a better cast of voice actors. From old standbys like Seth Green (Joker) and Keith David (Capt. Anderson), to new faces such as Martin Sheen (Illusive Man) and Adam Baldwin (Kal’Reegar). This is complemented by terrific graphics that help ME2 stand out from the pack, and the animation that kicks the story telling up a few notches. During certain moments of the game, you’ll be given the option to use an “interruption” that have paragon or renegade outcomes; such as throwing someone to the ground so they wouldn’t be shot or pushing someone out a window and watch them fall to the ground below. They’re very satisfying to watch and never get repedative.
The characters are the driving force behind the story, and while some have mixed feelings about it, Bioware really did an incredible job by making all of the characters distinctive and colorful in their own way. From the fast talking-fast thinking Mordin Solus, to the vengeful and tougher than nails Zaeed (DLC). Even Zaeed feels fresh and original, while downloadable for free (provided you have the Cerberus Network), in no way did he feel just tacked on or incomplete. That’s how most of ME2 feels; the developers gave 110% on the game with a keen eye for detail.
Mordin’s a one of-a-kind character, a ruthless professor that's even known to sing on occasion. Invaluable to the team, he'll unlock a tech lab for you to purchase upgrades for your weapons, armor, and most importantly your ship the Normandy.
Combat is a transcendent experience that won’t leave you disappointed, and actually makes you want to play the other classes; whereas most that played ME played as the soldier because their squad mates were dipsticks and we are helpful as firefighters without any equipment. Thankfully, your squad is more than capable this time around, responding excellently to commands and can hold their own. You can hotwire abilities to particular buttons for quick action, or you can pull up the circle menu, which pauses the action, and lets you be more strategic in your approach. Splendid effects add to the fun, from pulling enemies out from behind cover as they fly overhead into walls or off platforms, to enemies freezing into sold ice sculptures incapable of movement. The environments and enemy variety always keep things interesting, you’ll never feel like you’re going through the same fight scenarios again and again.
For only being DLC, Zaeed really does feel like a complete character and not tacked on. He’s got plenty of nostalgic moments to talk about, from hijacking starships to killing slavers. His voice actor (Robin Sachs) really got the part down pat with flying colors.
Despite all of this, the game isn’t perfect; but it’s pretty darn close. One problem I had was that the text in messages was extremely tiny and difficult to read. I wasn’t using a huge widescreen TV, but I sure wouldn’t call it small (40 inch I think). Loading times can sometimes get a bit ridiculous, varying from 10-60 seconds. But even that couldn’t compare to the horribly tedious planet scanning. Although in about 80% of the systems there’s a mission for you to complete, all planets can be probed for resources to use to purchase upgrades for weapons and your ship. The problem is that scanning a planet, which takes about eight or so minutes when you aren’t bored out of your mind, can only leave you satisfied for so long. I eventually just skipped scanning planets that didn’t have missions because I had already gained enough resources to build myself the Eiffel Tower (other than Element Zero, which is in incredibly small supply in comparison to the other three). Planet Exploration basically got the boot, you no longer drive around planets surveying the planet (which scanning replaced) or completing run-of-the-mill missions. I miss the exploration, but thankfully Bioware made sure that none of the side missions feel the generic, and they have their own (small) story behind them.
But when it’s all said and done, Mass Effect 2 comes out on top with a new spring in its step and only a few scratches. It does just about everything right, no matter how radical, and other developers should learn from Bioware. They did a magnificent job not just with Mass Effect, but with rpgs in general, and they are a developer to be reckoned with. Quite honestly, if ME2 was released in 2009, it would have won game of the year in my book. Combat, writing, voice acting, animation, even the game throws in a bit of comedy to keep players more than happy. I logged in over forty good hours with the game exploring everything and anything, those of you that’ll make a beeline for the main story only will stay play about seventeen hours. Whichever way you go, you’ll know that you’re playing an intense action thriller that leaves you hanging on to the very end.
Legendary Meter of Legends:
I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I-------0---I
((1-1.9 Disgrace to Existence; 2-2.9 Your Grandma’s Made Better; 3-3.9 Drink Coaster; 4-4.9 Mega Suck; 5-5.9 Temporary Frisbee; 6-6.9 Meh; 7-7.9 Mediocre; 8-8.9 Something Worth Bragging About; 9-9.9 Legendary; 10 Perfection, Build a Shrine For it and Pray to it Every Night))
Score 9.7 Legendary
Righteous: The character driven story is epic; combat has been revamped and is simply outstanding; fixed a lot of the problems from the original; interruption system is original; no more elevators!
Despicable: It makes a lot of references to the first game, those that didn’t play the first may be left out of the loop a little (highly suggests buying the original); planet scanning becomes monotonous; little things here and there; very tiny text.
For the Love of Shamoo: Feed your fish!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alright so if all of you could form a line over there, I'll start accepting your hate mail. Oh wait, some of you didn't hate it? No way. But if you did happen to like it (Pfft, not a chance, only nerds play wrpgs
) I'll keep doing this kind of thing on a weekly basis, where I offer my not important opinion on not important gaming topics that no one cares about, like whether or not video games are "art" or not. Or perhaps do reviews, the latter however requires a lot of money if I have to buy a new game every week. I'm open to any suggestions you have about the discussion/review, and I'm accepting review ideas for next week. Thanks again for reading, and please feel free to post any opinions you have.
Games I'd be inclined to buy (can't be on PS3, do not own):
-No More Heroes 2
-Metroid Trilogy
-Anything that was released in 09 (Borderlands, AC2, A Boy and his Blob)
-Bioshock 2
-Anything that will keep you reading, seriously.
Title: Mass Effect 2
ESRB: Rated M for Mature (I think 15 and up would be a negligible)
Players: 1 (No Online Play, DLC Available)
Game Type: RPG Shooter Mix
Platform: Xbox 360, PC
My heart pounds. Bullets pepper my position as my squad mate biotically pulls two mechs over my head into a wall. A goliath mech lumbers over, machine gun blazing. It hesitates for a moment to reload. I peer over with missile launcher in hand and hammer away at the mech. The explosion of the colossus sends us stumbling backwards, but the fight is won. Shepard’s back and he’s packing enough firepower to save the galaxy all over again; and he doesn’t miss a beat.
Before you even start your new adventure, you’re given the choice to start fresh with a custom made Shepard (male/female) or import one of your old play-throughs from Mass Effect. Choosing the latter will pop a little screen making sure it’s the right save you want, telling you about the important choices you made in ME1 that influence the story arch in the sequel or what quests will appear (SPOILER: A certain “Conrad” makes a “stunning” appearance). Starting from scratch will give you a cannon story, so don’t threat about missing out because you didn’t play the first one (although I’d highly recommend it). Either way, you’ll be given the option to choose your character class –from the gun slinging soldier, the hacking tech, the similar-to-a-Jedi Adept, or sub groups of the three. The classes are far more diverse this time around, each of them having their own weapons and unique standout abilities like invisibility and shockwave. Leveling up your character has been streamlined, making it more likely for you to reach your full potential for when you encounter “the suicide mission”.
Speaking of the story, you (re)start your life as Commander Shepard patrolling the outer reaches of the Milky Way following the events of the battle at the Citadel against Sovereign, a sentient reaper machine that has been harvesting life for thousands of years, and his army of Geth, a race of robots with artificial intelligence. His team’s been assigned to sweep out any remaining pockets of Geth, but before you can even mutter “It’s a trap!” things go horribly wrong and you’re sent spiraling out of your ship as it’s obliterated before your own eyes; suffocating in the process. Needless to say, you’ve had better days.
You awake in a strange space station, and a few combat tutorials later (unlike the original where they just handed you a gun and said “have fun”) it is revealed to you that a pro-human group named Cerberus has devoted the last two years rebuilding you from meat and tubes back into the old you. However, it becomes obvious that they aren’t the most ethical organization in the galaxy, as some may recall having to deal with some of their operatives and horrible genetic experiments in the original. That in mind, the leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man, assures you the goal of their work justify its means. Whether you can trust him is your decision, but either way: humanity is in grave danger. It’s up to you to assemble a team, gain their loyalty, and hone yours and their skills so you can defeat this new threat to humanity. Be warned, failure to gain your squads trust and knowing them well could result in theirs and/or your death; and I’m not talking about one of those “Game Over: Try Again” deaths. When you’re going through the suicide mission, if you die, you’re dead for good. Mass Effect 2 ends for you right there, and you can’t play as Shepard in ME3.
The Illusive Man is one smooth operator, but what is he hiding behind his guise?
Mass Effect 2 raises the bar it’s older sibling set before it and climbs several stories before it sets it back down. Everything is miles ahead of the competition; I’ve never seen or heard a better cast of voice actors. From old standbys like Seth Green (Joker) and Keith David (Capt. Anderson), to new faces such as Martin Sheen (Illusive Man) and Adam Baldwin (Kal’Reegar). This is complemented by terrific graphics that help ME2 stand out from the pack, and the animation that kicks the story telling up a few notches. During certain moments of the game, you’ll be given the option to use an “interruption” that have paragon or renegade outcomes; such as throwing someone to the ground so they wouldn’t be shot or pushing someone out a window and watch them fall to the ground below. They’re very satisfying to watch and never get repedative.
The characters are the driving force behind the story, and while some have mixed feelings about it, Bioware really did an incredible job by making all of the characters distinctive and colorful in their own way. From the fast talking-fast thinking Mordin Solus, to the vengeful and tougher than nails Zaeed (DLC). Even Zaeed feels fresh and original, while downloadable for free (provided you have the Cerberus Network), in no way did he feel just tacked on or incomplete. That’s how most of ME2 feels; the developers gave 110% on the game with a keen eye for detail.
Mordin’s a one of-a-kind character, a ruthless professor that's even known to sing on occasion. Invaluable to the team, he'll unlock a tech lab for you to purchase upgrades for your weapons, armor, and most importantly your ship the Normandy.
Combat is a transcendent experience that won’t leave you disappointed, and actually makes you want to play the other classes; whereas most that played ME played as the soldier because their squad mates were dipsticks and we are helpful as firefighters without any equipment. Thankfully, your squad is more than capable this time around, responding excellently to commands and can hold their own. You can hotwire abilities to particular buttons for quick action, or you can pull up the circle menu, which pauses the action, and lets you be more strategic in your approach. Splendid effects add to the fun, from pulling enemies out from behind cover as they fly overhead into walls or off platforms, to enemies freezing into sold ice sculptures incapable of movement. The environments and enemy variety always keep things interesting, you’ll never feel like you’re going through the same fight scenarios again and again.
For only being DLC, Zaeed really does feel like a complete character and not tacked on. He’s got plenty of nostalgic moments to talk about, from hijacking starships to killing slavers. His voice actor (Robin Sachs) really got the part down pat with flying colors.
Despite all of this, the game isn’t perfect; but it’s pretty darn close. One problem I had was that the text in messages was extremely tiny and difficult to read. I wasn’t using a huge widescreen TV, but I sure wouldn’t call it small (40 inch I think). Loading times can sometimes get a bit ridiculous, varying from 10-60 seconds. But even that couldn’t compare to the horribly tedious planet scanning. Although in about 80% of the systems there’s a mission for you to complete, all planets can be probed for resources to use to purchase upgrades for weapons and your ship. The problem is that scanning a planet, which takes about eight or so minutes when you aren’t bored out of your mind, can only leave you satisfied for so long. I eventually just skipped scanning planets that didn’t have missions because I had already gained enough resources to build myself the Eiffel Tower (other than Element Zero, which is in incredibly small supply in comparison to the other three). Planet Exploration basically got the boot, you no longer drive around planets surveying the planet (which scanning replaced) or completing run-of-the-mill missions. I miss the exploration, but thankfully Bioware made sure that none of the side missions feel the generic, and they have their own (small) story behind them.
But when it’s all said and done, Mass Effect 2 comes out on top with a new spring in its step and only a few scratches. It does just about everything right, no matter how radical, and other developers should learn from Bioware. They did a magnificent job not just with Mass Effect, but with rpgs in general, and they are a developer to be reckoned with. Quite honestly, if ME2 was released in 2009, it would have won game of the year in my book. Combat, writing, voice acting, animation, even the game throws in a bit of comedy to keep players more than happy. I logged in over forty good hours with the game exploring everything and anything, those of you that’ll make a beeline for the main story only will stay play about seventeen hours. Whichever way you go, you’ll know that you’re playing an intense action thriller that leaves you hanging on to the very end.
Legendary Meter of Legends:
I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I----------I-------0---I
((1-1.9 Disgrace to Existence; 2-2.9 Your Grandma’s Made Better; 3-3.9 Drink Coaster; 4-4.9 Mega Suck; 5-5.9 Temporary Frisbee; 6-6.9 Meh; 7-7.9 Mediocre; 8-8.9 Something Worth Bragging About; 9-9.9 Legendary; 10 Perfection, Build a Shrine For it and Pray to it Every Night))
Score 9.7 Legendary
Righteous: The character driven story is epic; combat has been revamped and is simply outstanding; fixed a lot of the problems from the original; interruption system is original; no more elevators!
Despicable: It makes a lot of references to the first game, those that didn’t play the first may be left out of the loop a little (highly suggests buying the original); planet scanning becomes monotonous; little things here and there; very tiny text.
For the Love of Shamoo: Feed your fish!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alright so if all of you could form a line over there, I'll start accepting your hate mail. Oh wait, some of you didn't hate it? No way. But if you did happen to like it (Pfft, not a chance, only nerds play wrpgs
) I'll keep doing this kind of thing on a weekly basis, where I offer my not important opinion on not important gaming topics that no one cares about, like whether or not video games are "art" or not. Or perhaps do reviews, the latter however requires a lot of money if I have to buy a new game every week. I'm open to any suggestions you have about the discussion/review, and I'm accepting review ideas for next week. Thanks again for reading, and please feel free to post any opinions you have.Games I'd be inclined to buy (can't be on PS3, do not own):
-No More Heroes 2
-Metroid Trilogy
-Anything that was released in 09 (Borderlands, AC2, A Boy and his Blob)
-Bioshock 2
-Anything that will keep you reading, seriously.
