Mass Effect 2 Review

by WalllessFury

                      

                       Bioware brings another game to its expanding studio with the sequel to its award-winning game of 2008.

                       Story : You play as Captain John Shepard, a space commander that has just saved the unniverse from total extinction. Within the first 10 minutes of the game, you meet the next problem (not going to spoil it). As the game progresses you learn that the Human colonies are mysteriously disappearing and it is your job to find out why and who, and stop it.

                       Gameplay : The game is a third person roleplay shooter. Each mission load out allows you to take 2 party members (10 total) and 5 weapons compared to the 2 AI gets (Machine Gun, Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Handgun, and Heavy). The difference between the 2 games is that you dont have unlimited ammo in this one.
You have indivual powers that come in handy when you are swarmed by the enemy. Among them, Pull and Unity, were the 2 most frequently used by myself and AI. Pull grabs them or their cover, disrupting their attack. Unity is the health power. When the AI goes down injured, there will be a message that tells you to use it. Like the last game the health regeneration is allowed by getting into cover.
You get a ship to fly to different worlds. Compared to the first game, its twice the size. Adding captain and crew Living Quarters. You are treated to owning fishes and a gerbil type animal. You need to take care of them or they will die. The Developers added a small mini-game to explore uncharted teritory. In the first game, you could move your cursor to a world and see if there is anything on it. In this one you manually scan the planet using your LT to start the scan. Your LS moves the scanner, your RS moves the world. On screen there is a graph that shows 4 elements you look for. What you are looking for, is a spike or rise on the graph. These 4 elements allow you to research upgrades for your weapons, ship, armor, and prototypes. The little ship uses up fuel at a slow rate during short trips, but eats it quickly while moving between galaxies or bigger systems. The scanner also holds 30 probes that automatically collects the elements when you press RT when you find the spike.

                        Sound/Graphics : The game incorporates a star-studded cast into a cool graphical array. Seth Green, Keith David, Tricia Helfer, Martin Sheen, Adam Baldwin, and Carrie-Anne Moss lend their voices to the game.
As you enter the orbit of each world you will notice a pretty plain world, but if you can and do land on it, you will be amazed at the majestic scenery. Loading times are quite long and frequent. Sound pauses at times, not sure if its because of the dialogue wanting to pause for effect or not.

Pros : Great Storyline
              Awesome Graphics
              Cool Characters

Cons : Loading screens
               Slow Scanner
               3 person team
               AI is quite dumb

Overall:  I would recommend this game for anyone who loves Bioware games, RPG’s, or the first Mass Effect.

Score 9/10

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