Mass Effect 2

This may seem a bit odd, I've had quite recent games to review lately, when all of a sudden, whoosh! We're back in early 2010, with a Mass Effect 2 review! Well, calm down, because its not THAT much of a retrospective. This is the PS3 edition, though it can be taken as generally similar to the 360 edition, minus the free dlc additions and the engine upgrade. And with that out of the way, let's get into it!

STORY
Following directly after the events of Mass Effect, ME2 puts you in the shoes of Commander Shepard; an Alliance Spectre who's gender and appearance tend to go un-noted in the history records. The game starts with a bang as your ship, The Normandy, comes under fire and is destroyed, leaving your lifeless body floating in the darkness of space.
The game starts by killing you, but its a good set up for the character customization, class choice and beginning conflict within the story.

After you recover from your death, Shepard is informed that human colonies have started disappearing, and it's up to him/her and a band of misfit alien combatants to save humanity, and perhaps all life in the universe.

Mass Effect 2 is billed as an Epic Sci-Fi adventure, and thats pretty much it. The ME Universe has a lot of history, and likable characters. The story has you exploring many planets with their own atmosphere and cultures and it really helps to immerse players into the world. On top of that, it's well written, with lots of plot twists and interesting dialogue (although Bioware don't get points for this anymore).

PRESENTATION
Mass Effect 2 on the PS# looks amazing. I'm willing to bet that this isn't a huge departure from the X-Box 360 graphics, however the PS3 edition is utilizing the engine for Mass Effect 3. On top of this, Mass Effect 2 has a large amount of varied and interesting settings and characters, in a wide range of colours that really make the game look stunning.

The voice acting in ME2 is superb, with actors like Martin Sheen, Yvonne Strahovski (of Chuck fame), Seth Green and Steven Blum portraying just a few of the many interesting characters that Bioware has envisioned. The musical score of this game fits perfectly with the setting, and the sound effects all work well.

One problem I have with the presentation, however, is that the subtitle or conversation text is sometimes unreadable, whether it's too small or blends in with the background.


GAMEPLAY
With such a strong story and presentation, it would be a shame if Mass Effect 2 fell down in the Gameplay department. Luckily, here you'll find solid cover based shooting, with some tactical gameplay thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, the gameplay is ONLY solid, and not as spectacular as the other aspects.

Nowhere near a deal breaker, but the rest of the game is damn near perfect. When I'm actually playing, I tend to enter a trance, where I don't have to take much notice of anything, because everything I'm presented I've seen and done in countless games before ME2. But still, if you ARE just looking for solid 3rd person cover based shooting, I'm sure you can do a lot worse than ME2. Like Kane and Lynch 2. God I hate that game.

Upgrades and resource gathering have always been a part of RPGs and I didn't expect ME2 to be any different. However, the resource gathering here is soooo boring! Theres nothing exciting or fun about scanning the surface of a planet from orbit, then sending probes to do the dirty work. This isn't a necessary part of gameplay, but you need to do it if you want to upgrade your shit, or get the best ending.

For PS3 owners, you also get about 6 hours of free content that had previously been DLC on the XBLA marketplace. Some of the gameplay gets mixed up here, and theres a vehicle section or 5, but nothing so alien that it seems out of place.
In all, theres good gameplay here, but it's outdone by the story and feel of the environments.

REPLAYABILITY
An RPG with multiple choice based missions, with a variety of different endings? WOW! Never seen that before!... But in all seriousness, there is certainly enough content here to keep you more than busy enough on one play through. If you're crazy enough to double that time with another playthrough, doing the opposite of all your choices last time, then theres that option too. And it's always nice to know that if you played good one time, you can be a real asshole the next time through. Its rather cathartic.

OVERVIEW
Get it. Get it now! X-Box owners, if you don't have it already, you've had a year, no excuses! PS3 owners, it's been out for a few months, why not go pick up one of the most intriguing story based games of this generation? Sure, the gameplay is pretty by the numbers, but the story, the effort put in to making this look and sound amazing, and the universe as a whole makes up for anything lacking in the cover-based shooting area.
No, it isn't perfect. There were occasionally bugs during conversation where the NPC's would stop talking a word too soo, or the enemy AI would run into walls, but these are minor gripes on something that is spectacular as a whole.


Not a clue what I'm going to review next weekend, any suggestions? Well, see you next time!