Better Late Than Never: ME2 Review 0

by Chad Blue • Reviews

The galactic action packed soap opera is back! And whether you like it or not Bioware and Mass Effect are the Jay Z of gaming because they are laying the Blueprint. You cannot turn your head at the fact, even if you don’t like Mass Effect, that Bioware is simply showing the world how to make a complete interactive cinematic experience. And I would label Mass Effect 2 as an experience as much as it is a game. Ok, enough horn blowing.
What does Mass Effect 2 do better than 1?
Easy…Everything!!! And let me tell you that is nearly impossible to do no matter the medium. Movie, music, games, whatever….making a part 2 completely better than the 1st in every aspect is damn near impossible. I will name a few things. The 1st is something that my brothers claim not to like from the 1st. Shooting. I was skeptical that Bioware decided to add an ammo system to the 2nd installment. But they did, and it works. Yes you are shooting these baddies in real time, while telling your squad mates what to do ala Ghost Recon style. The battle pause is still here, which Bioware 1st introduced in the KOTOR series. For all the Haters it isn’t mandatory to use. You can even quick map moves to your LB, RB, and Y buttons if you want to feel more in charge of the free flow action. You can even map your team’s moves so you don’t have to pause battle. But as far as shooters go this game is very strategic. Enemies flank, rush cover, and shoot from a distance, and sometimes all at once. So sometimes planning is better than rushing head strong. 1 last point on the ammo is the ability to change to different types of ammos. Fire, ice, warp, whatever. And it all works well with the new ammo system.
On to more better. One big change is planet exploration. No more Mako. No more driving around. I, for one, loved driving around. Yes annoying sometimes, but I still loved it. ME2…no driving. Now some don’t like the idea but I’m a big advocate on the introduction of planet scanning. You can now scan the whole surface of a planet and send out probes to retrieve minerals. In ME1 the minerals were an almost “who cares” item. Now they are necessary to upgrade your weapons, shields, and yes even your new Normandy space shuttle. Sometimes you will find side missions while scanning a planet. And each side mission has been put on steroids and given its own unique level and feel. Going back to the upgrade system, there is no more selling un-needed equipment. You can buy upgrades or scan dead bodies/computers for research projects that allow your scientist to beef up your weapons and shields.
I can honestly write forever about this game, but I will just mention 1 more important thing. You can take your ME1 character into ME2! All your decisions from the 1st carry over. Depending on your level and money from the 1st you get bonuses upon starting part 2. I was rich in ME1 so obviously I started ME2 with a nice chunk of change. Once you beat ME2 you can even start a 2nd play through with that same character at the same level. And I hope you didn’t kill your main character by the end of ME2, if so, you will be unable to import them into ME3. Which means you can carry over every decision from ME1 and ME2 into part 3. Has this been done before? Maybe, but if so, definitely not on the same scale.
There is definitely a lot more to say on this game, but it is worth checking out on your own. Even if you didn’t like part 1, play part 2. You can even create your part 1 back story if you didn’t play it. This game is a must buy. Anyone who claims they are a gamer, should have this. IF you don’t, I’m sorry because I don’t respect you claiming to be a real gamer. And I stick by that 100%!!!! That goes for you too, Adam and Sean!!!

Submit to N4G:
  • N4G

Related Posts via Categories