Unbelievably better than I had expected!

I had purchased the original Mass Effect based on critical reviews. A fine game, especially at the time, but nonetheless I was a little nonplussed. I remember cranky inventory issues and somewhat clunky semi 'real time' combat. And to tell the truth by the time its sequel came around my grasp on story/character occurrences was a bit shaky. Despite this, just having a state of the art RPG that wasn't a Japanese sword n' sorcery reiteration was fresh air. A gritty and significantly more mature affair than the too often overtly corny Japanese style games. And a grand space opera at that.

I expected Mass Effect 2 to be a solid title. Bioware, the team that created it, has a history of well designed, polished, and successful games that has come to easily rival Square/Enix. And unlike the original, I wasn't the least bit disappointed with this offering. I had no idea just how vast and encompassing the universe of Mass Effect had become until well into the game. Nor can I stress just how much more frantically fun the combat is in the sequel.

I have read complaints about the manner in which Bioware distilled the original combat into its present form. No more clunky and constant inventory access. No items at all. Weapons and armor are bought at a few select shops in as few cities. You select your weapon loadout for your characters at the beginning of a mission and with only a handful of exceptions this is what you must use for the entirety of said mission. Purchased armor/accessories are applied via a loadout station located in your cabin aboard your ship, the Normandy. No longer are you circling the battlefield like a vulture to inspect each and every little drop from a vanquished foe. For the most part, the only pickups you collect are heatsink clips. Again, clips being another new addition allowing you to fire off your weapons as unceasingly as you like granted you have the extra clips as ammo.

Frankly, I found the new combat system an absolute blast to play. Much more often than not the combat feels on par with the best shooters such as Gears of War in style. With just a few intuitive button presses I can storm into a room, take evasive cover from oncoming fire and during a lull, leap over cover and bull rush my opponent with deadly effect. Biotic skills are varied, useful, and by and large very cool to use. Some such as Lift/Pull/Throw are limited only by imagination in the mayhem you can create. Biotic Shockwave launches a pounding stream of energy along the ground that makes quite a sight of flying bodies if it rams a grouping of enemies. Incinerate makes an inferno out of your opponent, Cryo Blast a slab of ice begging to be smashed into tiny bits. If it isn't obvious, biotics pass off as the 'magic' of these games and seem plausible in descriptions of use. Many weapons/personnel upgrades/ship upgrades are researchable aboard ship granted you have the mined materials that apply to them. Scanning and mining planets is perhaps the weakest link to Mass Effect 2, but even then it was strangely engaging in short sessions.

Alas, I haven't even touched upon the story. And story as much as the combat is fantastic. You and your team will make tough choices, moral and otherwise. And these choices can create subtle changes, major changes, or even death. But almost all it seemed did make a difference and that is a marvel of game design. It doesn't hurt that exploring teammates stories are often fascinating. I'm out of type, JUST BUY IT

Mass Effect 2 may be Game of the Year 2011 check it out

Mass Effect 2 may not have the mad throngs of rabid game buyers lined up like the Call of Duty titles, but it is no less relevant. The mad scientist programmers at Electronic Arts have brought ME2 to the PS3 with more features than any previous editions of the franchise game. The game picks up where the last version left off, even giving a comic book style recap for those new to the story. Some players of the first Mass Effect may not like the way the story picks up, but the writers at EA gave us plenty of new features to make anyone forget the old game.
You will have the opportunity to put together your own team of killers to protect humanity from it's deadliest threat ever. The fighting sequences are stellar, as are the variety of weapons available. You will need to explore the universe (really, you will need to explore a HUGE universe) to assemble the best team to go to battle.
The graphics are stunning, and the game should keep most gamers busy for weeks at least, not a couple days like so many disappointing games in the recent past.
Mass Effect 2 for Playstation 3 is well worth the $59, and may even end up getting the covetted Game of the Year title for 2011.

Fascinating and hugely enjoyable experience!

Mass Effect 2's greatest strength once again falls upon the beauty of its universe and the carefully interwoven character dramas underpinning the action. It's a fascinating and hugely enjoyable experience that serves not only as a reminder of how wide the valley between a 'great and an 'excellent' game actually is, but why BioWare is still one of the most vital and important developers out there today.

Games like Mass Effect 2 don't come around often enough. Look at any aspect and you can be sure it's great. It's incredibly personal while still retaining a sense of epic sweeping scale. The combat and mission design are outstanding. The visuals, voice acting, soundtrack, and direction are miles ahead of the competition. Perhaps most impressively, Mass Effect 2 manages to fulfill its incredible ambition while only suffering from very few technical hiccups. The only real caveat I should mention is that some of the revelations and plot twists won't be quite as powerful if you haven't played Mass Effect 1, but that isn't any reason to skip this fantastic videogame.

10 Presentation
Clean and sophisticated. Brilliant and cinematic.
9.5 Graphics
Exceptional artistic direction and a top notch-technical showcase.
10 Sound
Martin Sheen steals the show, even amidst all of the outstanding voice acting and music.
9.5 Gameplay
Tight mechanics, thrilling combat, and deep role-playing. The design is unparalleled.
10 Lasting Appeal
A remarkable achievement in adapting a story to your decisions. It creates amazing replay value.
9.6
Incredible

Full Review by IGN
http://xbox360.ign.com/ar​ticles/106/1062898p1.html

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Mass Effect Two

The world of Mass Effect is full of intrigue, excitement, random acts of kindness (or violence, depending on your disposition), and boring mind-numbing mini-games that will leave you scratching your head as to why they were allowed in the game in the first place. Playing Mass Effect (1) is a must as you can import your character from the first game, along with all the choices you made along the way, which lead to exciting, and interesting plot turns. Here is a list of Pros and Cons for Mass Effect Two:

Pros:
Improved combat - You no longer feel like a badass who can walk in and destroy a place without much effort. Even on Insanity (in Mass 1) you get to the point where you can pretty much walk in the open and destroy anything that comes at you.

Improved Graphics - Amazing visuals, much better than the first

Improved Dialogue - If you didn't think it was possible...well, it is. Relationships are expanded and you actually feel like you are getting to know the character as opposed to just hitting random dialogue choices.

Normandy - The Normandy (this time around) is a lot of fun to explore, there are loads of areas which you will actually use, as opposed to the first game where you only really ever use the Star Map


Cons:

BRING BACK THE MAKO! I cannot be the only person who enjoyed that little guy, I hate the planet scanning missions.

Loyalty missions - while bringing in wanted Achievement Points - really are a drag...most of them consist of "fetch this person, fight through this group of people to get to him, talk to him...make a decision whether to keep him/her alive, you're done"

Minigames- I hated the constant code snippet and hack minigames, so boring.

TOO SHORT - The overall mission took little to no time to complete, and had I not done all the loyalty missions I probably could have finished the game in less than 10 hrs.

Final Boss....wow...I don't even know what to say...I thought you were better than this Mass Effect, I thought you were better than this


Overall the game is amazing and I encourage everyone to give it a shot! Make sure you play the first one before ME2 though.

better than the original

Combat is much improved, the best part of the game but not outstanding in any way. Think of it as Gears of War Lite.

No inventory system, not exactly a positive aspect.
It went from a horrible inventory system to none at all.

Stores offer very few items to purchase, upgrades are the only thing available.
If you like lots of weapons and skills, this is not the game for you.

Planet exploration is painfully boring, few anomalies and exploring them does not grant you anything special. Most are very bland.

Story was not so good but story presentation was great.
The beginning of the story appeared to be manufactured purely for marketing reasons, created speculation on who you would play as. Let me tell you a secret, you play as the same character you did in the first one. The marketing team lied to you for over a year to make you interested in buying the game. It appeared to work. To me it seemed that the writers wanted to write one story and the publishers wanted another one so they went from killing him off completely to resurrecting him. To me it was pointless, they could have had him switch alliances a more believable way.
The main story is also very short, the majority of the game has you recruiting new members and gaining their loyalty. Most of this is completely optional. The entire game is designed to prepare you for the final battle, too bad the final battle is very short and easy compared to some of the other side missions.
I wish that they would present mass murder that was going on more vividly. The people you encounter in the game, including the crew, do not seem bothered (even the good guys are cold) with the systematic execution of hundreds of thousands of people. Many other games do much better at showing the results of mass murder.

The main bad guys look like the flood from halo, complete with a hive-mind. They are not nearly as scary or menacing as the flood on halo though. The majority of your opponents in the side missions are from two opposing mercenary gangs, red or blue.

In summary:
Better than the original but still average in every way.
I would give it a 8/10

Side Note:
I wish they could find the magic that made Knights of the Old Republic so great.