Yet Another Mass Effect 2 Review

Mass Effect 2 Review XBOX 360

by Steve Quinn

Storyline:

The storyline is simple really, a ship crashes – you are the only survivor, make a new team. Well actually its a little bit more complex than that. The story of Mass Effect 2 begins in 2183, not long after the events of Mass Effect take place. While on patrol to locate and destroy any remaining race of sentient machines, your ship the Normandy, comes under attack by an unknown assailant. Forcing the crew to evacuate via escape pods. Joker, the helmsman, continues to pilot the ship despite the damage to it and is rescued by Shepard, who drags Joker out of his seat and into an escape pod. Before he/she may board the escape pod, however, Shepard is sent flying and debris slicing through his/her suit as the Normandy is attacked once again. He/she suffocates and dies; his/her body is seen entering the atmosphere of a nearby planet.

Commander Shepard’s body is located and retrieved by Cerberus, an extremist pro-human organization, and, over the course of two years, attempts are taken to bring Shepard back to life through a project known as “Lazarus.” I say he/she because it depends on what you choose really. When setting up your game you get to choose your sex, your class..such as engineer/soldier etc. and also the background and psychological profile which will effect the actions you take as the story progresses through out the game.

---

Graphics:

According to players of Mass Effect the characters in Mass Effect 2 are more detailed not only graphically, but technically. In the original Mass Effect, Commander Shepard only had 20 animations for cover, while in Mass Effect 2, the character has over 200. The world is also more open-ended in this instalment; uncharted worlds, of which the player could explore for “cheap thrills” in the first game, are now more detailed and include more to explore. Also the character customisation is great, could be better but you hardly see the face anyway really so its not so bad. One thing I thought was great is that at the bottom of the screen you get a code, kinda like DNA which you can then pass on to your mates who can make their ‘Shepard’ look just like yours, or possibly improve etc. For example if you want your commander Shepard to look like mine, he is on the left, then the code you would need is: 342.6IA.AW6.12F.DDE.E75.QUB.6BE.N96.7B2.155.5

The code will make sense once you get the game, and believe me you should. Playing this game is so much fun and if your a sci-fi fan then its just brilliant. Oh and another thing, if you have Mass Effect 1 then you can import your character into this version too. Also depending on your actions your scars may heal or may appear more dominant…and if your clever why not try making a celebrity and sharing the code with us in the comment section below. JackHill08 of EAForumsUK had a go at making Bruce Willis, See here: http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/12595400-post12.html

---

Gameplay:

The game just don’t want to seem to end, for me anyway. I am constantly picking it up and redoing it for more achievements and also to see ‘what would happen if…’ because there is multiple choice questions and answers, such as what’s in Dragon Age Origins also by Bioware you get given Paragon & Renegade points, Paragon is good and shown in blue and Renegade is bad and shown as red. Depending on your choice you gain points which will give more conversation options as the game moves forward. I couldn’t help but think that this game has taken bits from Star Trek and Star Wars, so many alien races and weaponry that seems fresh out of a 70’s sci-fi show its just great. Even the captains quarters where you can customise your Armour and Casual wear appears to be very Star Trek-ish.
Whilst on a mission you may find certain items that you can hack which reward you with credits to buy new stuff such as things to wear or shoot. If I was you I would save the game before you hack because I found the ‘text segment’ hack challenges were slightly harder than the ‘match the symbols’ version. So if you make a mistake – reload, simple. I guess the fact that you can save at any point is a bonus too. 3Hours of gameplay will definitely feel like 30minutes, it just sucks you in like an overpowered hoover. I also don’t think anyone has said anything bad about this Bioware/EA title. I also need to mention that with customisation of your character you can change the voice too but not in a way I would like, I feel that altering the pitch would have been an excellent feature to have had….oh well, maybe next time

---

How Does It Handle:

In the game there is some videos that you can view which will show you all you need to know and also give you an achievement too so make sure you check them out but the controls are not too complicated to handle as the 1st couple of levels are all about what each control does.

---

What’s The Score:

Hmm…..well I am going to give this game a 9/10 its great through-out and even though its 2 discs you will see why. Out of all the games I have tested recently this is definitely the best one.