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Even after the massive success of Dragon Age: Origins at the end of 2009, BioWare chose not to rest on its laurels. Instead, the hit-making game developer rolled out its next blockbuster just a few months later in the form of Mass Effect 2. The sequel to BioWare’s groundbreaking Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 improves on virtually every complaint that plagued its predecessor’s legacy while providing a fresh new romp through Commander Shepard’s world.
Image: BioWare
Fans of the first game will be happy to know that Mass Effect 2 picks up shortly after the end of Mass Effect 1. Commander Shepard and the rest of the crew of the Normandy are on patrol when the ship is attacked, causing widespread chaos and the death of Shepard. Fortunately, Cerberus is able to retrieve Shepard’s body and bring the galactic hero back to life over the course of two years, just in time for Shepard to embark on an adventure to save the universe from a new threat.
Players that completed the first Mass Effect game are able to import their saved data into Mass Effect 2, a relic from games of yore that is incorporated extremely well. Even if you’re starting from scratch, Mass Effect 2’s character creation allows you to customize everything from your exact eye size and mouth shape to your military background and character class.
Veterans of the first game will be very familiar with Mass Effect 2’s combat system, one that skillfully combines third-person shooter elements with a strong RPG underpinning. Controlling Shepard and your two party members involves the use of pause-and-play mechanics and a radial wheel that gives you easy access to your party’s skills and equipment. Mass Effect 2’s thrilling combat system keeps you on the edge of your seat and requires a refreshing dose of tactics, but your hand-eye coordination will also be tested.
Bioware obviously listened to the fans when developing Mass Effect 2, as the tedious exploration of generic planets and the strange pseudo-loading screens are gone. However, planet scanning, Mass Effect 2’s way of earning money for upgrades and gear, is arguably as tedious. The copious amount of side quests and the huge main plot more than make up for tedious mini-games.
All in all, fans of the first game are all but guaranteed to have a blast with Mass Effect 2, but even newcomers will find plenty to enjoy in this title. Fans looking for a traditional RPG romp might not enjoy the action-packed combat system, but for the rest of us, Mass Effect 2 is definitely not a title to miss.
All images from BioWare
I love the choices carrying over feature in the mass effect universe, but their are some glitches I would like to point out in the hopes that Bioware is watching and willing to update mass effect 2.
Warning may contain spoilers
Conrad Verner is always going to act like you dealt with him the renegade way even though I was a Paragon in ME1; other people have had this problem
The Sirta Foundation news report said that it was likely to close because it never recovered from biotic extremists 2 years ago, I’m guessing that was the mass effect 1 paragon mission; I made very sure that every researcher in that station survived. There is a bug in mass effect 1 where in the elevator; the news broadcast describes the worst possible outcome of that mission, not sure if the 2 are related.
The consort also gets blamed for intelligence leaks in the news even though I’ve dealt with both the general and the elcore, not sure if that is a glitch or not.
Combat journal records the opposite choice you made in N7 Javelin missile launch, herd it will not affect file transfer.
This is not a glitch but I want a mission or an option to go back to Feros to see the results of my choices their, because I tried very hard to keep things going like: doing all the side missions, saving all the colonists, and not killing Jong.
These glitches are only minor, the game is still very good, and I have played it several times over and am still playing it.