Dissection: Mass Effect 2

For all the technical advancement in gaming, high definition graphics, celebrity voice actors and giant orchestral scores that have become commonplace - games still fall flat. Gaming has been stuck in stasis for a long time when it comes to story-telling and characterisation – most developers have trouble making people care, meaning that any sort of work that’s gone into a world is rendered useless as the majority of people condense their gaming experiences to an ultimately rote series of gameplay challenges as cut scenes are skipped and anything that isn’t bashed over their head is ignored. But now thanks to the doctors at Bioware, this all changes with Mass Effect 2.

Bioware seem to have taken all the criticisms (deserved or not) leveled at the first game to heart and specifically gone out to rectify these problems. One of the biggest criticisms of Mass Effect was that the shooter elements were too basic, enemies would stand around in the open as you and your incredibly forgiving reticule blew them away, while your squad members.....shot at the wall. So now, it’s a delight to see that the combat has been overhauled. Firing weapons is much more satisfying thanks to the different feels of each weapon, the different types of enemies and the much improved squad AI. Sure you’ll get the odd instance of a team member standing on top of cover or firing their biotics at nothing but it’s still much better than the original.

The way biotics and abilities work in Mass Effect 2 have been improved immensely, there’s just so much variety there. You’ll create different strategies for different enemies where the fun comes in the way you use the abilities of your squad and combine them with your own. Whether you pull an enemy towards and hit it with a warp blast or overload their shield and then incinerate them – it’s all very satisfying. The way I saw squad mates in Mass Effect 2 were as an extension of Shepard, unlike other squad-based games where they would be weaker versions of your character. Here they exist to make you stronger.

When I say you – I mean you. In a move that’s rarely been seen in games, before you start the game you’re given the option to import your character from the original. Importing your character brings over all your decisions you made – large or small. Let someone die in the first game? They won’t be here – piss off an NPC? That’ll come back to bite you. It’s amazing to see how characters react differently to you, environments are different and how well the game fits together.

It’s also important to note here that Mass Effect 2 is a third person action game first and foremost – you don’t earn experience and money for every enemy you kill, instead each mission gives you a set amount of each upon completion. What’s also different from your typical RPG is that there is no inventory system. While the original game had you finding hundreds of different weapons that cluttered up your clunky inventory, Mass Effect 2 does away with this system and instead offers 19 different weapons that can be upgraded. Before each mission you get to choose the load out for yourself and your teammates, which keeps it more in action game territory.

The Mako is also out – everyone’s favourite planet traversal vehicle that handled like a shopping cart and was made out of paper mache is gone. Instead, minerals are mined from space with a mini-game that touched my inner obsessive compulsive and when landing on a planet you’re dropped right in front of where you need to go – meaning everything is on foot. There are no more cookie-cutter warehouses – every mission you take on is relatively unique in layout and every side-mission has its own developed back story.

If it could get any better, Bioware have also gone out of their way to fix the many (many) technical problems the original had. For instance, when talking to someone, their skin and hair textures don’t appear the same time as the walls around you like some lucid drug trip, the game also holds a steady framerate despite the action being rather hectic. The visuals have been given a similar treatment – which is astounding considering the level of visual quality seen in the original. From the larger-scale improvements – like the vivid lighting and richer colour in the environments or the better looking biotic powers to the finer visual flourishes, with some great looking weather effects like dust storms and particles moving as you walk through the atmosphere – they’ve really captured the feel of these alien environments.

The improvement in presentation creeps into the games already much-vaunted dialogue system. Instead of the original’s effective yet binary conversation options, that seemed to sit in distinct areas of black and white (which seems to be the standard for any game with moral choices), Mass Effect 2 actually makes the player think about what they’re doing. Responses are often littered with grey areas and at times you’re really in a tight spot, many of these choices have far reaching consequences on the world and it’s characters. Often I would be crestfallen at the outcome of a decision; it’s a system that goes closer to emulating the choices you make in real life than in any other game that’s come before it.

It also helps that the characters in Mass Effect 2 are amazing. As you talk to your squad members, you uncover layer after layer of their personalities and learn who you like and dislike or even empathise with – meaning that the people who accompany you on missions have personally earned it. Bioware have made sure this matters, with some of the game’s biggest decisions impacting on your teammates and even Shepard himself – there’s a wealth of possibilities that depend on how you play the game.

Astute readers would notice by now that I haven’t mentioned anything about the story or even the names of your squad mates. Well, you see, in keeping with the far reaching and personal decisions you’ll make in this game (and in the original too), each player’s experience will be their own – they may not meet the characters I met or make the decisions I did – so not only would revealing the beginning of the game ruin it for you all – any mention of the journey towards the games conclusion in detail would be largely irrelevant. I will say this however – it is a much darker game that focuses on the repercussions of the original while keeping an eye on the third instalment.

But of course this game is not perfect, at times you’ll see through illusion as characters still loop during conversations – or they’ll wander off and disappear when you’ve finished speaking to them, hammering home the fact that you’re still playing a videogame. I’m also perplexed Bioware didn’t add in a timer on some responses to indicate the urgency of a situation – putting people under pressure would lead to more instinctive responses. Also, while the long elevator rides in the original were annoying, you were at least given a bit of dialogue while you waited – loading screens showing an elevator move is not an improvement.

Overall though, these niggles don’t detract from the experience. It’s a game where you make your own experience, a game where you’re literally personally invested in your character and of course it’s one that’s fun. The shooting and biotics are much deeper and polished, the side missions are refreshingly unique, and exploring the galaxy is rewarding. Bioware’s conversation system and characters remain things of beauty – we’ll all look back on Mass Effect 2 years from now as a monumental achievement in gaming. I look forward to Mass Effect 3 with more frothing anticipation than I’ve applied to a game in many years. Seriously, if you didn’t like the original game for any reason, don’t rob yourself of this experience. Take the plunge.




WHAT THEY GOT RIGHT –

Straight Shooter: The original Mass Effect fell flat when it came to the gun play, but Mass Effect 2 brings you to the action with a system not too dissimilar to Gears of War.

Mix n’ Match: Mass Effect 2’s combat system allows you to experiment with your teammates abilities to provide you with strategies that change depending on your foes.

Mako no more: The Mako is dead – no more poorly controlling tanks on planets.

Polished: Not only does the game look better but it runs a lot better too. Texture pop in is a thing of the past.

I remember you: The option to import your character from the original game makes it a cohesive and personal experience.

Speak easy: conversations manage to improve in Mass Effect 2 – every response is much more natural with not every decision being clear cut.

Unique side dish: No more rinse and repeat missions – side missions are all different from one another, often with their own fleshed out stories.



WHAT THEY GOT WRONG -

Robots, everywhere: Some things take you out of the experience as people can be robotic and still loop at times.

Urgency free: They really time-sensitive conversations – giving you infinite time to respond when things are getting hectic is a bit jarring.

Too much loading: So they’ve replaced the elevator rides with a loading screen. Why?