Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Adam Larck on 02.01.2010

Shepard and crew are back. How does one of the first big titles of 2010 fare? Find out inside.


Title: Mass Effect 2
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: BioWare
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1
Rated: M for Mature

After a two year and a few month hiatus, Commander Shepard is back trying to save the galaxy from the Reaper threat. The game picks up a month after the events from the first game, and introduces new characters and places while bringing back old ones as well. However, is this a must have title for gamers? Read on to find out.

Gameplay:

(Author’s note: This review was played with a save loaded from Mass Effect 1 and choosing Paragon choices when given an option. A new character was also made to see the differences on importing options.)

The first thing you’ll notice when you boot up Mass Effect 2 is that it asks for the redeem code for Cerberus Network. This lets you get the free content that’s already available and is a nice feature to see news about the game and upcoming content.

When you finally get into the game, you’re given the option to import a save from the original Mass Effect if you’ve beaten the game. Depending on that character’s level, you can start the game at up to level 5 with extra money and resources to use. The importing allows you to use the character’s appearance and class. It also remembers choices you made in the first game and can alter what will happen in this game.

Once again, there are six classes to choose from: soldier, infiltrator, vanguard, sentinel, adept and engineer. Each has their own strengths, weaknesses and special abilities that can be used. They also have certain weapons that can be used. I went with the soldier to have access to all weapons and choose partners strong in tech and biotics to back me up in those areas.

The game starts off with the Normandy being attacked by a Reaper. After an explosive beginning, you take control of Shepard as he works for Cerberus to recruit members to stop the Reaper threat. Instead of fighting the Geth like in the last game, the Reapers are now paired with a new group you’ll meet during the game.

Like in the first game, the gameplay style is third person over the shoulder and it still works great. There are various guns to use, and switching between them is fairly simple. You just hold LB and choose the gun you want and you want your teammates to use.

To equip guns, you change your selection either before a mission or at a weapon’s cabinet. You find guns during missions that can upgrade what you already are using. You can also change your armor on the Normandy to alter different benefits that can be gotten. Many of these can be upgraded as well once you find the Professor.

Using biotics and tech is also easy, as you can map up to three different ones to various buttons to quick tap to use. You can also pull up a selection wheel with the RB to choose specifically what you want your teammates to use and what you want to use as well. These do take a short time to recharge, but can tell when they’re done recharging by a bar that fills up below a character.

Health and shields regenerate when you don’t take damage for a short time, and the Med Gel is back to revive teammates with. You start out only being able to carry three, but can upgrade to carry more.

There are two new hacking minigames in the game to play to get money or open doors. One has you finding three parts of a code and activating them as they scroll by, while the other has you playing memory to connect four points. Each has a time limit and will lock you out if you mess up the hack.

As you progress through the game doing various missions, you’ll recruit new teammates to help. Each has their own specialties and benefits that are discussed later on. These teammates can be positioned using the D-Pad for strategies, but they can function on their own as well. Also, like in the last game, you can have sex with some of the female members.

Speaking of teammates, you’ll run into some old ones during missions. Some you can try and recruit, while others will just talk to you. In fact, one of the more interesting conversations happened for me with Ashley midway through the game.

Also back is good and bad karma. This seemed to have more weight in the game, as choosing either the Paragon or Renegade choices can sometimes open up different things to do in a cutscene to greatly alter what is happening, depending on your level of good or evil. Sometimes I stopped a person from killing someone, while other times I attacked first, taking the element of surprise.

A lot of the adventure will be spent traveling around to different planets uncovering them. Most of them just feature minerals to be mined to be used to upgrade things. However, you can sometimes find hidden quests to do as well.

The last thing I want to touch on here is disc swapping. The swapping seemed a bit abrupt, as it was done right before I started a quest. However, it is not done in the middle of a mission at least, and doesn’t really break the flow.

Overall, the gameplay was fluid while fighting, and held up to the high standards other BioWare RPGs have. The team did a great job with this game and it can be seen as you progress through the game and galaxy.

Graphics:

Graphically, Mass Effect 2 is top notch. The characters are extremely detailed and the alien races look great. Even the people from the original group have received a graphic update, yet still have the features that make them memorable from the first game.

Another thing that was nice to see was the Normandy. The ship has a lot to explore and, even as you walk around to talk to people, you can easily get distracted looking at the ship and noticing small details the developer put in.

Something fans of the original Mass Effect will be glad is gone is the elevator loading screens. Replacing them are loading screens showing off the Normandy, characters or various other things. While the loading screens are also a bit shortened as well, it’s just nice to not have to sit through long elevator trips just to get up and down areas.

The places you visit also are varied and great to roam around in. While I was looking for salvage and other things during missions, I also was taking in the atmosphere from planets and buildings I went through.

In fact, probably the only thing that felt recycled was enemies. There are quite a few generic enemies you’ll face throughout the game. However, these are justified, as many of them are droids that have been mass produced.

The only glitch I ran into was that a player could get stuck on a box, get pushed up and have to try to find a way off of it. When this happened I was completely exposed and was just lucky I had my teammates to take the enemies out.

This small glitch aside, the graphics are great and well done. No matter where you are, there’s always something to see or explore.

Sound:

The soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in a while. The various orchestra tracks I heard throughout the game really matched the futuristic feel and complimented the cutscenes.

Another thing that’s well done is the voice acting. Shepard and the crew actually sounded believable when arguing and talking with each other. The actors and actresses for each person really nailed their parts.

As an aside, the choice of Martin Sheen as The Illusive Man was great. Considering some of his previous acting roles, seeing him as the person behind the scenes manipulating what was going on was a great addition to the cast that paid off in adding to the game.

Overall, I had no complaints with the sound. It was done great and I really can’t think of anything extra that could have been added to improve it.

Lasting Appeal:

The game easily offers 20-30 hours of gameplay if you just focus on the main quest. However, you don’t play a game like this wanting to do just the main quest.

While you don’t have to recruit every character in the game, it’s a wise decision to, as each of them can offer an upgrade for the ship or themselves, as well as quests that can make them loyal to you if you complete them. The loyalty can unlock a third ability for them to use, as well as an alternate costume.

Another thing that gives Mass Effect 2 a lot of staying power is the sheer number of planets there are to explore. Even if you don’t feel like harvesting on each one to upgrade everything you can, some planets offer distress beacons that can open up more quests to do that give you extra experience, money, research projects and more.

If you fully explore everything and do all the quests that are available, 40-60 hours can easily put into this game. In addition, BioWare has already said that new missions and content for the game will be available in the Cerberus Network in the future, so players will have a lot to keep them busy with in the game.

Fun Factor:

Throughout the game, there was never a time I felt bored. Whether it was talking to my teammates to get to know them or exploring planets to mine or finding new quests, I always wanting to see what would happen next in the game and kept moving the story forward.

Probably some of the best moments for me actually came in just seeing what options you could have Shepard say during confrontations. Being able to scare someone off or destroy them before they had a chance to shoot was hugely rewarding for me and made the game that much more enjoyable.

Overall, from beginning to end there was never a moment for me where it felt like the game really slowed down and dragged. If you’re a fan of action RPGs, this game will not disappoint you.

The 411:

Even though it’s only January, we may be looking at a game of the year contender already. The graphics are amazing, the universe is alive and the characters have great personality. Add in great gameplay, a huge amount of places to explore and the promise of DLC, and you have a top tier game. A must have game for 360 owners, and a game that non-system owners should at least go out of their way to try.

Graphics	9.0	The characters look amazing, the ship looks great and the planets look disjavascript:addGameArticlePicture();tinct and different. Some of the best polished graphics I’ve seen in a while.
Gameplay	9.5	The game has an abundance of stuff to do while exploring, and the fighting feels fluid from using powers to shooting. BioWare took what they did good and improved it farther for this game.
Sound	10.0	The soundtrack is amazing. It really fits a futuristic/space feel. Plus, the character voices are done well and the inclusion of Martin Sheen is a nice touch.
Lasting Appeal	9.5	With the Cerberus Network promising quite a bit of DLC in the future, plus so much to explore in the game, players should be having fun for a long time.
Fun Factor	10.0	Whether it was completing quests, exploring planets or even mining for resources, there was never a boring moment for me.
Overall	9.6   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 11 Mass Effect 2 Screenshots