Mass Effect 2
I bought Mass Effect 2 the other day. This is partly the reason the daily diary thing has ceased to be (the other partly being the lack of interesting things in my life). So it’s back to ‘I like this, but not that’ again.
And I like Mass Effect 2 (ME2). The original ME was a potentially stunning achievement, ruined by sloppy AI and a horrific comabt system. Luckily, Bioware must have taken heed of my review and sorted all of this out, and more.
ME2 comes roaring back with everything improved. The graphics, while eye-blisteringly sexy in ME, are back with an extra level of polish; some of the textures used on the alien races have to be seen to be believed. I played this on the big telly at the weekend in full pelt 1080p HD and it was sensational. The wife walked in and asked why I wasn’t playing the game any more. Literally incredible.
The story is much of the same from ME, with political intrigue, a huge universe and a set of believable characters to populate it. Gone though is the horrible Mako exploration vehicle from the first game, with players now being dumped straight in the thick of things. This improves upon the first game a lot. You’d find yourself wandering aimlessly round a barren alien world looking for a fight for anything up to 10 minutes. This is not fun.
The new missions (up to now, I’m about 6 hours in) have been about recruiting squad members. This entails busting them from prisons or stopping assassination teams from getting there first. Above all the missions are fun, and feel like they have a natural purpose about them. You genuinely feel like you want to do as the game is asking, for the sake of the game’s continuity and not just because it fills the game out a bit. It’s all killer and no filler (again, up to now).
The combat is a revelation. The original game’s cover and squad command systems have been overhauled to give a much more natural feel. Yeah, you still get the odd time a character gets stuck behind a door or whatever (very rarely) but you can tell them to move ahead, tell them to blow stuff up, or just send them to their certain deaths if the mood takes you.
It’s incredible. The almost perfect ME has been polished and polished until a perfect game remained. It’s like Gears Of War meets Final Fantasy VII in space. A must buy, as far as I’m concerned.
10/10
