Review of Mass Effect 2 and why I haven’t seen the sunlight in weeks

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Written by Erik Kubik Friday, 18 February 2011 06:00

For PS3 owners it’s been a long wait to get a chance to experience this critically acclaimed game. What can I say for someone like me: it seems to be the perfect blend of KOTR meets action. Does this mean every gamer will like Mass Effect 2?

EA was smart with Mass Effect 2. They took everything people loved about Mass Effect 1, the story, the characters, the action, and the mature themes. EA dumbed down the RPG elements for gamers who wanted to play but wanted less of the traditional role-playing experience that typically leads to micro managing everything from NPCs to upgrades and items. Gamers rejoice there is no grinding of levels here.

Mass Effect 2’s game play is great about avoiding micro management. All the upgrades for weapons, abilities, and item choices seem so streamlined. In case you didn’t know the action of the game is fast. There area no lengthy dungeons that force the player to restart if you die. There’s an automated save system coupled with a manual save; they come in handy as I died a lot. Most of my dying came from running with guns blazing, my old Fallout 3 standard, something I had to tweak for Mass Effect 2.

So as a first time player of Mass Effect 2, would I recommend it to non-RPG fans? Sure hands down, consider it an action game with a few play style choices. Although I have a few concerns based on what I felt was the time commitment and bang for your buck. As with any game, one can rush through it if they so desire and avoid picking up certain party members if you want to. One can also skirt the loyalty missions and participate in the ones you want to use based on what party members you’ll be using through the game. All the down time on the ship, which I later found out, can be skipped. The same applies to a majority of the cut screens and dialogue options, which can lead to a few head scratching moments.  I just wanted to rush through the game so I could play it again in the near future.

But if one chooses you can play this game for a very long time. Do every side mission, do every loyalty mission, collect and upgrade everything, utilize the free DLC. Get sucked into the story; embrace what gamers on the 360 love. I guarantee 60+ hours of time easily. Better yet, as many of my fellow gamers have suggested, this seems to be a couples’ game, with one person playing and the other person maintaining a coaching/gps role. Mass Effect 2 is a great example of getting the most bang for your buck. Who needs crazy FPS multiplayer when they have a game capable of absorbing all your free time? No matter how you play the game, Mass Effect 2 does a good job of letting the player decide if they want to take the short route or the long route.

There are only a few things that bugged me throughout Mass Effect 2. The load times seemed lengthy. Whether it was when I died or sometimes going to a new area. Although I enjoyed the story there is so much information one has to be careful not to get sucked into everything. This means reading, researching, and understanding every aspect, you might forget about the game and get trapped in a loop of useless information.

So if you haven’t taken the plunge, get the game and sit back and enjoy the RPG that is not an RPG, or the game that most everyone is going to enjoy.

 

Comments  

 
# Cole Burton 2011-02-18 12:25
I loved the first Mass Effect on my 360 but I forced myself to hold off on the sequel because (setting up defenses for flame) I don't play my 360 enough to get absorbed. Imagine my excitement when I heard its coming to PS3. What an adventure!
 

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