I have now finished the first of what is sure to be several play throughs of Mass Effect 2. It was a beautifully done game, really improving upon the first.
There were 2 points I had issues with:
1. The new ammo system. The idea that ammo would be used instead of overheating like the first game was a good one. The issue is that they rarely let you pick up ammo. There is apparently a shortage of ammo. I spent half of my missions unable to use certain weapons because I didn’t have any ammo left for them. “But Matt you must have just been wasting it.” No I wasn’t. This system REALLY REALLY REALLY needs to be worked out for Mass Effect 3.
2. The same issue I have with all Bioware games. The END BOSS. Seriously Bioware. WTF!?!?! Spamming minions to get to the final boss. Final boss is this seemingly huge enemy yet is the easiest thing to take down in the game. I didn’t even come close to dying during this “Epic Finale”. There were many points in this game where it was close and I barely made it out, and there were several where I actually died and had to go back.
There were also some nit picky things that bothered me such as the slow scanner for when you search for supplies on planets. But this was rather minor in the over all experience of the game. Even though if you want to survive the end you better upgrade your stuff. Because you or teammates will die.
This play through I lost two of my team. Tali (who I didn’t even want back from the first game. Never used her then never wanted to use her here.) and Mordin Solus who was actually an enjoyable character to interact with.
That is really the thing Bioware is good at. Story and characters. I found the squad mates you acquire in this game far more interesting then those in the first game. Even the returning members (Tali and Garrus) were interesting to deal with. Well not Tali. Seriously why did you bring her back Bioware?!?!
The starting members you get Miranda and Jacob were fun to deal with. Both were a lot more deep in character history then the two you started with in ME 1 (Kaiden and Ashley), and that holds true for every character in the game. Speaking of Ashley, that was a lame appearance in the game and same goes for Liara. Just because you can throw them in doesn’t mean you should Bioware. Also I should have been able to kill Udina. I wanted that in the first game. However I liked the larger roles Joker was given in parts of the game.
Two of the most interesting Characters were Legion and Thane. I wish you were able to pick up Legion earlier just to have more interactions with him. Thane should have been available earlier than he was as well. Thane was easily my favorite character in the game. He is the calm, reserved assassin and his species (The Drell) was really cool.
All said and done there was superb gameplay, story, voice acting and RPG elements to the game. It was still a massive upgrade from the first Mass Effect game, and I am really looking forward to seeing how Shepard manages to completely eradicate the Reapers in the next game. Which will be in like another 2 years… Hopefully sooner.
Mass Effect 2 is a must play
