Mass Effect 2 for Xbox 360 had high expectations for fans of the first installment in the planned trilogy. While the first game established itself as a beautifully crafted space opera, the second opened new ground in a bid to carve out a franchise to rival Star Wars.
ME2 takes place 2 years after the events of the first game with players resuming the role of Commander Shepard. The focus of the story is Shepard’s investigation into the recent disappearances of human colonies across the galaxy. Shepard has jumped ship from working as an Alliance Spectre and begins working for a shadowy pro-human organization known as Cerberus.
Players can import their characters from the first game into the second, as well as the choices that were made that impacted the ending of the first. This is a feature that has been properly implemented for carrying over story elements and is something that will likely be picked up by more and more game developers to provide a continuing experience.
The prospect of recruiting new members as well as old comrades may seem daunting considering the amount of time and effort put into the first game, but the story helps propel the player through the necessity of adapting to changing times.
Combat mechanics have changed slightly from the first iteration into the second. Weapons now have ammo clips instead of an overheat system, which would have been a welcome change if players could customize their weapons and ammo like they could in the first. Instead players have to rely on their class tree to determine what ammo bonuses can be achieved.
While the first game had an excess of four weapon models that all looked the same, save for the color, ME2 touts 19 different weapon types. Grenades have been replaced with heavy weaponry, which is odd when considering how useful they are in a gunfight. Weapons are rarely bought and are instead found lying on specific bodies throughout missions. Weapon models no longer have any sense of achievement in acquiring them if the player is bound to stumble across them.
Hacking has been redone in order to access information as well as enter into side areas. Information collection has been abandoned in favor of micro-puzzle solving, which becomes tedious, as there is no variation between hacking and door unlocking. Resource management is non-existent in a game that relies on role play games (RPG) elements. Any time a terminal or PDA is hacked, credits are automatically gained; no blueprints, audio logs, or mission side quests are to be found. The experience feels shallow with no sense of accomplishment or exploration.
Paragon (light-side) and Renegade (dark-side) choices make a return in ME2 with story being driven primarily with which route players choose to take. A new feature that has been ingeniously integrated is QuickTime events. Within any given situation the player will be presented with the ability to change the outcome of an event based on Paragon or Renegade motives, be it to save a life or take one. This element of interactive story telling provides more depth to the personal development of Commander Shepard and encourages players to pay attention to what is occurring in game.
Electronic Arts wound up taking control of ME2, which might explain why certain RPG elements of the latter differed from the first. Having jumbled the project around between teams and losing some of the original developers of the first game, EA seriously hindered what could have been the perfect continuation of the Mass Effect series.
While the game play is mostly enjoyable, players will be left wondering how BioWare is going to close off the trilogy, and hopefully get things right for the third installment.
