- Designer:
- Casey Hudson.
- Writers:
- Mac Walters (lead writer), Drew Karpyshyn.
- Developer:
- BioWare.
- Platform:
- Xbox 360, Windows.
Mordin Solus: The very model of a scientist Salarian.
Note: this review contains spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. It also assumes you’re familiar with the Mass Effect universe.
Shortly after defeating rogue spectre Saren, his Reaper master Sovereign, and their Geth army, our hero, Commander Shepard, is killed in an attack by the mysterious Collectors. This being science fiction, even death won’t keep Shepard down, and she (or hei) is brought back by the pseudo-terrorist human-first group Cerberus (whom you might remember from Mass Effect, where they were involved in all manner of disreputable business). With her old crew having moved on and with a brand-new Normandy, Shepard must now gather a new team (but with a couple of familiar faces) to join her on a suicide mission through the uncharted Omega 4 relay to stop the Collectors and their masters — the Reapers.
Most of the game time is spent on the “gathering a posse” gimmick, as you criss-cross the galaxy to find team members and win their loyalty, while in the process shooting lots and lots of mooks. Indeed, if there’s one gameplay change that’s more noticeable than the others it’s the much improved combat, with significantly streamlined powers and weapons. And if there’s one design-philosophy guiding the game mechanics, it’s the old Thoreau chestnut, “Simplify, simplify, simplify.” The skills system and inventory have been drastically streamlined, eliminating the need for juggling stats and inventory. While I was prepared to dismiss this streamlining as “dumbing down”, there is something to be said for letting the player focus on the game itself rather than on allocating stats.
Another symptom of this new focus on combat is that every place you visit is, if there’s the slightest possibility of a gun fight, littered with waist-high walls. Come to think of it, there was an inordinate amount of conveniently placed cover in ME1 as well, it’s just that you notice it more in ME2 because the cover-system works so much better. I also got the feeling that levels have gotten more linear in ME2, which is a shame when there’s actually a kind-of-working (though very simplistic) squad command system now. Weapons, too, have changed. You now research new weapon technology from the comfort of your science lab, which are automatically applied, rather than having to handle an inventory of myriads of different weapon and ammo upgrades. Also, for some reason, in the two years since ME1, all weapons now have ammo limits; there are in-universe hand-waves to justify this, but basically it boils down to being more fun to play.
The game has become more fun to watch, too. Rather than the “talking heads” presentation of dialogue in ME1, Mass Effect 2 dialogue and cut-scenes add interest through camera and character movement. There are some animation glitches, but unlike with ME1, I didn’t mind watching the cut-scenes and dialogue again when I replayed ME2.
As I mentioned, the lion’s share of the game is devoted to gathering Shepard’s team, which unfortunately somewhat kills the narrative drive of the story. The various team-quests are often well written and with emotional depth, but you tend to lose sight of the ultimate goal. Also, some of the team members are frankly questionable. I understand why we’d need a brilliant Salarian scientist, but what exactly does the mentally-disturbed criminal add to the team?
The story of Mass Effect is still among the best I’ve seen in video games, though some of the dialogue writing leaves quite a bit to be desired. For example, there’s a point at the very beginning of the game, where squadmate Jacob stops in the middle of fleeing from the Cerberus facility to explain that he is working for Cerberus. There are so many better ways that could have been handled without stopping the action for an infodump. Overall, though, the writing is every bit as good as it was in ME1, with especially good throw-away gags — like an ad for a film about “Blasto, the first hanar Spectre” — and some genuinely thought-provoking characterisation. Especially of Mordin, who is as complex a character as I’ve seen in a video game.
While the ending didn’t feel quite as epic as the one in ME1, the final fifteen minutes or so of Mass Effect 2 are still some of the best-paced stuff BioWare have done. I had expected there to be more game beyond the Omega 4 relay, but I can’t see how they could’ve added anything without spoiling the pacing.
Like many second acts of trilogies, Mass Effect 2 is a darker story than the first part, forcing Shepard to ally herself with a terrorist organisation and alienating her from most of her old friends. It also deepens and complicates the story, giving you new insight into the various races and conflicts. There are moments of wonder, humour, and heartbreaking sadness. And, of course, there are tantalising hints about what Mass Effect 3 might have in store. I’m going to be very disappointed if I don’t get to lead a motley alliance of humans, council races, Geth, and Rachni against the Reapers in an epic space battle in ME3, while at the same time getting all the small, interpersonal moments I’ve come to cherish. BioWare have got quite the challenge ahead of them.
- Mass Effect canon seems to be fairly mutable, but judging from promotional material, male Shepard is slightly more canon than female Shepard. ↩
