Game Review: Mass Effect 2

Posted by Natasha Bennett Sunday, March 13, 2011



 I've never played Mass Effect 1, mostly because I don't have an XBOX 360 and asking me to inport a character from that console to my PS3 is a little bit silly. Luckily this is a very minor issue and doesn't cause too much confusion in the plot.

The player stars as Commander Sheperd, who dies shortly after an alien attack. Fortunately he is resurrected by Cerebrus, who want him to investigate a string of missing colonies. Unfortunately, Cerebrus is also an alien-hating human-supremesist group.

And this is why Mass Effect 2 works on so many levels-almost every mission involves a serious moral choice. While some are clear-cut on what is the right choice, others are not. To make it more fun, all the choices made in Mass Effect will be saved and change the upcoming events Mass Effect 3. All of this is directly influenced, of course, by whether or not the player wants Commander Sheppard to be good or evil. 

Not to imply that Sheppard spends most of his time bogged down with serious moral problems-he can also spend his time getting drunk in bars, getting discounts in stores by creating commercials, and has some truly funny and entertaining moments (especially when he’s evil).

Gameplay-wise, Mass Effect 2 consistently divides its time between first-person shooter and storytelling mode. I would say that that the constant pointing and shooting can be repetitive, but not overly so-fortunately there are enough cinematic cuts to not have it become mindless. There is also an upgrade system which is relatively quick and painless.

My one and really only gripe about the game is the loading time, especially while on the main spaceship. Still, it’s a big game, so that's not really surprising.

FINAL GRADE: 5 stars out of 5. Impressive storytelling and creative missions. And it’s got Martin Sheen. Here’s hoping the third game will be just as awesome!

Not crazy about the Mass Effect 3 trailer though.....

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3 comments
  1. Chris Hewson Said,

    It's because of games of this calibre this that I really need to consider getting some newer consoles, i.e PS3, Xbox 360, although it's gonna be a while, since i'm still trying to successfully beat Turok 2 without cheats.
    I've also got my blog up if you're interested.
    http://notthistimenaylandsmith.blogspot.com/

    Posted on March 14, 2011 at 2:04 AM

     
  2. Paul Said,

    Er - Mass effect is an over the shoulder third person shooter - not a first person shooter.

    Posted on April 21, 2011 at 8:05 AM

     
  3. Natasha Bennett Said,

    typo :) I tend to write these blogs very late at night.

    Posted on April 21, 2011 at 8:32 PM