I’ve finished Mass Effect 2 once, though I would like to go back and play again as a different class and make some different decisions. This should be spoiler free aside from a few very general game hints. First and foremost, the game lives up to the hype. So often we’re told for months and months about all the features an upcoming game is going to sport, Peter Molyneux, only to actually play Fable the game and find it’s a fine game, but nothing mind-blowing.
From the beginning we were told our decisions in the first ME title would matter in the second. Most people, myself included, took that to mean a few major decisions – who lives and dies, which choice you make at the ending, which crew member you decide to bone, etc. Holy shit, Bioware. I think every decision I made in Mass Effect came out in the sequel in some way or another. Better yet, some were hinted at this time that won’t play a role until the next game. Bioware, you freaking RULE. You took a high end “next gen” concept and made it live up to our hopes.
Martin Sheen, the scariest motherfucker in space.
One thing that’s been driving me nuts is listening to every reviewer talk about the missing RPG elements. Guys, are you paying attention? Mass Effect is the purest RPG yet, in my opinion. All the fat has been cut off, leaving one of the purest roleplaying experiences ever created and definitely the best one this generation (so far!).
I will give the game this: There were some things I didn’t like at first that actually worked out later, though I think they could’ve been handled better. First is the mining minigame. I hated hated hated it at first. Then I figured out where to find everything. A clearer tutorial would’ve been nice. Maybe when your crew members give you the mining upgrades they could say something like “Remember that Element Zero seems to be related to the spark of life,” or “You won’t find a heavy metal on a gas giant!” There is rhyme and reason to the mining, and it’s actually pretty slick once you get used to it. By the time I was done I was spending maybe two or three minutes per planet, if that. Just move the cursor around in a relatively procedural way, and tap the scan button to squeeze some extra speed out. The bonus here is that you can be on the looking for anomalies while you’re doing this. Just ignore the gas giants and scan the rock planets.
I also thought I was going to hate my class at first. I chose the Vanguard, and it was confusing to start. The first shotgun doesn’t seem terribly useful, though the other ones later are mighty. I wasn’t making enough use of my class powers and it ended up with me dying quite a bit. Once I figured it out and leveled my powers up a bit, I found myself just wading through battles destroying guys. So my recommendation is give your class some time and really think about the intention of the powerset.
The fact that this guy looks like a green Ultraman is only a small part of his badassness.
That said, I took issue with the weapons in the game. The original ME was a loot whore’s dream. Guns to your left, guns to your right. Too many guns to pick’em all up. And you could modify each gun to your satisfaction. In ME2 there are maybe four guns in each class, and once you pick up a gun, anyone who is able to equip it can. Now I will say, I didn’t spend much time in menus this time around. I was able to concentrate almost exclusively on the game itself, only going into menus to level and save.
Now onto the reason everyone plays Mass Effect: Hardcore Alien Sex Simuation. Or not. While ME and Bioware’s other games have been lauded for their complex characters, one area I’ve finally realized they fall short in is the smooth transition of a relationship. I’ll admit it is difficult to craft a complex, nuanced romantic relationship in an open-world game like this, but I think things go too far the other way. You go up to the different romance prospects and lead along a certain line of chat and eventually get an option that’s akin to a more PG version of “Hey, I’d like to rub my crotch against your crotch if you know what I mean!” Where is the longing, the kissing, the alone time? How about a real date? I feel like Shepard’s in it for the sex as much as most players are. I didn’t pursue a relationship in the game because I want to see how my relationship with Liara from the first game pans out. There are a couple interesting moments where it is referenced in this game, and I think it’ll be an important aspect of the third. I hope.
On the strictly sexual-preference side of things, I feel the game was a bit lacking. While I wasn’t surprised that there was only one lesbian love interest, it wasn’t at all who I thought it would be. In fact, it was none of the whos I thought it might be. If you’re going the hetero route, male or female, you can pretty much bone anyone on the other side of the fence. If you’re a man looking for a man, you’ll be sorely disappointed. No man-love has been included. Bioware, I know you’re capable of better stuff when it comes to relationships. There’s some awesome dialogue in the game, both plot-related and not. Just apply some more of that to the romance sections.
There, I managed to keep it spoiler free!
also darth vader is sheperd’s secret identity.
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There's a fabulous Xbox Live Arcade game with stellar art and music, compelling gameplay about time manipulation, and no, it's not Braid. Comparisons to 2008's Xbox Live darling Braidare inevitable, but The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is no simple copycat. 
