Final Cut: Toradora! Part 1 DVD
Keep It or Trade It?: Madden NFL 11 (PS3)
Keep It or Trade It?: Trinity Universe (PS3)
Read or Recycle? Gantz Vol. 1
Read or Recycle? Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit Vol. 1
New Features: Good and Bad
Your Squad:
Each recruit has a side mission that if completed not only changes the direction the universe will take in Mass Effect 3 but will gain you the loyalty of the team member. This unlocks special abilities for the team member and Shepard. It also affects how the final mission will play out. Have to read the Spoiler above to see how.
Combat:
The combat system has been upgraded in some areas. Damage is body part specific. Shooting legs slows the enemy down and causes them to fall. Head shots cause instant kills on unprotected enemies. The A.I. of the enemies has also gotten a boost. They fight more intelligently, adapting their positions to yours and using the cover of the area to good effect.
It has been downgraded in my opinion by introducing ammo clips. Technically they call them heat sinks but it gets the same annoyance across. In Mass Effect you had unlimited ammo but you gun would overheat if you fired for to long. So now you have ejectable heat sinks to keep you weapon cool but you can’t use the weapon if your out of heat sinks.
While you could take cover and shoot around barriers in the first game you now have the ability to jump over obstacles to get to cover faster or to simply charge the enemy. This also allows you to take an elevated position on some of the battle fields.
Mass Effect 2 also features regenerating health as its primary health mechanic, instead of the ability to heal with “medi-gel” as in the first game. However, “medi-gel” is still used to revive downed allies.
New to the series are heavy weapons (flame throwers, rocket launchers, and other big guns). While all the small arms use Universal Ammo these weapons have special ammo that has to be found in crates on the battle field. I only found 3 areas that needed the large arms. So feel free to waste your ammo when playing as you don’t need the heavy weapons that often.
Characters are now able to use any weapon their class is trained for at full effect. That’s right, no more investing in weapon skills. Armor skills have also been removed and there are no longer class restrictions on armor. Instead all weapon and armor upgrades are controlled through purchases of upgrades at stores. Shepard gets a few individual components that are applied piecemeal. Every upgrade enhances the entire crew immediately. This includes finding a single gun on the battle field and having the entire squad capable of using the new weapon.
This also means that leveling points are spent strictly on health and special ability upgrades. I preferred the Leveling and armor system from ME1 but it seems I am in the minority on that one.
The Story:
The story brings a lot of influence from James Bond and gangster movies where as Mass Effect was strictly a military mission. The missions from the Illusive Man have the James bond feel. You can imagine The Illusive Man as M. All the other missions delve into the slave trade and mafia systems of the galaxy. These have more of a gangster movie feel to them with Shepard acting as an Elliot Ness or the “generic rogue cop that brings down the bad guy.”
Exploration:
In Mass Effect when you land on a planet you get to travel around in a tank/troop transport and used a GPS map to find areas of interest. This has been replaced entirely by Orbital Surveying and automatic drops to the area of interest. All Vehicle exploration has been removed. I liked this part but I was in the minority her as well. Although maybe not. A new pilotable vehicle called the Hammerhead (a hover tank) will be released in a future DLC. When it becomes available I will link to my review of it Here.
The Orbital surveying was just annoying. But you need the minerals to upgrade your ship and weapons. I would be very happy if they cut this from the next game.
The size of all the areas has been reduced. The Citadel has been reduced to about 4 rooms in size and they still felt they needed to put quick travel stations in. Was it really that much of a pain to walk you character around the station?
Character Interactions:
The camera positioning for conversations with A.I. characters has also been improved; the previously static camera now moves around to provide a cinematic touch. Conversations (some) now have a context-sensitive interrupt system (i.e. quick time event). In addition to Renegade and Paragon dialogue options that have always been there, Shepard is able to interrupt the dialogue when prompted to do so with on-screen controls, again along Paragon or Renegade paths. This allowed me to save the life of a person about to be shot (Paragon) and also allowed me later to end a mercs dialogue by pushing him out a 50th floor window (Renegade).
Loading Screens:
A major gripe from the last game, slow moving elevators (used as loading screens), have been removed entirely. I didn’t mind them as I enjoyed to banter the characters engaged in during this time. All loading screens are now the generic loading screen you see in every game. They are ugly and break the immersion of the game.
Transferring save-files:
Decisions made by the player in the first game carry over to the second and have influences on his/her character in the sequel. This is true for the ME1 to 2 transition as well as the ME2 to 3 transition. In order for the saved file to be recognized in the player has to wait until the end of the credits so that an autosave file may be created with the completed game data.
Players who have not played the first Mass Effect start a new character in Mass Effect 2, and are brought up to speed on the story elements that have taken place thus far in the series.
When transferring a file from Mass Effect, players have the option to change their class to a different one. For example, if the player wanted to play as an Engineer instead of an Infiltrator, the player may change his/her character’s class while still importing the choices made during the first game. There is a story explanation as to how the character’s abilities have changed since the first game. In addition, transferred characters may also have their appearance changed, if the player so desires.
Mass Effect 2 save files may be transferred to the third installment in a similar manner, though there does exist an ending where Shepard dies. This ending will not be transferable. In this case, players must either choose to replay Mass Effect 2 for a better ending or begin with a new character in Mass Effect 3.
Players receive bonuses for importing save games; for example, importing a level 60 Shepard provides the player with 50 thousand credits, ten thousand units of each resource, bonus Paragon and Renegade points, and allows him/her to start Mass Effect 2 at level 5. If the imported character was “Rich” in Mass Effect, The player will receive an additional 100 thousand credits. Additionally, although the achievement, Long Service Medal, requires the player to beat the game twice, the player may get the achievement for completing the game once with an imported Shepard.
The decisions that made a change in story range form big ones like “Did the Council Survive?” to “The scientist that was hiding behind the desk on an insignificant mission. Did I shoot him for working with my enemy or let him go because he was a peon?”
SEX!!!:
Like the last game you start a romance with some of your crew. So who you can get busy with depends on what sex Shepard is and of course picking the right dialogue choices.
If your male you get a choice of 4 ladies. If your female you only get a choice of 3 males and 1 lady. Gotta love those blue chicks. 
Project $10/ Cerberus Network card
Project $10 is EA’s attempt to discourage used game sales. In ME2 it takes the form of a Cerberus Network card with a unique access code is included with all copies of Mass Effect 2. Since this code works only once, buyers of used copies have to purchase access to the Cerberus Network for $15. The Cerberus Network offers an in-game delivery mechanism for free Mass Effect 2 downloadable content, but paid content will not be purchased via the Cerberus Network. None of the Free content is necessary so feel free to get a used copy.
Technical issues
There have been complaints that the games font-size has been formatted in such a way as to make in game text indecipherable on standard definition televisions. I had this problem before I got my new TV. Representatives from BioWare stated that the issue was “a design choice, not a bug” and not to “expect any decisions or a fix in the near future.” After investigating the complaints further BioWare released a statement acknowledging that “on some standard definition TVs the smallest text in Mass Effect 2 can be difficult to read.” BioWare’s final statement about the issue is that:
After investigating potential solutions, we have determined that while this issue does affect a small portion of SDTV owners, we are unable to resolve it for Mass Effect 2 through a title update. However, we have taken note of this issue and will take it into consideration as we plan future games in the Mass Effect franchise.
So if you have a Standard Def tv don’t get the game. You wont be able to read a damn thing. I also had the bug where in several areas the sound and dialogue goes out completely. The only way to know whats going on was to reload from a save point and turn subtitles on. Quite annoying.
Overall it’s a great game with some quirks and a few bugs. The ability to play as a male or female, and the importing of decisions make this a great game for re-playability. Definite Keep.
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The Good News: Mass Effect Movie to Be Produced | G.A.M.E.S. on 25 May 2010 at 9:10 am #
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