Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Played it on: Xbox 360
Played it for: 25 hours
RATING: 8/10
To be honest, it's hard to pin down a definite feeling on Assassin's Creed. I think the biggest attractive part of this game is its potential. As a game that's the foundation for a franchise, this is actually a much more important factor than many give it credit for, and while there were many aspects of this game that needed a ton of work, it's the vastly wide open possibilities that really make Assassin's Creed what it is.
The hero, Altair Ibn-La'Ahad, is a member of an organization known simply as the Assassins, who were a group of skilled warriors fighting the invasion of the Knights Templar into the Holy Land in the twelfth century. That in and of itself carries a lot of intrigue. However, also tie that with Altair's inner journey from an arrogant warrior to a calm master, and with the fact that all of Altair's journey is chronicled inside the head of the modern main character Desmond Miles, and that's a recipe for one groundbreaking tale. The story narrative switches between that of Desmond, who is held captive by the modern Templars, Abstergo Industries, and the memories of Altair that are unlocked from Desmond's DNA by a machine called the Animus. The player is never told what Abstergo wants from Desmond, only that it can be found inside his head, and as soon as it's found, Desmond will be disposed of. This writing creates a fascinating and dynamic parallel between Desmond and his Saracin ancestor, both of whom are being used as tools in a war they do not fully understand. This narrative style is both helped and hindered by the game itself.
The mechanics of the game are great on paper. Freely run around Jerusalem, Acre, and Damascus with the central hub of Masyaf acting as a base of operations between contracts. Help citizens to gain allies, spy to gain information, and ultimately kill nine powerful men who are at the head of the Knight's Templar. But these elements aren't very well optimized into the actual playing experience. Walking around as an extremely intelligent spy who supposedly can disappear in a crowd and gain information unnoticed seems like it would be challenging and fun, but the running controls aren't terribly good when in a chase, blending in is impossible, and most of the game results in Altair running around on rooftops killing guards while occasionally dropping down for a mission or two when he's cleaned his dagger off. The nine story missions are very copy-pasted, aside from the actual assassinations themselves, which each offer a little bit of difference and challenge, ultimately culminating in a fight in which Altair will need all of his skills. Original? Not incredibly.
But what the game lacks in flow, it gains back in intrigue. Every one of the people Altair is hired to kill actually historically died as a probable result of murder, making this repetitive game a rather believable one. The plot and dialog with Altair and fellow assassins, and especially with the members of the Templar, start to make Altair question himself and his actions, and seek more definitive answers about his quest. Regardless of the repetitive nature of the missions themselves, the player is compelled to complete the game simply because of the writing. It's a fascinating storyline, and that's the bottom line.
And again, this game veritably drips with potential. The Animus could explore any time period, providing material for virtually infinite games to continue the series and improve their quality. Granted, Desmond can't have infinite ancestors, but he doesn't have to be the main modern character in all the games. The combat and blending systems could both use some significant work, but because of that previously mentioned availability for sequels, the mechanics have plenty of room to improve. More than anything else, Assassin's Creed is a springboard for a series with amazing amounts of potential.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Also...
Sorry the below Mass Effect 3 review wasn't published when it was supposed to have been. That was my fault, and I apologize to all you loyal fans.
Mass Effect 3
Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Played it on: Xbox 360 (full trilogy import, ME -> ME2 -> ME3)
Played it for: 70 hours
RATING: 8.5/10
Commander Shepard runs toward the end of his life. The laser at the end of his run will kill him, this he knows. But it will also save everyone he loves, and because of his sacrifice, the galaxy will live on, civilizations will be built, people will thrive, and he will be remembered.
And while this happens, the player thinks, "Well that could have been a little better."
And here in lies the problem with Mass Effect 3. It's only mostly great, not one of the greatest games of all time, like it should have been, and strived to be. No matter how good it is, there's the very nagging sense that it could have been just a little better. And it's a difficult game to review, as well, because it doesn't have just a single glaring problem, like bad combat or bad writing or loose controls, there's a little bit wrong with everything.
So, to start, the writing. The over-arching story tells a very powerful tale of Commander Shepard's last mission. And in the end, it did make me cry, which is something that can be extremely hard for a game to do. The characters seemed like real people, and the Mass Effect universe is still very much alive in this third installment. It doesn't quite have the same problem as Mass Effect 2 did in shrinking the universe, as there are tons of different locations to visit. However, at the same time, there are many points in the game where the entire thing feels directionless. In Mass Effect, the object of the game is to find and kill Saren Arterius. No matter what Shepard did, there was still definite pressure to continue the main story. In Mass Effect 2, there was a more limited narrative, but the mission to get revenge on the Collectors was definite, looming, and always a part of the game. Everything Shepard did in the first two games was to get closer to his objective, and everything felt purposeful and necessary. In ME3, however, this is lost. There are countless missions that just turn Shepard into an errand boy, and have nothing to do with destroying the Reapers. In fact, the entire first half of the game feels mostly like stalling, and there is a huge section between dealing the the Krogan Genophage and finding Tali'Zorah vas Normandy again where none of the side missions even really seem to matter. Fly around in space and grab a statue from a random planet, grab some wiring for a Turian engineer, it feels like the developers just wanted to slow down the game for the sake of more play time. It just doesn't matter. Maybe if these missions had been memorable in some way, they would have been better, but they aren't, so why are they even in the game? It's not a good idea to start out with the horrifying scene of leaving Earth, and then have Shepard run interstellar errands.
The combat is very up to date, very modern, and also very generic. Sure, the varied and powerful weaponry Shepard can find out on missions is great, but... dare I say the combat felt like Gears of War 3. Very gun based until later on when the powers actually got useful. I used Liara T'Soni's singularity power constantly, as well as Infiltrator Shepard's cloaking, but otherwise none of the other powers were very combat changing. Even Garrus Vakarian's Overload, which was incredibly useful in the last game with all the Geth Heretics, is practically useless now. There's a whole one mission when Geth show up. The entire game is spent fighting the annoying Reaper enemies, which aren't that challenging until indoctrinated Asari, called Banshees, show up, or fighting Cerberus, which are just glorified foot soldiers that are barely better at combat than the usual civilian. Pull out a sniper rifle, and they drop like flies. When playing on Normal difficulty, at the end of the game I was able to kill the toughest Cerberus enemy, the Atlas combat suit, in just two shots. Count 'em, two. It was pathetic. Why must I ramp up the difficulty for better combat, BioWare? Shouldn't that difficulty curve be a part of the game anyway? My, my...
Character design is overall great in ME3, and for many characters, because Shepard already knows them, it's easy to get more in depth with them and flesh out who they really are. This is fantastic for characters like Garrus, who really start to reveal who they are at heart, and all their weaknesses and fears to Shepard, especially later. But is it too much to ask for more relationship dialog? For example, the Shepard that I imported into this game romanced with Liara T'Soni for all three games. Mass Effect 3 should have been a wonderful point to have great, deep, meaningful conversations with her between missions, on the Citadel, etc. But no. The dialog is fantastic early on when Liara comes aboard after Shepard rescues her from Mars, but it doesn't stay that way. Liara and Shepard start talking less and less as the game moves forward, and eventually, after Shepard commits to the relationship (which, hint, hint, should have been a great point for insightful and romantic conversation) Liara has a great line when Shepard says that he wants to be with her. And then they don't speak again AT ALL until just before the final mission when Liara spends the night in Shepard's cabin. What? Seriously? Shepard essentially says that he wants to spend the rest of his life with this person, and then they just stop talking? It's so lack luster! For all of the great characters and possibilities, BioWare really screwed up there.
However, with all of these problems, there's still a lot that's really great about this game. The multiplayer, for example. It's accessible, it's very fun, and BioWare found a way to integrate it into the campaign without making it completely necessary. Multiplayer is comprised of a cooperative team of one to four people (though playing alone is literally impossible) fighting against different enemies around the galaxy. It's fun, it's very quick and easy, and at the same time, it's addictive. Especially with all the free DLC updates that add new maps, characters, and guns. Plus, the more Multiplayer matches a person plays, the higher "Galaxy at War Rating" Shepard will have in the campaign. It gives a sense of immediacy to the multiplayer that other shooter games lack. The graphics are beautiful even on console, and they're especially wonderful on PC. This doesn't make or break a game, but it does add to the experience significantly. The voice acting is off the charts good. It's real, the characters are real, it's emotional, it's alive, and it's wonderful. This series would not have been half of what it is if the voice acting was different. And lastly, while I must say that I didn't play the original endings, the extended cut endings are awe inspiring. They are a microcosm of what Mass Effect has stood for all these years. They make the game worth it.
Does this game have problems? Yes. Many. But that shouldn't deter you from playing and loving it. Rumor has it that there will be some kind of Mass Effect 4, but this game was the end of a fantastic trilogy that I'm proud to have been a part of. Don't just buy this, buy all three games because the first two make the third so worth it. It's not perfect, but it's very solid.
Played it on: Xbox 360 (full trilogy import, ME -> ME2 -> ME3)
Played it for: 70 hours
RATING: 8.5/10
Commander Shepard runs toward the end of his life. The laser at the end of his run will kill him, this he knows. But it will also save everyone he loves, and because of his sacrifice, the galaxy will live on, civilizations will be built, people will thrive, and he will be remembered.
And while this happens, the player thinks, "Well that could have been a little better."
And here in lies the problem with Mass Effect 3. It's only mostly great, not one of the greatest games of all time, like it should have been, and strived to be. No matter how good it is, there's the very nagging sense that it could have been just a little better. And it's a difficult game to review, as well, because it doesn't have just a single glaring problem, like bad combat or bad writing or loose controls, there's a little bit wrong with everything.
So, to start, the writing. The over-arching story tells a very powerful tale of Commander Shepard's last mission. And in the end, it did make me cry, which is something that can be extremely hard for a game to do. The characters seemed like real people, and the Mass Effect universe is still very much alive in this third installment. It doesn't quite have the same problem as Mass Effect 2 did in shrinking the universe, as there are tons of different locations to visit. However, at the same time, there are many points in the game where the entire thing feels directionless. In Mass Effect, the object of the game is to find and kill Saren Arterius. No matter what Shepard did, there was still definite pressure to continue the main story. In Mass Effect 2, there was a more limited narrative, but the mission to get revenge on the Collectors was definite, looming, and always a part of the game. Everything Shepard did in the first two games was to get closer to his objective, and everything felt purposeful and necessary. In ME3, however, this is lost. There are countless missions that just turn Shepard into an errand boy, and have nothing to do with destroying the Reapers. In fact, the entire first half of the game feels mostly like stalling, and there is a huge section between dealing the the Krogan Genophage and finding Tali'Zorah vas Normandy again where none of the side missions even really seem to matter. Fly around in space and grab a statue from a random planet, grab some wiring for a Turian engineer, it feels like the developers just wanted to slow down the game for the sake of more play time. It just doesn't matter. Maybe if these missions had been memorable in some way, they would have been better, but they aren't, so why are they even in the game? It's not a good idea to start out with the horrifying scene of leaving Earth, and then have Shepard run interstellar errands.
The combat is very up to date, very modern, and also very generic. Sure, the varied and powerful weaponry Shepard can find out on missions is great, but... dare I say the combat felt like Gears of War 3. Very gun based until later on when the powers actually got useful. I used Liara T'Soni's singularity power constantly, as well as Infiltrator Shepard's cloaking, but otherwise none of the other powers were very combat changing. Even Garrus Vakarian's Overload, which was incredibly useful in the last game with all the Geth Heretics, is practically useless now. There's a whole one mission when Geth show up. The entire game is spent fighting the annoying Reaper enemies, which aren't that challenging until indoctrinated Asari, called Banshees, show up, or fighting Cerberus, which are just glorified foot soldiers that are barely better at combat than the usual civilian. Pull out a sniper rifle, and they drop like flies. When playing on Normal difficulty, at the end of the game I was able to kill the toughest Cerberus enemy, the Atlas combat suit, in just two shots. Count 'em, two. It was pathetic. Why must I ramp up the difficulty for better combat, BioWare? Shouldn't that difficulty curve be a part of the game anyway? My, my...
Character design is overall great in ME3, and for many characters, because Shepard already knows them, it's easy to get more in depth with them and flesh out who they really are. This is fantastic for characters like Garrus, who really start to reveal who they are at heart, and all their weaknesses and fears to Shepard, especially later. But is it too much to ask for more relationship dialog? For example, the Shepard that I imported into this game romanced with Liara T'Soni for all three games. Mass Effect 3 should have been a wonderful point to have great, deep, meaningful conversations with her between missions, on the Citadel, etc. But no. The dialog is fantastic early on when Liara comes aboard after Shepard rescues her from Mars, but it doesn't stay that way. Liara and Shepard start talking less and less as the game moves forward, and eventually, after Shepard commits to the relationship (which, hint, hint, should have been a great point for insightful and romantic conversation) Liara has a great line when Shepard says that he wants to be with her. And then they don't speak again AT ALL until just before the final mission when Liara spends the night in Shepard's cabin. What? Seriously? Shepard essentially says that he wants to spend the rest of his life with this person, and then they just stop talking? It's so lack luster! For all of the great characters and possibilities, BioWare really screwed up there.
However, with all of these problems, there's still a lot that's really great about this game. The multiplayer, for example. It's accessible, it's very fun, and BioWare found a way to integrate it into the campaign without making it completely necessary. Multiplayer is comprised of a cooperative team of one to four people (though playing alone is literally impossible) fighting against different enemies around the galaxy. It's fun, it's very quick and easy, and at the same time, it's addictive. Especially with all the free DLC updates that add new maps, characters, and guns. Plus, the more Multiplayer matches a person plays, the higher "Galaxy at War Rating" Shepard will have in the campaign. It gives a sense of immediacy to the multiplayer that other shooter games lack. The graphics are beautiful even on console, and they're especially wonderful on PC. This doesn't make or break a game, but it does add to the experience significantly. The voice acting is off the charts good. It's real, the characters are real, it's emotional, it's alive, and it's wonderful. This series would not have been half of what it is if the voice acting was different. And lastly, while I must say that I didn't play the original endings, the extended cut endings are awe inspiring. They are a microcosm of what Mass Effect has stood for all these years. They make the game worth it.
Does this game have problems? Yes. Many. But that shouldn't deter you from playing and loving it. Rumor has it that there will be some kind of Mass Effect 4, but this game was the end of a fantastic trilogy that I'm proud to have been a part of. Don't just buy this, buy all three games because the first two make the third so worth it. It's not perfect, but it's very solid.
Assassin's Creed Reviews
I've reviewed half the Call of Duty series, so for the next several weeks, I'll be reviewing the entire Assassin's Creed series, along with the other half of the CoD games. It's going to be fun!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Up to Date
Back-logged reviews have been published, and we're back on schedule! The reviews have their original planned publishing dates on them for the sake of consistency in filing.
Thanks, and keep playing!
Liam McAleavey
Thanks, and keep playing!
Liam McAleavey
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Played it on: Xbox 360
Approximate Playtime: 20 hours (campaign and multiplayer)
RATING: 9/10
All those complaints I had about Call of Duty 3? Yeah, they don't even matter any more.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare takes everything that players have come to expect from a CoD game, and blows it out of the water. The obvious way this happens is by bringing the story sixty years into the future, and making this game about a modern type of conflict, but this also occurs because of updated... well, everything. Mechanics, writing, game feel, graphics, controls, multiplayer, the whole lot. This is an outstanding game.
Modern Warfare takes place in locations around the world, and mimics the current status of world politics. Unlike Medal of Honor, this game's narrative does not encompass the modern war in the Middle East, but instead creates a fictional, yet believable war. It covers missions in the present and past, and follows the fight against the main villain Imran Zakhaev, the crazy bald Russian terrorist. The war rages in the present in Russia and the Middle East, and in the past in Pripyat, Ukraine. It's really nice to play a CoD game that doesn't take place in the locations from World War II. It shows the different ways that the game itself can be harnessed, and it updates the game series. After three (technically five) straight games taking place in World War II, it's refreshing to get a different style
And lo and behold, the writing in this is not overshadowed by the rest of the game's shoddy presentation! This entire game just feels so well thought out. The game feel is exciting, and it's complimented by the amazing music and voice acting. The soldiers that the main character is surrounded by actually act like real people, and react like real people in a war scenario. When inside the game, it actually seems like the main character has a mission to accomplish, and unlike most modern war games, the linear nature of the levels doesn't bog down the game. It may be linear, but it's not a noticeable factor, it's not painfully obvious and scripted. It does what it's supposed to do.
Another great part of the game is that while it has scope, and it has potential, it's also very believable. It doesn't start World War 3, it plays out a story that actually seems plausible. Yes, there's a lot of explosions at the end, but I'll give it what it needs for a climactic ending. Everything else in there has the feel of either a covert operation or something that's currently happening anyway, so it's no harder to believe the story of this game than it is to believe something like Medal of Honor. Honestly, they couldn't have done a better job.
Yes, this review is a little short, but everything that needs to be said about the game has been said. It's fantastic, it has scope, it's written, it feels great, it looks great, it flows well, it's nothing but a big package of win, to be honest. I couldn't have asked for better.
Played it on: Xbox 360
Approximate Playtime: 20 hours (campaign and multiplayer)
RATING: 9/10
All those complaints I had about Call of Duty 3? Yeah, they don't even matter any more.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare takes everything that players have come to expect from a CoD game, and blows it out of the water. The obvious way this happens is by bringing the story sixty years into the future, and making this game about a modern type of conflict, but this also occurs because of updated... well, everything. Mechanics, writing, game feel, graphics, controls, multiplayer, the whole lot. This is an outstanding game.
Modern Warfare takes place in locations around the world, and mimics the current status of world politics. Unlike Medal of Honor, this game's narrative does not encompass the modern war in the Middle East, but instead creates a fictional, yet believable war. It covers missions in the present and past, and follows the fight against the main villain Imran Zakhaev, the crazy bald Russian terrorist. The war rages in the present in Russia and the Middle East, and in the past in Pripyat, Ukraine. It's really nice to play a CoD game that doesn't take place in the locations from World War II. It shows the different ways that the game itself can be harnessed, and it updates the game series. After three (technically five) straight games taking place in World War II, it's refreshing to get a different style
And lo and behold, the writing in this is not overshadowed by the rest of the game's shoddy presentation! This entire game just feels so well thought out. The game feel is exciting, and it's complimented by the amazing music and voice acting. The soldiers that the main character is surrounded by actually act like real people, and react like real people in a war scenario. When inside the game, it actually seems like the main character has a mission to accomplish, and unlike most modern war games, the linear nature of the levels doesn't bog down the game. It may be linear, but it's not a noticeable factor, it's not painfully obvious and scripted. It does what it's supposed to do.
Another great part of the game is that while it has scope, and it has potential, it's also very believable. It doesn't start World War 3, it plays out a story that actually seems plausible. Yes, there's a lot of explosions at the end, but I'll give it what it needs for a climactic ending. Everything else in there has the feel of either a covert operation or something that's currently happening anyway, so it's no harder to believe the story of this game than it is to believe something like Medal of Honor. Honestly, they couldn't have done a better job.
Yes, this review is a little short, but everything that needs to be said about the game has been said. It's fantastic, it has scope, it's written, it feels great, it looks great, it flows well, it's nothing but a big package of win, to be honest. I couldn't have asked for better.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Mass Effect 2
Available on: Xbox 360, PS3, and PC
Played it on: Xbox 360 (Imported save from Mass Effect)
Played it for: 100 hours
RATING: 8/10
Mass Effect 2 is just so... different! And wonderfully so!
As expected, a sequel should never be the same as its predecessors *cough*cough*modern Call of Duty*cough* but Mass Effect 2 is strikingly different from the first game. At first, the changes seem a little bit too drastic, and it almost doesn't even feel like the same game series, but it quickly becomes evident that BioWare knows what it's doing. Everything has been updated, tightened, and bettered. No complaints here, ME2 is great.
The first, and most obvious, area of development is in the game's overall feel. The combat is very different from Mass Effect, and it addresses all the complaints players had about the first game. The guns are varied, and feel different, the actual combat system has been streamlined, and is more like a third person shooter than an RPG, and it takes a lot of focus off the powers. The change is very jolting and unwelcome when coming straight from the first game, but after completing Mass Effect 2, and then returning to Mass Effect, it's very clear why the developers did what they did. The combat system needed an upgrade, and what they did was pretty much perfect for the game's style. And the guns aren't the only part of the combat that has been changed. The powers have been updated to be more dynamic, and allow Shepard to create a team that compliments his or her fighting style. Granted, it's still best for Shepard to have a good mix of squad members, but it may not be necessary to have someone with combat skills, one with biotics, and one with tech specialty. It might be useful to have two squad members with biotics, one with area of effect powers, the other with very damaging, single target abilities. Or two tech specialists that can hit in quick succession, causing "tech explosions." It makes the game a lot more fluid and customizable, and while this difference isn't evident in the first few times the player levels up, as the player gains more squad mates and settles into a fighting style, the game blossoms.
Graphics have been significantly upgraded, too. No complaints on Mass Effect, but ME2's, more precise coloring and shading along with overall better look allow the game to live up to original graphical intentions. The worlds Shepard visits are now very distinctly different from each other, giving each mission its own special place in players' memories. For example, Shepard visits two human colonies very early on in the game, one called Freedom's Progress, and the other Horizon. While they are both human colonies, and both have similar architecture, they both look vastly different so players will remember both colonies, not just one. It makes the game easier to become lost in while retaining the same Mass Effect look.
The plot is fantastic as well. It is incredibly tense, and it only gets more so as the game continues. There is a single and very direct focus that is the crux of the game, and that's to defeat the Collectors, a mysterious race that only exists in legends. No matter what Shepard does, this problem is always overshadowing his moves, and this leads to a lot of tight spots. The Suicide Mission at the end proves to be the most difficult mission ever contrived in the series, and the ease with which squad mates die puts the player into between a rock and a hard place when choosing what players to send to what parts of the Collectors' home base. Much of the Normandy Crew's survival is based on their loyalty to Shepard, which is built up throughout the game, and the ending nicely ties up the franchise as a whole.
I do, however, have some smaller issues with this sequel. The game's load screens are at the top of my list, they take an eternity to move along, and it seems that this is a problem that could have and should have been fixed. I haven't come across any other game, even an older game, with loading screens as long as Mass Effect 2. And there's another thing that bothers me, unrelated to the load screens. The design. The game doesn't have that same immense feel as the first Mass Effect game, and there doesn't seem to be the same sense of wonder with ME2. Missions in this game, like in other generic third-person shooter games, are very linear, and while this is also semi-true of the first game, Mass Effect also had missions to explore around on the surface of other planets in a ground vehicle. These planets were uninhabited, but they still added massive amounts to the size of the galaxy. With their removal, the galaxy gets a lot smaller. This is made doubly so by the fact that every single planet that's not inhabited must be scanned for raw materials in a very painstaking way by the Normandy SR-2. This is grinding, and grinding is a very bad thing for a game to force onto a player.
Now I'd like to review the two major DLC for Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival. I would do two more reviews, but since these two DLC are pretty much integral to the story of Mass Effect 2, they deserve a spot in the full review.
Lair of the Shadow Broker
In this DLC, Liara T'Soni, an Asari who was on Shepard's crew back in Mass Effect, has uncovered a route to the mysterious and powerful Shadow Broker, an intergalactic information dealer. The Shadow Broker wronged Liara after Shepard was comatose in the time between the two Mass Effect games, and she wants revenge.
This DLC was very fun to play. It shows a side of Liara that isn't seen at all in the first Mass Effect, and it shows an amazing amount of character progression. She is no longer the timid girl who researches Prothean ruins, Liara is now a very powerful Asari who is determined, and rather ruthless. Thankfully, though, Shepard has many opportunities to talk to her and help her gain a little of her old self back. Unfortunately, Liara does not remain in Shepard's crew after the DLC is over, but along with the Paragon dialog options, Shepard has the ability to, if he or she was in a relationship with Liara at the end of Mass Effect, talk to her and declare that he or she still loves Liara, and wants to be with her. If this path is chosen, it ends with a little romance in Shepard's cabin, and some significant satisfaction from players who were pining after Liara throughout Mass Effect 2 like I was.
This DLC takes probably three or four hours to play, but it's split up into several missions, so it's a little more laid back. If this DLC is not played, Liara simply becomes the Shadow Broker without Shepard's help sometime before the events of Mass Effect 3.
Arrival
Oh dear, it looks like the Reapers are here. Time to destroy the Mass Relay and prevent their arrival.
This is a very difficult DLC to play through, as Shepard has no choice but to destroy the relay and kill all the aliens still present in the star system. It does, however, provide a significant amount of plot, as Shepard gets to witness Reaper Indoctrination progress while revealing deeper feelings within him or herself. In the end, Shepard has a talk with the leader of the Reapers, Harbinger, who says that any effort to stop them is futile. This directly sets up the events of Mass Effect 3, and is pretty much completely necessary for the progression of the trilogy's story. This DLC does take about three or four hours of straight playing to complete, so it is more grueling than Lair of the Shadow Broker, but the gravity and importance of Shepard's mission in this DLC is blatantly obvious.
If this DLC is not played, the Alliance destroys the relay without the help of Shepard, and none of them make it out alive.
Mass Effect 2 is a good game that's still rough around the edges. With a little more refinement, this trilogy could really end on a high note, and hopefully it will.
Played it on: Xbox 360 (Imported save from Mass Effect)
Played it for: 100 hours
RATING: 8/10
Mass Effect 2 is just so... different! And wonderfully so!
As expected, a sequel should never be the same as its predecessors *cough*cough*modern Call of Duty*cough* but Mass Effect 2 is strikingly different from the first game. At first, the changes seem a little bit too drastic, and it almost doesn't even feel like the same game series, but it quickly becomes evident that BioWare knows what it's doing. Everything has been updated, tightened, and bettered. No complaints here, ME2 is great.
The first, and most obvious, area of development is in the game's overall feel. The combat is very different from Mass Effect, and it addresses all the complaints players had about the first game. The guns are varied, and feel different, the actual combat system has been streamlined, and is more like a third person shooter than an RPG, and it takes a lot of focus off the powers. The change is very jolting and unwelcome when coming straight from the first game, but after completing Mass Effect 2, and then returning to Mass Effect, it's very clear why the developers did what they did. The combat system needed an upgrade, and what they did was pretty much perfect for the game's style. And the guns aren't the only part of the combat that has been changed. The powers have been updated to be more dynamic, and allow Shepard to create a team that compliments his or her fighting style. Granted, it's still best for Shepard to have a good mix of squad members, but it may not be necessary to have someone with combat skills, one with biotics, and one with tech specialty. It might be useful to have two squad members with biotics, one with area of effect powers, the other with very damaging, single target abilities. Or two tech specialists that can hit in quick succession, causing "tech explosions." It makes the game a lot more fluid and customizable, and while this difference isn't evident in the first few times the player levels up, as the player gains more squad mates and settles into a fighting style, the game blossoms.
Graphics have been significantly upgraded, too. No complaints on Mass Effect, but ME2's, more precise coloring and shading along with overall better look allow the game to live up to original graphical intentions. The worlds Shepard visits are now very distinctly different from each other, giving each mission its own special place in players' memories. For example, Shepard visits two human colonies very early on in the game, one called Freedom's Progress, and the other Horizon. While they are both human colonies, and both have similar architecture, they both look vastly different so players will remember both colonies, not just one. It makes the game easier to become lost in while retaining the same Mass Effect look.
The plot is fantastic as well. It is incredibly tense, and it only gets more so as the game continues. There is a single and very direct focus that is the crux of the game, and that's to defeat the Collectors, a mysterious race that only exists in legends. No matter what Shepard does, this problem is always overshadowing his moves, and this leads to a lot of tight spots. The Suicide Mission at the end proves to be the most difficult mission ever contrived in the series, and the ease with which squad mates die puts the player into between a rock and a hard place when choosing what players to send to what parts of the Collectors' home base. Much of the Normandy Crew's survival is based on their loyalty to Shepard, which is built up throughout the game, and the ending nicely ties up the franchise as a whole.
I do, however, have some smaller issues with this sequel. The game's load screens are at the top of my list, they take an eternity to move along, and it seems that this is a problem that could have and should have been fixed. I haven't come across any other game, even an older game, with loading screens as long as Mass Effect 2. And there's another thing that bothers me, unrelated to the load screens. The design. The game doesn't have that same immense feel as the first Mass Effect game, and there doesn't seem to be the same sense of wonder with ME2. Missions in this game, like in other generic third-person shooter games, are very linear, and while this is also semi-true of the first game, Mass Effect also had missions to explore around on the surface of other planets in a ground vehicle. These planets were uninhabited, but they still added massive amounts to the size of the galaxy. With their removal, the galaxy gets a lot smaller. This is made doubly so by the fact that every single planet that's not inhabited must be scanned for raw materials in a very painstaking way by the Normandy SR-2. This is grinding, and grinding is a very bad thing for a game to force onto a player.
Now I'd like to review the two major DLC for Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker and Arrival. I would do two more reviews, but since these two DLC are pretty much integral to the story of Mass Effect 2, they deserve a spot in the full review.
Lair of the Shadow Broker
In this DLC, Liara T'Soni, an Asari who was on Shepard's crew back in Mass Effect, has uncovered a route to the mysterious and powerful Shadow Broker, an intergalactic information dealer. The Shadow Broker wronged Liara after Shepard was comatose in the time between the two Mass Effect games, and she wants revenge.
This DLC was very fun to play. It shows a side of Liara that isn't seen at all in the first Mass Effect, and it shows an amazing amount of character progression. She is no longer the timid girl who researches Prothean ruins, Liara is now a very powerful Asari who is determined, and rather ruthless. Thankfully, though, Shepard has many opportunities to talk to her and help her gain a little of her old self back. Unfortunately, Liara does not remain in Shepard's crew after the DLC is over, but along with the Paragon dialog options, Shepard has the ability to, if he or she was in a relationship with Liara at the end of Mass Effect, talk to her and declare that he or she still loves Liara, and wants to be with her. If this path is chosen, it ends with a little romance in Shepard's cabin, and some significant satisfaction from players who were pining after Liara throughout Mass Effect 2 like I was.
This DLC takes probably three or four hours to play, but it's split up into several missions, so it's a little more laid back. If this DLC is not played, Liara simply becomes the Shadow Broker without Shepard's help sometime before the events of Mass Effect 3.
Arrival
Oh dear, it looks like the Reapers are here. Time to destroy the Mass Relay and prevent their arrival.
This is a very difficult DLC to play through, as Shepard has no choice but to destroy the relay and kill all the aliens still present in the star system. It does, however, provide a significant amount of plot, as Shepard gets to witness Reaper Indoctrination progress while revealing deeper feelings within him or herself. In the end, Shepard has a talk with the leader of the Reapers, Harbinger, who says that any effort to stop them is futile. This directly sets up the events of Mass Effect 3, and is pretty much completely necessary for the progression of the trilogy's story. This DLC does take about three or four hours of straight playing to complete, so it is more grueling than Lair of the Shadow Broker, but the gravity and importance of Shepard's mission in this DLC is blatantly obvious.
If this DLC is not played, the Alliance destroys the relay without the help of Shepard, and none of them make it out alive.
Mass Effect 2 is a good game that's still rough around the edges. With a little more refinement, this trilogy could really end on a high note, and hopefully it will.
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