Mass Effect 2

Humanity keeps setting up colonies in uncharted and lawless areas in space and then wonder why the hell they keep getting attacked and destroyed.

Two years after the events of the first game and the Citadel still has issues trusting the man that saved all organic life in the universe. A new threat is abducting human colonies whole and it is believed to be linked to an old threat. Shepard’s old team is off doing their own thing so you have to assemble a new team and kick some alien/monster/mech butt… that pretty much sums the story up.

The game is like a heavily polished version of the first mass effect. The camera has closed in on Shepard giving a tighter, more over the shoulder view and over all the visuals are excellent. Small “loading” hallways (small halls with no actual load time that divides large areas) are used to minimize the effects of texture lag (where every thing looks blurry for a few moments till the details load).

In stead of making DLC available through the regular channels of console market places or stores you have to get them through an alternate source. EA has set up the Cerberus Network. To join players have to set up an EA account on their website and then link the EA account to their game through which ever console or PC you are playing on. All of the first wave copies of Mass Effect will come with a free activation code and access to Zaeed the mercenary and the Normandy crash site content. Any one who buys a used copy or gets a copy produced after the first wave will have to pay EA a fee to connect to the Cerberus Network. It seems interesting but over all a pain in the butt.

Some of the more notable changes in game play this time around is armor customization. Through out the game you will find alternate armor pieces that will modify the effects of your armor. For example a gauntlet will add a bit of protection for your arms where an off hand ammo pouch will allow you to carry %10 more thermal clips. What are thermal clips you ask? The guns in Mass Effect had infinite ammo, the only restriction was that every time a shot was fired the weapon heated up. Fire enough rapid succession shots and the gun would overheat and not fire for a few moments. The Mass Effect 2 guns still have infinite ammo but they will not fire unless you have a thermal clip. So basically thermal clips are ammo… Lame! It adds an element of strategy but… I wanna be able to shoot forever like the last game!

What stayed the same is Mass Effect’s expansive dialog system. Players can breeze through these conversations and get the minimal amount of info but by selecting alternate dialog choices rewards players with a lot of additional details and back story.

Pretty much if you enjoyed Mass Effect they you will like Mass Effect 2 as well.

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