Mass Effect 2 (PC) Short Review

Mass Effect 2 
Developed by Bioware
Published by EA
Available on Steam for £19.99

The Mass Effect series may just have one of the best "lived in" sci-fi universes going. Even ignoring the amazing design, the rich tapestry of inter- and intra-racial interactions and the feeling of this being a real, living galaxy. I find the biggest strength of the world to come from the fact that Bioware have managed not to fall into the trap that most sci-fi and fantasy worlds do, wherein every non human character is just an example of a set of racial traits. Well, apart from the obligatory 'black sheep' whose soul defining characteristic is not fitting the mold. Drizzt anyone? In a Mass Effect game, a character's race will generally give you no prior indication of their disposition or opinions, something which really makes the universe compelling and elevates well above the mire of generic ten-a-penny sci-fi and fantasy settings. 

It's a good thing that Mass Effect 2 has this grounding in such a well realised world too, because it really helps to make up for foibles that would be serious deal breakers in other games. The most pressing of which is the combat. It's definitely much more developed than in the original Mass Effect. There's now an ammunition system rather than the previous game's overheating mechanic and cover, whilst still clunky, is more intuitive to snap into and out of. None of this deals with the the main issue with the combat, which is that it doesn't feel satisfying. It may be closer to a cover based third-person shooter like Gears of War than the first game was, but it's still  lacking a feeling of engagement that betrays its rpg-centric Bioware roots. In essence, even though this game has had many of it's predecessor's overt RPG trappings stripped away, it still feels like there are modifying dice rolls going on in the background every time you fire a shot. Because of this, it's hard to really feel potent in combat. Yes, enemies will fall and some of the encounters can be impressive, but it can be difficult to shake the feeling that victory was more down to chance than personal skill.

Thankfully, despite the shifts toward being more action oriented, Mass Effect 2 really shines as a sci-fi RPG. The universe is compelling with great attention to detail meaning that it feels populated with people rather than a bunch of drab racial archetypes. Running through a hub area you will overhear snippets of conversations that, whilst scripted rather than dynamically generated, give the universe some life. The believability of the setting is a testament to Bioware's strengths as creators of worlds, as even though there are only a handful of hub worlds each with a very limited scope of exploration, the world as a whole feels as expansive as a fully open Bethesda epic.

Onto the immersive backdrop is placed some great character interaction and development. At the start of the game players can elect to create a new Cmdr. Shepherd or import one from a Mass Effect saved game. Importing providing both, minor but welcome, bonuses to the player and consequences in how characters in the game world receive Shepherd. In true RPG fashion though, the commander's real role is to be the player's vessel, he/she lacks any real personality beyond what the player gives them. The real stars are the members of the team. Every one of them is deep, interesting and have conversation options designed in such a way that interacting with them feels fluid.  By the end of the game I had become attached to my team in a way that rarely happens in games. Between the amazing writing and the great voice acting, they came across as actual people with developed personalities and not just two dimensional heroic archetypes.

The only downside of the interactions with the other members of the team is something that pervades almost every speech encounter in the game. Almost all conversation options have an impact on the game's binary paragon/renegade morality system. The main product of the system is that a high enough score in either direction can unlock new speech options in future encounters that can open up new approaches to problems. As a consequence of this, I at least often found myself responding to a character in a way that I didn't really want to, just because I knew that a less interesting response would give me points in the appropriate morality direction, and that since there's a finite number of points in the game, it wasn't worth risking throwing them away.

Still, this is not a huge problem and, hamfisted an implementation as it is, it does at least give the player's actions some consequence in the game world, even if those consequences are that by not being a straight Paragon or Renegade, the player finds themself in a story situation that they can't effectively resolve to their liking. On top of this, since at least Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Bioware RPGs have required the player to make at least two playthroughs to see everything. No this isn't a real defense of the system, but it does at least show it to be a product of deliberate design and not sloppiness. Obviously it's a matter of player preference, but I, at least, quite like the idea of my in-game actions having consequences on the story and the world, and if the price of that is making a choice between true role-playing and powergaming, so be it. 

As with anything with any sort of budget these days, Mass Effect 2 looks and sounds good. From a technical standpoint it looks a little tired, essentially having the first game's graphics with a few minor updates. Still, apart from a few niggles like everybody of the same species/gender seeming to share the same body model, the game is easy on the eyes; the models and textures aren't noticeably bad, and the subtle filmgrain effect enabled by default helps to further smooth everything over.  The biggest boon to the game's visuals is the great standard of design throughout, as evidenced on everything from characters to ships and from weapons to environments.

In terms of audio, nothing really overly draws attention to itself, and this is far from a bad thing. It means that the audio is doing everything right as far as delivering an immersive experience: subtly enhancing the experience, rather than jarring the player out of the world by drawing undue attention to itself. The voice acting is generally of a high standard, really contributing to giving characters, particularly the Normandy's crew and Shepherd's teammates, their depth and believability. If a complaint has to be made then it's that the male Shepherd voice is a little on the flat side. Touching or tense moments can sometimes have a little of their shine taken off by the limited emotion expressed in the voice. It isn't really that bad, this isn't old Resident Evil voicework by any stretch. It is noticeable enough to be worth a mention though.

You get used to seeing the world from over Shepherd's shoulder.

In Mass Effect 2 Bioware have produced a amazing action-RPG based in an amazing setting whose greatness is only slightly tarnished by an overly pervasive binary morality system and a, whilst technically proficient, ultimately unengaging combat system. Nevertheless,  these are charges that quite honestly could be levelled at almost any RPG, and it would be no more justified to dismiss Mass Effect 2 over these issues than it would be to write off a large proportion of the genre. While I enjoyed the first, Mass Effect 2 is the game that really cemented the strength franchise and its setting for me. I would highly recommend this game to anyone even mildly intrigued by idea, it really is that good.

9/10