Mass Effect 2
With a game this big, how can you possibly have only one person review it. To try and give our readers the best insight into Mass Effect 2 (without major spoilers), Michael Brown, Nick Tringali and Joel Cornell have spent a large chunk of the week delving into Mass Effect 2 and it's many different story paths; we're calling this review "Mass Perspective". Take a look below and let us know what you thought of Mass Effect 2.
I imported my save from Mass Effect 1, and thus continued my journey as a soldier-class, Paragon fighting the good fight and befriending as many people as I could in the galaxy. Being a soldier obviously means that my version of Shepard heavily relied on guns, and in Mass Effect 2 the gun combat has been significantly improved. The red "target" triangle on the center of enemies is now gone, and in its place is a more robust reticule. However it seems as though to improve the gun combat this time around, Bioware decided it was necessary to cut many of the games RPG elements (there are only about 4 skills to level up per character versus about 8-10 in the previous game). While this is not a huge issue, it does seem to significantly stray away from what the original Mass Effect appeared to be.
Plenty of people criticized the first game for its cutscenes, however, new to Mass Effect 2 is the ability to "customize" your cutscenes. During certain cutscenes you are given the option to either perform a Paragon or Renegade action (although both are not always available at the same time). These new options allow players to further their goal to become the ultimate inter-galactic badass or saviour. Overall, Mass Effect 2 is an amazing game that I would highly recommend to any gamer (upon completing the first for the backstory), however there are parts in the game that feel significantly less polished than they did in the first game.
While combat and crew member AI has been significantly improved, many characters seem to suffer from unintentional crossed eyes or facial ticks. Some of the cutscenes in Mass Effect 2 also experience drops in frame rate or momentary freezing. Although it might not be perfect, Mass Effect 2 is an amazing game worth almost anyone's time, after all, I got so sucked into it that I beat it in a little over 20 hours and in just three sittings…that's right, three.
-Michael Brown
Overall, I enjoyed Mass Effect 2. The story was fun, and the characters very interesting. You still have some stock characters like Jacob or Miranda, but Thane and Jack (my favorites) stand out and are fun to play with. There are new (and more) places to visit, such as new age cities or slums run by gangs. The sequel has generally improved on the experience of the first.
However, I want to devote my time here to some problems in the game and to some basic RPG principles in general. First off, there are an embarrassing number of graphical glitches. I played on a PC with the settings at medium to high and only noticed a few framerate glitches during intense fights, along with world visibility issues and facial flickering during conversations. The rest of the highly polished graphics and design unfortunately make these small issues stand out.
I'm happy to note the combat AI has improved significantly. Both friend and foe will take cover on their own and know their stuff well. Mass Effect 1's combat relied on weapons overheating to slow down fire and keep you on your toes. In the second, this has been discarded for a more traditional system, where you pick up 'thermal clips' which allow each gun to fire off so many shots before they have to be discarded. Health packs are a little less important now, and only used to revive fallen teammates (your health regenerates).
All of it lends to more streamlined combat, but it's still not perfect. The cover system, while a necessity to stay alive, is very clunky. At times you can pop in and out of cover and move up or to the side, without any problems. But half of the time you'll find yourself forcing Shepard to move this way or that. It takes a noticeable amount of time from the button press to get in and out of cover, adding to the awkward feeling. The skirmishes are still nice, the pacing and variety of combat locations are a big plus, and it's a bonus that each one doesn't last very long.
On to my RPG bit: conversations and moral meters. Mass Effect 2 carries over the Paragon/Renegade meters (I'm happily a Renegade), along with the chance to do some good (pansy) or evil (badass) action mid-conversation. In Mass Effect 2, just about every conversation you have gives you a few points to either side, which is fine. But each conversation ultimately nets you the same effect, because the story is linear. Minor experiences may differ, but everyone fights Collectors for Cerberus.
Sometimes the conversation options seem a bit trivial though. I'm not asking for every non-important conversation to be automated, but some make it pretty obvious that the minor differences don't matter. Also, what's with people turning at perfect 90o angles and walking away from Shepard? This doesn't happen as often as the first, but its still noticeable. No one does that in real life… yet.
- Nick Tringali
The simplification of the game's RPG elements will come as a disappointment to many, yet that does give the player a higher emphasis on story, character and combat. Most of your party will be entirely new and the manner in which your decisions from ME1 affect the story here is surprisingly broad. Unfortunately, not importing a character means the game assumes certain events for you.
Many characters from ME1 (those left alive) make reappearances, but only briefly as the focus is put on your new party. The initial party members (Jacob and Miranda) are incredibly contrived stock characters (a dutiful soldier keen to take orders and a feisty white woman with an unrealistic body, respectively), but fortunately as your roster expands, the characters deepen. It is very difficult to try to surpass the scope of a plot like ME1, but the differences between the story there and in ME2 are sadly minimal. Still, the narrative is personal and gripping, and the cinematic value sets a new standard for games.
The combat mechanics are nothing new, but they don't need to be. The game could have seen a majority of its minor glitches disappear with a delayed release, but the worst you'll see is your character getting stuck requiring you to reload your last save. The character animations, voice acting and expressions are much more varied this time. The A.I. has certainly seen some work and the unexplored planets have been greatly fleshed out (no more vehicles, thankfully). The final battles are much more affected by the manner in which you play, which provides a much higher replay value. Beyond the minor glitches and simplified play, it is evidence that Bioware is among those setting the bar of modern storytelling.
-Joel Cornell
Likes:
- Gun mechanics have been improved
- Gripping side missions revolving around your crew members
- Shepard can now hide behind cover
- Crew member AI has been significantly improved
Dislikes:
- Feels less polished than the first in some parts
- RPG elements are exceptionally streamlined (almost gone)
- Glitches and framerate problems cause occasional freezing or cutscene issues
- Exceptionally long loading times
Review Score
/
The review scale at LevelFortyTwo is between 1 and 5. A score of 5 is considered an amazing game, 4 is a well-done game with only minor issues, 3 is in the middle; not great, but not bad, 2 is a very problematic game, and 1 is absolutely terrible.
We Believe in Games
In humanity’s realm of beliefs, we have a common set of choices that exist as variables in society. Every decision we make incorporates individual beliefs, morals, or whatever one would call a stance on capital punishment, for instance, homosexuality or the limited power of government. These are always compounded by inconsistent factors. What would my father say? Will this affect my job? Will I still be able to shop at the same video store? How will my decisions affect my children? All of these are questions which will eternally lack a standardized answer, but have been challenged by various mediums. Media such as film, literature, music and now, video games, can make us reexamine our life choices and ideals through a cathartic simulation. But can the deepening interactivity that gaming allows challenge what we believe in a way we’ve never seen before?
There are answers to these eternal questions – moral, religious, or otherwise – but they are all dependent on how we identify ourselves within the society we live in – whether a strict Muslim community, the inner city of Dublin, or rural China. Part of being human is coming to terms with these questions, and living with those decisions. While gaming is moving towards a more socially accessible medium, much of the depth and introspection of games does not exist in that more casual niche of the industry. However, the exponential rate at which video games are changing provides alternative realities that can compare in their narrative scope with that of classic film and literature. These realities can make available to us worlds where the relative choices of beliefs we have made in life can be radically altered and lived out, consequences included. Whether this alternate world is fantastic, modern, realistic, or futuristic, the possibilities for humans to challenge their set beliefs are becoming more applicable as a mechanism of entertainment as daily progress is made in the industry.
We are allowed to invest ourselves in a world where we can alter and reexamine the decisions we, as real people, would not necessarily make. In games as (relatively) recent as Fable 2, Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Fallout 3, game designers are able to let players become someone great, not because the game would take us there on a strict linear path no matter what, but because we made the decisions and took the actions to get there. As gaming trends would show, our former choice of "Save the Princess" or "Game Over" will expand, allowing us to "Fall into a Loving Homosexual Relationship with the Princess,” "Rape and Kill the Princess,” "Sell the Princess as a Slave,” or "Install the Princess as Queen and Become Her Advisor, Ushering In a New Era of Peace and Prosperity for Your People.”
As game narratives progress and deepen, it's not hard to imagine a situation within a game where one's best friend has murdered someone innocent. Do we turn him in or do we instead hide his guilt because of our relationship? Do we hold true to our beliefs in justice, and let the system process his crime or do we take matters into our own hands? Even within that, do we approach vigilantism a la the Punisher with capital consequences or as Batman would, believing in society’s justice over man’s corruption? As such an immersive experience would show us the debatably realistic consequences of our decisions in a virtual world, we can take those choices that we made in-game and later contemplate our own beliefs on such things based on our overall experience.
As the expanding communities of online games provide incredible anonymity, we can see decisions and beliefs play out in a much more realistic setting, where the other characters are played by people and not AI. While the in-game offerings may differ, one's online persona can be a veritable testing ground for difficult life choices. Coming out as a homosexual can be among these difficult decisions. Coming out to family or friends can be daunting and provide a wide array of virtually permanent outcomes. If coming out to your guild or clan yields intolerance, find another guild; an annoying experience, garnering harsh words and insults at the very worst. However, this can provide a valuable experience that can be applied to real world concerns and issues later on. No matter what the gaming mechanism, such proximity to other people will always give us such challenges.
Perhaps among the biggest creative problems gaming faces today is censorship. A recent calamity involving Mass Effect's sexual content caused somewhat of a media uproar at how games are coming to grips with more mature and often difficult subject matter. The game allowed for many varied experiences therein, from ignoring romance and focusing on one's duty, to entering into a homosexual inter-species relationship. The media here mistook open-ended possibility based solely on the player’s choice for insistence and indoctrination. Presenting these situations in an M-rated game is no different than similar experiences in our everyday lives, save for the fact that all intended consequences are clearly imagined and can be reset or reenacted at any time. That, and the whole interspecies gay space marine sexy time thing.
A medium that was once concerned only with scoring points and reaching the end of the level now finds itself facing a demand for realism that involves complex moral decisions, and living in the aftermath of them. Gaming is certainly heading towards morally open terrain in these more open ended games. How far will we see it go? What might happen if Yoshi refused to let Mario ride him because he tends to always be sacrificed to make that nearly fatal jump? Within a fictional setting, we can choose to do things that, in reality, we find appalling and horrific. No game will ever persuade anyone that speeding a tow truck down a crowded sidewalk could be fun, or that hacking up kids and hookers isn’t a bad a thing to do on a Saturday night. Evidence abounds that games do not have such a perverting affect on people. Still, can games ever delve deep into the conscience as to force players to challenge or at least reexamine their own sets of beliefs as they enact the persona of another character? Will censors see choice and exploration as coercion and suggestion, and impede such progressive measures?
