Mass Effect 2

- Reviewed on PS4 -

Mass Effect 2 released on January 26th, 2010.

Keep in mind, I am reviewing Mass Effect 2 as it was in the Mass Effect Legendary Edition. 

As the sequel to the first Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 is a brilliant sequel that not only continues what made Mass Effect 1 so magical (to me at least) but also enhances those core game mechanics and fixed some of the issues I had with the original. 

Developed by BioWare, Mass Effect 2 takes you on a mind-blowing adventure that truly, still, lives up to today's gaming standards (in terms of environments, dialogue, combat, and more)! 

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

With an astonishing (approximate) game length of about 24 and a half hours, Mass Effect 2 once again puts you in the shoes of main protagonist, Commander Shepard. 

You start the game by either creating a whole new Commander Shepard or importing your Mass Effect 1 character (and their stats, abilities, etc.). 

Importing my ME1 character truly helped keeping me immersed in the story as if it was one continuous movie, with my custom-made Infiltrator (one of the classes you can have) staying friends with the returning characters and having all my ME1 actions still in effect.

I absolutely love the way BioWare incorporates your story actions into each of their games. Every person you save, kill, help out, romance, etc. is affected / mentioned across all the Mass Effect titles. 

The story of Mass Effect 2 is about the paramilitary group named Cerberus and Shepards fight against the Collectors. 

After the opening cutscene where (SPOILER) the ME1s' version of the Normandy (the famous name of the spaceship you are in) is blown up, Shepard is killed in action, before being revived by Cerberus themselves. 

Cerberus is also led by the Illusive Man who definitely has their own unique and suspicious way of handling actions / decisions he's not a part of. 

The dialogue in Mass Effect 2 is well spoken and doesn't have any of that early year's bad charm to it. It actually sounds very good and adds a whole lot more to the suspense and drama of it all (especially at the end of the game). 

Your dialogue (and sometimes actions) matters a lot when deciding if you want to have a good or bad representation with others in the universe(s). This mechanic is called Morality. 

Good and pleasant behavior grants you Paragon points, while Bad and violent behavior grants you Renegade points. 

As you level up either side, you unlock different persuasive dialogue options. 

Also, side note, be aware of the fast, quick time events that you can press, to gain a lot more points for whichever (desired) Morality section you're going for. 

I personally went for Paragon (on my first play through at least) and this resulted in NPCs cheering me on and even giving me shop discounts! Bottom line, I would choose which side you want, and stick with that the entire game. It'll be worth your while. 

As mentioned earlier, the Normandy is the hub world of sorts for the entire duration of Mass Effect 2. Cerberus offers a new revitalized spaceship for you and your crew to tackle planet after planet. 

Similarly, to ME1, Mass Effect 2 has a wide selection of squad mates for you to unlock. 

During missions you are allowed to have two squad mates. Although they are CPU, the Mass Effect 2 AI does work very well with combat, even though it lacks the charm of talking to them as regularly as ME1 allowed.

In the Legendary Edition, Mass Effect 2 has 13 different squad mates to choose from (varying in alien species). The squad mates are...

    - Kasumi

    - Grunt

    - Thane

    - Jack

    - Miranda

    - Legion

    - Zaeed

    - Tali

    - Samara or Morinth (depending on who you choose to help in Samara's loyalty mission)

    - Mordin

    - Jacob

    - Garrus

    - Liara

You won't have everyone's help at your disposal right away, however. You must first travel (using the Galaxy Map in the Normandy) to their respective planets and complete their given mission(s) to unlock their help. 

After a while, you'll be able to talk to them separately on the Normandy (where they stay after you recruit them) and unlock their loyalty missions. 

Completing these loyalty missions will give them bonuses during combat and also help you in the end with keeping them (and others) alive. 

My issues with ME1 were thankfully resolved in Mass Effect 2. One being the objectives and knowing where to actually go. 

In ME1, you were pretty much given a bland explanation in your Journal, then had to find the right destination, person, item, etc. yourself. Thankfully, Mass Effect 2 fixed that by giving you a marker for your current mission when pressing the right analog stick inwards (at least on PS4). 

The music in Mass Effect 2 does not compare to the outstanding ones in Mass Effect 1, but the planets, graphics, atmosphere, and overall level design is breathtaking and well worth the long campaign itself.

Traveling planet to planet, monitoring your fuel and probe materials was so much fun. Not all planets are walkable, but the ones who aren't can be scanned and used to gather Element Zero, Iridium, Platinum, and / or Palladium. 

These resources scanned can be used for a plethora of upgrades to you, the Normandy, your squad mates, your weapons, and more. 

Mass Effect 2 changed direction with its combat slightly from ME1. This is extremely apparent with weapon ammo. Weapon ammo was crucially missing in ME1, but Mass Effect 2 brought that back, rightfully so. 

In ME1 I could use the same weapon (the sniper) the entire time and win. In Mass Effect 2, I'm now forced to use different techniques, weapons, and strategies to beat the enormous waves of enemies. 

Mass Effect 2 still has wide, open, pointless sections of their maps, but not nearly as bad as ME1 did, as their levels were littered with those annoying designs.

You will always have something to do in Mass Effect 2. Whether that be side missions, scanning planets, loyalty missions (as there are a lot of squad mates to help for the perfect ending), dialogue, or better yet just relaxing and exploring the wonderful worlds BioWare made. 

Mass Effect 2 is an outstanding sequel to a series I absolutely adore and will highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi, and very detailed game lore. Just make sure you don't cheat on Ashley in Mass Effect 2... that'll make Mass Effect 3 quite awkward. 

Pros: 

    - Incredible Graphics

    - Outstanding Game Lore

    - Character Customization (Morality, Appearance, Backstory, etc.)

    - Combat Fixes / Improvements (Ammo, Weapons, Powers, etc.)

    - UI Improvements (Objective Markers, Maps, etc.)

    - Plethora of Squad Mates to choose from

    - Leveling Up (and its Power options)

    - Great Voice Acting / Dialogue

Cons:

    - Still has Empty, Pointless Spaces in Levels

    - Not the Best Soundtrack compared to Previous Title

    - Game Loading Glitches (Rare, but forces you to reboot game)  

    - Awful Running Mechanic (Stamina)

My Rating for Mass Effect 2 (on PS4):

5 / 5

-----

Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.