Quick note: I’ll be avoiding any Mass Effect 2 spoilers in this post.
As I’ve continued playing through the game I’ve been surprised by just how well the various gameplay elements blend well together.
In the first game, to me everything felt like a clunky mini-game – from the radial interface itself, to the combat, to the exploration, etc., everything felt disjointed.
This time around, however, Bioware’s done a good job of pruning elements out of the game where possible and streamlining things just about everywhere else.
Rather than having to battle the interface or try to decypher it, the controls are smoother and more intuitive and are really allowing me to focus on the story and the characters – which is really where the game’s strength lies.
However, for as much as I’m enjoying the story it does require a good memory of the first game or the reading of a number of encyclopedic entries just to keep up. While there are people out there who just love, love, love reading in-game background materials I’m not one of them. I’d have to knock off a couple points for that.
Let the story tell the story, I believe.
For as interesting as the overall story is, I believe that the true meat of the game is in the party member story arcs and how they play off one another. In the past, Bioware subplots were all over the map but in Mass Effect 2 they all seem to revolve around family and identity. Bioware picked fertile ground to root their stories and it really pays off for them.
Overall, I’m very happy to spend the time I am playing Mass Effect 2.
As an aside, I noted earlier the much-appreciated devotion Bioware paid to modeling Miranda’s butt and as you play through the game and unlock uniforms it becomes clear they paid equal attention to her breasts. When you unlock her black catsuit uniform the game becomes painfully distracting because her shiny chest is nearly always prominent on screen.
God bless you, Bioware. How did you know?
