Mass Effect 2

This game in 2023 is still in my all time favourite five The storyline is absolutely thrilling interesting and emotional.

An amazing line-up of characters with their own quests actually make you emotionally attached.

The combat system is very good easy-to-understand.

Voice acting is on point The DLC a really immersive ID like taking time out and spending time with the crew members after every mission.

The team at bioware really have done a number on this game.

The world's are fun to explore.

Resource gathering to upgrade your ship had some funny little perks and quirks.

Well done bioware.

It's not pay to win or anything. It's just a genuine good all round game.

After playing through the first Mass Effect game, I knew I had to get started on Mass Effect 2 and mainly because of my enjoyment of this franchise, I have completed Mass Effect 2 and here is my review for the game. The premise of the game sees the return of Commander Shepard where he must recruit a team to take down The Collectors who are the agents of The Reapers.

Characters Once again I played as a Male Shepard who is voiced by Mark Meer and I loved playing as his character. He is just a great lead character and even though I played as the paragon character I still enjoyed the Whitty banter and the heroic nature of Shepard.

There are a huge amount of characters in this game, there are 12 squad mates and other characters so I obviously won't be able to talk about them all but just know that pretty much every new and returning characters are great (apart from Jacob Taylor who sucked)

Miranda Lawon is Shepards new second in command played by Yvonne Strahovski and she was a great character. She is obviously meant to be the attractive female character but there are real layers to her character and you see the complexity to Miranda and why she is so interesting.

Garrus Vakarian makes his return voiced by Brandon Keener and he is excellent here. He is so much better in this game and you really feel the chemistry between Garrus & Shepard and their banter is one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. Garrus is way more hardcore here but there is a story reason for it and it really fits his character.

Tali also makes her return played by Ash Sroka and she is also so much better in this game and much more fleshed out. She comes across as less naïve and more adult and I liked how she is more confident in her ability and that her relationship with Shepard has developed.

Mordin, Grunt, Jack, Thane, Samara, Kasumi & Zaeed are also really fleshed out characters with distinct personality and these are some of the best squad mates in any game possible.

Story The story is amazing in this game and I think that is because of the stakes that are put on it and that the game constantly reminds the player of the threat of The Collectors. As I said before, the characters are fantastic and their unique personalities makes this a way more interesting group of people compared the previous game. The final mission is possibly the greatest final mission in video game history and utilises all of the characters so well and makes the tension feel massive and that you want to keep all of the characters alive.

Side Content This game has fantastic side content. There are a bunch of loyalty missions that further expand all of the characters and makes you truly care about them and their personal issues. My favourite ones being Garrus, Tali & Miranda. There are other lesser important side missions and they are fun and probably overall better then the previous game.

Gameplay This is probably the part of the game that is most improved from the previous game and the action flows so much better then the previous game. There are so many different weapons and they feel really different and unique that makes gameplay enjoyable every time.

Graphics Just like the first game, I played the legendary edition of Mass Effect 2 so the graphics were vastly improved from the original game but even then the game looked better then the first Mass Effect game and the planets were way more unique and showed the different cultures that populated this universe.

Overall Overall, Mass Effect 2 is an epic game and a huge improvement of the first game. This is one of my favourite games ever and I just love this universe and the cast of characters that are introduced here that really improve this game.

Rating - 10/10.

Bioware have really outdone themselves this time. Mass Effect 2 is just awesome on so many levels. There's the cinematic feel of the cutscenes, to the fast-paced action, and of course, the character interactions and moral options. Everything has been expanded in this one, including the romantic relationships, and full loyalty missions for each recruit. Nearly every one of these is played out brilliantly and you really develop connections with the characters, and each one has some moral decisions you need to make. The overall plot may seem a little simplistic, but it forces you to play the game patiently and not rush through the story missions. It's also hugely replayable, with different moral paths for virtually every mission. I spent the majority of the game doing side missions, exploring locations and wandering the ship talking to people. I'm a huge fan of Knight of the Old Republic, and unfortunately they didn't go all the way with the character developments in Mass Effect 1 like they did in that series. Mass Effect 1 was a good game, but it had some fairly obvious flaws. Nearly every one has been fixed for this installment, and this game now feels truly rewarding from an action standpoint and an edifying one. The inventory system has been made way more manageable, but maybe too much, as it sometimes feels like there isn't enough variety of weaponry. I was also confused by the key bindings screen, which promised some sort of vehicle combat, not like the clunky mako, but something, then there were no vehicles in the game. Why have key bindings for them then? Also the hacking puzzles were way too easy in this game. They should come up with some different ones. Anyways, I am eagerly awaiting the 3rd installment in this series. They have the potential for this series to go down as an all-time gaming classic. Every race has a story arc that has things unfulfilled in it. There's a lot to do in part 3 besides just the defeating reapers. The krogans have to defeat the genophage, the quarians have to retake their homeworld or make peace with the geth, the geth have to break free of the reapers, and of course the different individual character arcs. Maybe they could delve deeper into who Sheperd is as well. The potential for the finale is palpable. If you haven't played the first game, it's not really a requirement, but you need to play this second one if you haven't. The only game I can say I've enjoyed more is Fallout 3.

This game left me speechless with its story and the gameplay. Definitely deserves its rating. Brilliant, just brilliant.

Pros:

• Amazing story & characters
• Gunplay feels tighter than original
• Great voice acting
• Good customisation
• Good level progression
• Improved side quest level design
• A lot to do
• No Mako!

Cons:

• Movement can still be abit clunky
• RPG options are more limited

Verdict: In comparison to the original Mass Effect, the sequel is an improvement in almost every single way from the story, characters, and gameplay. Mass Effect 2 is indeed one of the best sci-fi epics of all time.

9 /10.