I remember seeing an awesome cover in a used game store and thinking "Mass Effect that sounds pretty cool......RPG in space? Why not.."
I also remember being taken on a fantastic journey in a way i haven't experienced since and I fell back in love with video gaming.
10/10 Bioware.
I liked that black suit in ME2. Too bad FemShep got the short end of the stick, and again in ME3 with that N7 jacket.
The thing that sticks in my mind the most is the music. Mass Effect 2 had such a killer soundtrack that made the missions seem so much more dramatic.
Then there's Mordin, easily the finest addition to the game to me.
Then there's Mordin, easily the finest addition to the game to me.
I was just talking to someone about how we'll never see characters like the ME2 crew again. Mordin is the perfect example.
ME2 is my favorite game. It's not a great RPG but damn did it have the best companions and missions.
It is my favorite game of three...
except for the central story.
This image sums up my feeling's pretty well:
I remember getting it as a birthday present years ago because I wanted it, then starting it at some point only to stop again and find a way to play ME1 first (because PS3 player).
I HATED where they went with the story in the beginning but was completely won over by the end of the Suicide Mission which has to be the most epic ending to a video game ever. Although It still feels like a spin-off to me that took the series off it's rails.
What is more frustrating is that throughout ME2 and ME3 you get glimpses of the sublime hinting at what the series could have become had Drew, Weekes, Dombrow and Chris E'Toile had more control over the overall direction of the series.
I remember daddy issues, calibrations and really needing to clean up the engine.
It is my favorite game of three...
except for the central story.
This image sums up my feeling's pretty well:
The Collector stuff wasn't good but I think the only thing that was catastrophically awful was the Human Reaper.
Guest_StreetMagic_*
I didn't play ME1 until right before ME2.. Went and got an xbox 360 for 2 around release time.
I loved it, but I remember a lot of people died in that first playthrough. 
Kind of confusing at first.
So many things grew on me over time.. the best music, the best characters.
I remember standing up and screaming when I played ME2 for the first time thinking, "What did I do wrong in ME1? Shep is DEAD!!!" was expecting a "game over" screen.
Love the SM.....best game experience in a Bioware game yet. Would love for them do do more stuff like this in their games. Talk about decision based outcomes! (and for me, I like the little consequences better)
Mordin signing, and turning my confused Shepard down. Legion. Garrus. Wrex. The love to hate VS. The companions in the ME series were great because while they didn't have much to say while out on missions, you still got to know them. Although Jack and Miranda I just wanted to beat upside the head.
Creepy mack-daddy Fem-Shep. She made my skin crawl in ME2. So Garrus, let's test your reach and my flexibility......Thane, so sorry your wife was murdered...I want you.....Hey Jacob, I'm just here for some creepy chat-up....so no sexual harrasment suit, okay?
DLC was awesome. Overlord.....ergh.
There are some serious ME2 haters on here, but I'm completely the opposite!
Mass Effect 2 was my favorite game of the series. The sudden shock of death in the beginning, coming back to life and building a team, (romancing Tali), and then going off into the unknown to fight an anomalous enemy. BLEW ME FREAKING AWAY!
Don't get me wrong, I love all 3 games, but ME2 is definitely my favorite. Oh, and I don't complain about ME3's ending. You make the most of it. You want to see it as crappy, then you get a crappy ending to a great trilogy. However, you look past the star child and you can decide what happens to your Shepard. It's left kind of open for a reason...
Anyway, looking forward to the next Mass Effect!
Aahhh Mass Effect 2 where to start. Well I remember things like the Citadel, while cut down in the Presidium, actually had an excellently realised appearance in the game. It felt less of an uninhabited boxy space, something with hustle and bustle, frequented and used by a multitude of races. Felt the bars were really well done in this game too, loved the way they sonically worked. I seem to remember you got a lot more depth in locations regarding the shops, the medical facilities. Not sure about Csec though.
In addition to this, i remember the other inhabited worlds were awesome, and all crafted to the same level of detail and scope (this bit Mass Effect 3 got wrong... it just got rid of these worlds for some unknown reason). I remember how alive, real & lived in the galaxy felt, how better realised the galaxy was, how just oozing with attention to detail & care it felt. I loved the rich atmosphere, I think the party was at its best in ME2, I remember almost losing my way in ME1 having to wade through Bioware's tedious NPC dialogue in the Citadel. They are dreadful at it in that, and in things like Dragon Age. It actually got a lot more compelling in ME2.
The side missions (now this is my biggest beef) - ME1, side missions were effectively go to a planet, drive around a square of rocky terrain, go to one of three building layouts, kill the inhabitants and receive a text update of what you have achieved. I mean in my last ME1 playthrough pretty much consisted of going through areas, pointing my gun at any red triangle available and engaging Marksman until win. Three buttons - barrier, marksman, shoot. The combat and side missions became the stuff to plough through to get to the good stuff, which was essentially Virmire's big reveal and everything past that. Although I'll put Noveria down as an early game highlight, that was a really well constructed part of game. Moreso than the mind control creature planet. But ME2 actually gave you side missions/anomolies that were unique and distinct. It was all varied and every location was again unique, felt different. The side-missions/planetory exploration was quite fleshed out/varied too and every location had a purpose. It wasn't just pointless fluff, it wasn't repetitive copy n paste filler envioronmnets with the same "missions"(i use that word loosely) and just a dfferent procedurallly generated skybox like in ME1. ME2 what it was... was quality over quantity(it was still very big though, just right imo). It was so immersive. As were the loyalty missions, which not only showed even more bits of the galaxy/lore but greatly expanded the characters, gave them depth & personality expressed through thier individual missions. Who can forget the suicide mission either, perfectly executed. One of the best finales ever imo. I liked the slower, methodical n more tactical combat. I liked the writing(esp Chris L'Etoile...He made the Geth for me with the Herotic arch. They just weren't the same in ME3. Plus stuff like Ilium, Omega, Qurian floatila/trial, Mordin & the Ghenophage etc. Not too mention his writing felt more in tone of what Mass Effect was about, like he understood it in a way the new writers(apart from John Dombrow & Patrick Weekes as the exceptions)just didn't. Chris L'Etoile, His writing it was more sciency n somewhat cerebral like good hard sci-fi is. ME3 was missing alot of that i think mainly down too him not being involved. I hope he comes back for ME4).
I remember the excellent soundtrack, how whilst a smaller selection than ME1 every weapon felt different/wasn't pointless & how the dialogue wheel was the best it ever was also. I loved Mass Effect 2's pacing and almost episodic nature to Mass Effect 1's big slog through the traditional BioWare Four Areas Then End Game plot line. Mass Effect 2 is like a great season of scifi television, with a few episodes about the core metaplot and then a lot of character(really, really great) episodes in the middle. I've always thought Mass Effect's main story has been B-Movie rubbish. The Reapers are the worse aspect of the series imo. And with ME2 Bioware realised that and a much more character focused story I think ME2 benefited from that. That 80% team building, gathering a group of individuals for an incredibly dangerous mission that will decide the fate of the universe and making them a unified team is the story. In learning more about their pasts, you better understand them as people and are better equipped to lead them. Hell, the game builds to a point that tests your ability to utilize their individual specialties- gameplay that rewards your investment in the story. It definitely has a smaller scope, but that focus ensures relevancy and thus, cohesion. And its all the better for it.
It was character focused/driven which is what Mass Effect did best. it wasn't the pretty crap main over arching story that ME was liked for..It was the characters and ME2 did them justice, they were no longer just walking codexes, it really excelled at that aspect and also again making the universe feel alive/lived in, richly detailed with a great abit darker atmosphere(i remember & loved how in ME2 your no longer part of the Alliance thus you can't be directly involved in galactic politics. Your involved in the dark underbelly of the galaxy, you operate more in the shadows now with Cerberus yet still i feel the politics of the criminal underworld as it were... your very much in involved in and influence. Yes you watch from a distance more, but again i feel like this makes you feel like your one small part of a much bigger galaxy. They're events/politics happening that are outside of your control and you have no direct say in...its more realistic in creating a more lived in/believable world as they're powerful npc's/characters beside you that don't need your input, they actually feel like real people in ME2 with things to do & lives to live).
See the difference between ME & ME2 is like the difference between Star Wars: A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back. One is more grand a story, epic, but see it lacked emotional depth, was stilted and ultimately not that amazing...Whilst the other is less grand...smaller in scope but much more detailed, intimate, more character focused/focused in general with emotional depth and far superior, more engaging moments to the bigger more epic predecessor. Bigger is better is a fallacy. And most prefer ESB for obvious reasons. I just think that whatever people think was lost between ME1 & ME2 is a bit misguided. It just got better at being what it always was.
ME2 was just a better, more fully-realised, all around refined game(in a good way), the story was closer-knit, characters were better rounded, gameplay was tightened and the story felt like it had a direction as where ME's story didn't have any real context, it became too grand too quickly to properly build suspense. And with regards to ME3...well there's soooooo many things wrong with it(not just the ending btw, I mean the ending is only part of why ME3 is terrible...Although it does represent everything that's wrong with the game in general...in that its a rushed, unfinished, lazy under-cooked mess..That for me sums up ME3 nicely. It's hard to believe that the same company that made the great KOTOR, ME1 & 2 could produce something so lack-lustre, half assed, half-baked and non-sensical. Its a shame cuz there are moments of brilliance during the game(pretty much notably Tunchunka & the Rannoch arcs, combat + the sound design/score), those are well written and actually take your choices from previous games into account. But outside of that the rest of game just fails hard. I can't describe how much i dislike, no hate the game. So much potential wasted). ME1 & ME2 will always be superior to it imo.
Anyway I think all in all that the best of the lot was Mass Effect 2. The pinnicale of the series(It was good for the same reasons Star Trek: TNG, or TESB was good. It was the deep characters & their relationships, galactic ethics, the smaller scale yet really compelling stories etc). It felt so involving n engaging throughout, and I only wish it had a few of the elements that Mass Effect 3 brought back in(weapon mods etc) after the huge stripping back. But apart from that it was and is still one the greatest games ever made. Simply incredible, i loved every minute. It was the last truly great game Bioware made.
I remember standing up and screaming when I played ME2 for the first time thinking, "What did I do wrong in ME1? Shep is DEAD!!!" was expecting a "game over" screen.
This is one of the most memorable moments of ME2 for me. I probably took about 10 tmes as long just to get through the beginning because I was so in awe. The SR1 falling to bits.. seeing the planet righ there.. and then Shep falling to his/her death... yeah, I was completely blown away by that opening scene alone.
I also enjoyed the characters, combat, music, and the DLC. Overall ME2 is still my fav of the three. Makes me want to play again. Hmmm.
What AdmiralBoneToPic said...
You are my Mass Effect explaining idol.
Yeah I could not put it better than AdmiralBoneToPic, whom I assume is a Redlettermedia watcher as well.
But to briefly sum up my opinions:
- Finest cast of characters of any game.
- Soundtracks are the best game music I ever heard. (Normandy Reborn, Infiltration, everything from the Suicide mission: simply devine.)
- Most complete and full experience of the ME universe so far.
- Finest gamelevel of any game - suicide mission.
Yeah nothing is perfect; for all it's flaws ME3 did improve the combat, weapon inventory and upgrade system dramatically. Scanning planets becomes a bit tedious after a while, but that's minor complaints.
And it would have been even greater with ship battles and dogfights, and it could use a bit more Collector fights, if only because then there would be more of Harbinger and his epic taunts, but I guess that's were the 'review the game you have, not the game you want' philosophy comes in.
Rupert Gardner. The most important character in ME2. He kept my femshep fed with his calamari gumbo. Without that, she would never of been able to defeat the collectors. Too bad he couldn't be on the ship in ME3.
I remember waiting and waiting and waiting for an explanation for the Lazarus Project and what exactly happened to Shepard and never getting one.
I remember the completely OOC behavior for both Shepard and the VS on Horizon.
I remember wanting to investigate the Collectors and Reapers, but only fighting endless hordes of faceless mercs who simply had the misfortune of being in my way.
I remember some pretty lolworthy superhero costumes being worn by teammates.
I remember "Ah, yes, 'Reapers'"
I remember how cool it was to be able to talk to a geth, and learn of their truly alien perception of the galaxy
I remember being able to visit the quarian flotilla, something I'd wanted to do since ME1
I remember finally being able to defy the Illusive Man
I remember Lair of the Shadow Broker.
I remember meeting Wrex "Shepard! My friend!"
Nailed it.
I remember it for the... disbelief stretching Lazarus Project, the great character content and world exposition, the creepy collectors and harbinger taunts, the fabulous Martin Sheen performance, the continuity threads reflected in several cameos by characters introduced in ME1, the tedious planet scanning, non-existent companion armors, the well-designed SM, all wrapped up in craptastic mechanics.
I remember waiting and waiting and waiting for an explanation for the Lazarus Project and what exactly happened to Shepard and never getting one.
I remember the completely OOC behavior for both Shepard and the VS on Horizon.
I remember wanting to investigate the Collectors and Reapers, but only fighting endless hordes of faceless mercs who simply had the misfortune of being in my way.
I remember some pretty lolworthy superhero costumes being worn by teammates.
I remember "Ah, yes, 'Reapers'"
I remember how cool it was to be able to talk to a geth, and learn of their truly alien perception of the galaxy
I remember being able to visit the quarian flotilla, something I'd wanted to do since ME1
I remember finally being able to defy the Illusive Man
I remember Lair of the Shadow Broker.
I remember meeting Wrex "Shepard! My friend!"
I remember daddy issues, calibrations and really needing to clean up the engine.
Rupert Gardner. The most important character in ME2. He kept my femshep fed with his calamari gumbo. Without that, she would never of been able to defeat the collectors. Too bad he couldn't be on the ship in ME3.
I liked Rupert! He was a real cat. He did the maintenance, cleaned the toilets, cooked the food - and didn't sugar coat nuffin. He has that gruffness that most Submariners have - we do what it takes to keep the world spinning.
I remember that a couple of changes irked me at first but quickly I grew to like the much more cinematic approach to the conversations, with characters moving around more and the cinematography being more dynamic. The new shooting mechanics also felt like an improvement but every once in a while I found myself prefering ME1's approach too, and I definitely missed the Citadel from ME1 but that's not to say ME2 didn't have good side-quests.
Overall, I felt like ME2 was the game that made me care about Mass Effect whereas, ME1, at least to me, was a pretty decent sci-fi thriller but with amateurish audiovisual presentation, but at its absolute best when I was just exploring uncharted worlds and taking in the atmosphere or when I was running about the Citadel taking in the extensive and authentic lore. On the other hand, ME2 felt like a series of interesting (to me, at the time!) subplots that were outstanding in audiovisual presentation and the characters suddenly felt completely believeable, mostly in how the writing felt less stoic.
A lot of people really had a boner for Liara in ME1... I never understood that to be honest. She was a really boring character with a fantasy-nerd love subplot IMO. Ashley's writing was sometimes lacking in tact but nonetheless more daring and evocative (sometimes too in-your-face, but she grabbed my attention with her philosophical questions about humanity vs aliens) and while I disagreed with almost everything, it did make me take a step back and think about how humans would really act if we found ourselves among other alien humanoids who were compatible socially but culturally and physiologically not as much.
ME2 took away some important authenticity but simultaniously strengthened the space-opera feel which I have no problems with. It felt like a really enjoyable Sci-fi tv series in how every mission felt like its own episode and being able to pick them in any order while the plot progressed unpredictably was a great formula.
ME3 though... it smothers everything about Mass Effect to me. I have so many negative emotions in me associated with that game other than the controversial ending.
^ I like the comparison between the missions and the episodes of a tv series. Quite astute.
^ I like the comparison between the missions and the episodes of a tv series. Quite astute.
It does make it a very replayable. You can put down the game for a long time, start it up for a mission or two, and not lose anything...
...except for the timing on Charge. The Vanguard is always less invincible than I remember her.
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