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how it changes and develops. Considering the scope and scale of the game I see
this as the only way to do justice to the game, really how will I remember a
small detail in the first hour when finishing the 40th?
I havecurrently completed the opening, the citadel, and omega. My squad is now Miranda,
Jacob, Mordin, Garrus, and Zaeed.
Purchasing, Accounts, Codes and loading.
I walked straight into an EB games in my lunch break and walked out with a copy of Mass
Effect 2 CE, complete with a pre-order card for the Terminus armor. I really
should find out why stores push pre-orders so hard.
I setup my EA account, Bioware account and redeemed my codes while at work. My impression
of this was that if I went straight home and had to go through this process
before getting to actually play the game I would be sincerely frustrated and
unhappy.
When I did get home I decided to install the game onto my hard drive to get around the
reported load times, this took some time. Eventually when I loaded up Mass
Effect 2 for the first time I was prompted to update the game with a download
from xbox live. This seemed fine until I got into the game, redeemed my
Cerberus code and realized the DLC was in total well over 500mb to download.
In Australia you are charged by your download amount, so this was going to take a chunk out of
my monthly quota that I usually put towards downloading my favourite TV shows.
At this point, if I include setting up the accounts, installing, etc, I had spent over an
hour and a half just setting up the game and I would have to wait a lot longer
to download the new content. So I just started playing.
First Impressions.
I only recently replayed through Mass Effect 1 again both to refresh my memory of the
games events and details, but also to be sure the Shepherd I import is one
where the decisions are the ones I wanted to keep.
The opening sequence is without doubt spectacular, the breeched hull section was
particularly good. My only criticism is that I never saw Shepherds face, I know
why this is done but it would have been nice to see my Mass Effect 1 Shepherd
considering the effort I put in to develop him.
Generally Bioware have a habit of ruining the pacing of a game, especially when the plot
dictates that there be a fast pace. This was very true of the opening sequences
of Mass Effect 1 which constantly broke the games pace. I was very pleased to
see that Bioware has learnt this lesson and improved the opening of Mass Effect
2 ten fold.
I love the pacing of the opening level, it’s fast and energetic much like the games
opening and it teaches me everything I need to know to play the game while
giving me a great story and a bunch of new characters.
The Story Continues.
The shuttle ride to see the Illusive Man was a nice touch, an interlude where I could be
reminded that this is the second part of the story and Shepherd has a past that
I shaped for him. I played a Renegade who killed the Rachni, Kaiden, the Council,
and installed Captain Anderson as a member of the Council. The glowing red
scares were a nice touch, and with my deliberately ugly and abrasive black
shepherd, he looked and felt totally bad ass science fiction version of Samuel
L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction.
I was a little disappointed with the dialogue options with the Illusive Man, as a
Renegade confronting an organization I hunted in Mass Effect 1 means I want to
give them a piece of my mind. Yet the Renegade options were seemingly only
those of co-operation, as if to say I was being a Renegade by joining Cerberus.
It’s a fine line, am I a Renegade in the eyes of the galaxy or in the eyes of
the character in front of me?
Regardless, it was a good introduction to the main players and plot points and it was
interesting enough to motivate me to continue.
Game Mechanics.
The improvements to the combat systems are outstanding, it feels the same as the
first game and yet it’s something new and enjoyable. The first Heavy Mech fight
was particularly fun and highlighted a new focus on strategy and tactics as
opposed to the brute force of the first game.
The HUD however makes it really difficult to monitor my shields, health and that of my squad
mates. It doesn’t seem to be supported by any noticeable sound effects and the bleeding
screen is almost too much of a distraction. I am also a little dubious on the ammo system, but it's forcing me to think when the first game didn't so the engagement is appreciated.
On the other hand, there are some nice touches to the interrupt system, the mini-games,
squad control, and the general quality of how they are all presented. I am yet
to pass judgment on the new inventory system or lack thereof, but at this point
if the customizable armor options are available for shepherd then they should available
for every Squad member.
Design and Pacing.
I’ve already mentioned pacing, but it’s so good it deserves another mention. So far
each mission has felt meaningful and enjoyable. The traditional RPG mechanic of
walking into a quest hub and playing out several lower quality side missions
has been replaced with a much more focused and high quality experience. I hope
this is a sign of things to come.
The design of each mission is also a testament to the lessons Bioware have learnt. The
experience of playing through the recruitment of both Garrus and Mordin was far
more streamlined, and of such a high quality in comparison to any of Mass
Effects missions. I felt I had direction, purpose, and I was experiencing the
story in a much more intimate way.
This is all best personified in the new Citadel which is effectively only two areas
(markets and anderson’s
office). Crammed into this space is more detail and content that the entire
citadel of Mass Effect 1 which consumed large amounts of space with not very
much content.
Concluding Thoughts.
I wanted to stay up all night last night to keep playing, but I decided to go to bed after
recruiting Garrus and then running into Zaeed (my content finished downloading).
It will be a good place to pick things up tonight.
If the rest of the game is this good, then I have no doubt I will enjoy the lot.
Modifié par hetfool, 29 janvier 2010 - 12:02 .
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