1. Exploration
A large part of the appeal of space is
the utter massiveness of it. It speaks to something deep in our
psyche, the sense that it is too grand and wonderful to truly grasp.
Say what you want about the Mako sequences of the original Mass Effect,
but they gave the game a sense of scope that is missing in this one.
There was a certain elegance, a lonely grandeur to being the only
living thing on a distant unknown planet. I also think that we as
gamers like the sense of freedom, of not always being railroaded to our
destination. The key change should have been to add variety to these
planets, not cut them altogether.
Disagree. The Mako
sequences were the main gripe about the original ME. Bioware took them
out, and now suddenly people ask why it was removed. It was removed
because it was horrible, simple as. You know which Mako mission gave me
the feeling you described? The Luna one. And you know why? Because
it was the only planet not littered with mountains that looked like
they were drawn by a three year old with muscle spasms.
2. Story
The
story of the original Mass Effect was an extremely well done, if
predictable, affair. But at least there was a story. In Mass Effect
2, the endgame is clearly visible from the very beginning. What
followed in the subsequent hours can only be described as a giant
intergalectic Pokemon quest, 30 some-odd hours of collecting and
powering up characters. From a lesser studio we would have no reason
to complain, but Bioware has such a long history of fascinating tales
that I can only wish they had been more ambitious. The game moved in
fits and starts, largely because each quest was a discrete mission with
no bearing on the overall goal.
Again, have to disagree. The story of the original ME suffered from a plothole of extraordinary size, namely...
*SPOILERS*
...
the Conduit simply being a backdoor to the Citadel. Saren did not need
this. He could've just signalled Sovereign and the Geth to attack a
completely unprepared Citadel, he'd have walked into the Citadel tower
with some Asari commandos and Matriarch Benezia and voila, Sovereign
would've reprogrammed the Citadel's relay functionality and the
invasion would've commenced. Instead, Saren risked everything to find a
backdoor to a place he already had access to and managed to not only
raise the suspicion of the Alliance at the most critical time, but also
lost his most valuable non-synthetic ally in the process, namely
Benezia and her followers.
*SPOILERS*
3. Relationships
Bioware
has become adept at the dialogue of seduction. In fact, they have
become so comfortable with this formula that we can now seduce and
romance no less than seven characters. However, they have proven to be
shockingly tone deaf when it come to dealing with characters already in
relationships. In life, as in most art, relationships become truly
interesting after a couple has hooked up, when one finds all
the hidden flaws and unxepected delights that had been previously
hidden. The fact that no dialogue was included even acknowledging your
previous relationship is quite frankly unforgivable. Presumably the
writers were trying to show a rocky part of the relationship, but even
fights and hurt feelings would have preferable to this.
Your previous relationship, quite frankly, had no real depth. It was a one night stand. It could've been more, sure, but then the game decided to end. There are no hints throughout the beginnings of ME2 or the endings of ME1 that it was ever anything more than that. Sure, my Shepard didn't romance anyone this time around because it simply seemed unnecessary. It seemed more logical in ME1 actually.
4. Simplicity
I
hesitate to include this because it was quite obviously the dev's
mantra while making this game. But they took an ideal and ran a little
to far with it. Penny Arcade made an apt comparison to Deus Ex 2,
another game that streamlined a bit too much. Thankfully we console
owners are more forgiving than our PC brethren, who view any retreat
from complexity as a form of apostasy. But there is precious little
role playing in this role playing game. One of the great features of
RPG's is that as the challenge progresses, your toolbox of skills
expands accordingly. In Mass Effect 2 my strategy was pretty much the
same at level 3 as it was at 23.
Partially agree, partially disagree. At the beginning of the game as a soldier, my tactics involved finding cover and shooting stuff. Towards the end of the game as a soldier, my tactics involved tearing down the shields and armor on enemies so that one party member could use a mass pull while another would detonate a warp in the middle of a group of flying enemies. And that's just one example. I actually think that in terms of immersiveness, it matters absolutely nothing whether you have a complex attribute system combined with an extensive inventory. That's pure gameplay. A roleplaying game is supposed to make me play a role, and in ME2 I was Commander Shepard more than I was any other character in any other game I've ever played before this. And that's not even an exaggeration.
5. Immersion
This one
is the most difficult to define, but it is also by far the most
important. In one sense it is an amalgamation of the previous four
items, and something else entirely. It is believability. When a
character who professed fierce devotion to me last game can't seem to
recall that anything happened, it snaps me out my immersion. When the
dev's can be bothered to include both genders of a species, I stop and
wonder why. When cities resemble not so much livible entities, but
rather meticulously designed corridors to shuttle us to our next
checkpoint, it breaks my immersion. When the only house on Omega is
the one I am looking for, I feel like stopping and doing something
else. This is one reason I enjoyed Assassin's Creed, despite the dev's
apparent neglect to include an actual gameplay mechanism. It just felt like I was really in 10th-century Palestine. Believablility should never be sacrificed on the altar of expediency.
But this has always been Bioware. Again I am forced to disagree. You refer to a specific companion help quest with your house on Omega example and I know exactly what you mean. But that little area you are in, is not all of Omega. You know where I get my immersion from? A quick peak through the panoramic window in one of the Zakera Ward's staircases, looking out over one of the Ward arms. The puffs of flame coming from industrial chimney's on Omega. The little shops and stands there, or the Vorcha huddled around flaming barrels like bums under railway tunnels in New York City. There is plenty immersion but it is not found in the layout of an area. It is found in the careful attention to aesthetic detail.
All
games are just nuts and bolts under the surface, but the truly great
ones make efforts to hide these in a seamless gameplay experience.
Mass Effect 2, by virtue of packing everything into neat, discretely
contained particles, draws attention to these inner mechanisms. After
one character I know everything I need to do to obtain the loyalty or
pursue a romance with anyone remaining on my team. It is is a
kinetically enjoyable, but rather soulless, experience. It has the
feel of something that has been thinktanked to death, and any
subsequent shards of genius polished off as well. It falls just short
of that illusive quality we like to label as 'art'.
Well, that wraps it up then. We are in disagreement
Mass Effect 2, to me, is art in every sense of the word. The ending of the game takes cinematic videogaming to a whole new level. The beginning of the game wastes no time drawing you back into a universe that took two years to wait for a sequel. Yes there are visible gameplay elements. The top responses are always Paragon. The bottom responses are always renegade. We know this. But it doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned. You get the same from movies, in for example scenes where someone picks up a phone call and responds to everything through affirmation: 'Yes, I am going to the hospital'. 'Yes, I did the groceries.' These mechanics are no less obvious than the ones in Mass Effect, but we know they are there because they serve the purpose of not leaving the viewer/player in the dark.
Modifié par Eain, 09 février 2010 - 10:09 .
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