First of all, let me preface this by saying that I didn’t play ME1 first. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t have much of a choice. I don’t own a 360, nor do I own a PC capable of running ME1, and I wasn’t going to buy either just to play the game. As a result, I ended up watching a playthrough on YouTube to get myself caught up to speed (LMS would be so proud). It’s a good thing I did, too, because that interactive comic didn’t do a great job of summing up the plot of the first game! No mention of the geth, no mention of the Thorian, no mention of Ethan Jeong. I mean, how do you expect someone to know what’s going on if you don’t talk about those things? For the curious, there are only six decisions the comic lets you make, and they are these:
1. Whether you kill the Rachni or save them (I chose to save them)
2. Whether you romance Liara or Ashley (I chose Liara)
3. Whether you kill Wrex or spare him (I chose to spare him)
4. Whether you save Ashley or Kaiden (I chose to save Ashley)
5. Whether you save the Council or let them die (I chose to save them)
6. Whether you choose Anderson or Udina as the human representative on the Council (I chose Anderson)
With that out of the way, let me go ahead and say that Mass Effect 2 is a great game. I had lots of fun with it. I mostly did just the main missions and the loyalty missions. The only sidequest I’ve done so far (not counting the loyalty missions, I guess) was the Project Overlord one, which was pretty good. It wasn’t really anything special until the very, very end, and then it got really good. I’m generally not a big fan of shooters, mostly because I don’t find gunfights very exciting. I can’t really put my finger on why that is, but most guns in video games are boring. ME2 has some fun weapons to use, and it can put you in some crazy scenarios during the main storyline (The Suicide Mission, of course, as well as the Derelict Reaper). A lot of the standard gameplay is pretty straightforward and not that special, at least to me. It’s fun enough though. I enjoy the effects of the different kinds of ammo powers and stuff like that.
The fun in Mass Effect 2 for me comes in conversation and character interaction though. I love dialogue wheels and just talking to people. Getting to choose between good options and bad options was fun. I always made sure to talk to everyone after every major mission to see if I had unlocked new dialogue. Some characters are more conversant than others, and some characters have more interesting things to talk about than others, but that goes without saying. That’s part of the reason loyalty missions were so fun for the most part. You get some new dialogue, interaction, and development. If you want to argue “plot relevance” of characters or silly things like that, get out. I don’t really care if someone like Thane is plot relevant or what he talks about. Dude’s awesome, simple as that.
The main story itself is pretty short and not overly involved. From what I can tell and what others have told me, ME2 is basically a bridge from ME1 to ME3, and it’s not a terribly long bridge. It’s there to flesh out and show you the worlds ME1 talked about. ME1 told you about the Migrant Fleet; ME2 let you go there. ME1 told you about Tuchanka; ME2 let you go there. It also sets the stage for the grand finale against the Reapers. But give me a game with fantastic atmosphere, strong presentation, and a guy refusing to back down from near impossible odds, and I’m sold. That’s what ME2 gave me, and I loved it. I was shaking from the nervous excitement and the tension during the Suicide Mission. When a game can give me that feeling, I know I’ve had a good experience.
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"So cold. I am always by your side."
"There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on!"