So I finished Mass Effect 2 last night….
So now having completed both games I’ve become an instant fan.
Now, as mentioned earlier in this thread, ME2 sort of picks up where ME1 left off, and before starting the game, you will be asked about the choice you made in ME1 (only if you don't have a saved game from ME1). If you do have a saved game (if you played both choices you should have two) it/they can be imported into ME2 and your decision will be carried on from there.
Now the game basically starts out with a cut scene of your ship getting destroyed. Later you’re asked to recruit a new team for a tough suicide mission to eliminate an immediate threat to the galaxy. "nuff said.
The game can basically be broken down into 3 phases - team building, completing personal side missions with each team member, and the main mission. There’s plenty of action to go around and you won’t be disappointed.
And while there are some missions that require you to visit certain places, a premium is placed on exploring the universe as you’ll need to scout the systems and planets for minerals and items needed for upgrades to you, your ship, and teammates.
You’ll find minerals by doing planet scans, which can also reveal hidden missions. These missions can earn you and your squad bonus level up points. Whether you want to do all the exploring is up to you, but its part of the game experience and reading the history of some of the planets is fascinating and adds to the story.
I love the dialogue system here and there are plenty of opportunities to converse with your teammates as this gives you a better understanding of their character and makeup. Some of the conversations can be quite hilarious – I’ll give you this one… Mordin sings! Others have to do with courtship.
Replay-ability... as with most games with multiple choices in decisions, I think it's safe to say this has plenty of replay value.
Length of game – if you do all the missions, side missions, and some exploring, it’s safe to say you’ll get around 40 hours of gameplay; millage varies of course.
Graphics – Sorry but I can’t say they are "way" better than ME1, though they are quite good, especially in some of the buildings/structural details. I also found to the cut scenes to be movie like quality.
Sound quality – To me some of the best sounding games as far as gunplay are Far Cry (the first one), FEAR (the first one), and the Half-Life 2 series. Man the first time I got shot with the shotgun in Half-Life 2, I literally jumped.
I have an old
Altec Lansing ACS641 powered speaker system that thumps and I have to say that the weapons fire in Mass Effect 2 is quite good, and loud. There have been a few instances where I had to turn the volume down, or use my headsets, to keep the wife… and neighbors happy. The ambient sounds aren’t bad as well – go to deck 3 and listen around the mess hall. Very nice.
Game environment was an improvement over ME1 as some of the environments there tended to be the same and got monotonous after awhile; here it’s not so bad. Thank You!
As for performance - I had absolutely no issues whatsoever. None. And I played like 3 hours straight at times. You can have a look at my system specs; also note that I have the game settings maxed using the latest video card drivers (Catalyst 10.1) for my ATI HD4890.
Game/issues - One issue I have with ME1, which could have been fixed for ME2, is the whole explore a planet with the Mako experience. I drove up straight 90 degree cliffs, plunged straight down off high mountain tops and paid no penalty. In short I found driving the Mako in ME1 extremely unrealistic. It would have been nice see this fixed and incorporated in ME2. Oh well.
And other than the annoying changes in ME2 as mentioned earlier in this thread (requirement to purchase fuel and/or probes, the new hacking system) I found the gameplay to be just as good, if not better, than ME1.
To me, the game, and story, was very well thought out. It lived up to everything I had hoped for and more. I found it to be a really solid game with a very good storyline. As I stated earlier, they’ve done a really good job of carrying the story over from ME1, even the seemingly insignificant characters and missions from ME1 have meaning here. This is the way a sequel should be made.
I’ve definitely been converted to fandom.
My two cents.
Next stop… Bioshock 2
Peace.
