By Tola Pong
Mass Effects 2, the sequel to the bestselling video makes it return to the XBOX 360 and PC. The best part comes from when you start the game, it will ask you if you want to import your previous save data from the first Mass Effects. If you do (and you should), the game will pick up where you left off from your previous mission of saving the universe. All the decisions that you’ve made in the first game will have an enormous effect on your journey in this game.
The game starts where the first game left off as Commander Sheppard and his crews are searching for the universe for Geth activity, when an unknown spacecraft appears out of nowhere from the Mass Relay and blast the Normandy ship and its crew in outer space. Commander Sheppard then wakes up to discover that he has died and been brought back to life by a mysterious person call the Illusive Man. He then tells Sheppard of the ordeal that have been going with human colonies disappearing and it is up to Sheppard to gather a new team and get to the source of the problem.
The game play of Mass Effect has been slightly tweaked to make the game flow more smoothly. Sheppard’s powers can now be mapped on to select button to make for more ease of access. The cooldown for his powers now appears on the main screen. Weapons are now easier to maintain and upgrades for specific types of weapons (e.g. pistols, snipers, SMG, etc…) are now set for your entire squad. Handing out commands are now simpler with the much needed boast to the teammates’ A.I. knowing when to cover and shoot, instead of just shooting and dying.
The scope in Mass Effects 2 is immense, as you travel through several galaxies in order to stop an evil force bent on killing human civilization. If you played the first Mass Effects, you’ll come across many familiar alien races, such as the Asari, Turians, Volus, Geths, Quarians, and Krogans. But in the second outing more races are introduced, such as Drells, the Vorchas and the Collectors (the antagonist). Each alien race has their own unique traits and characteristic that makes the scale of the game even bigger.
BioWare, the makers of the Mass Effect series, has put a huge emphasis on team interaction and chemistry. Now players feel a need to interact and understand their squad mates in order for them to become more powerful, because as your squad trust you and you gain their loyalty, they gain new and more powerful abilities to help them and yourself during battles. The end of the game is when your squads’ loyalty comes into play, as it can either make or break your survival on the final mission.
From the graphics, to the gameplay, the voice acting, and the soundtrack, BioWare did it again and created an extraordinary game that pulls people into a limitless universe where players get pulled in and refuse to put down their controller until the game is over.
Overall score: 9.75
