ME2 could be next GOTY
We are now hours away from the midnight release of Mass Effect 2 and fans are getting ready to head on out and pick up their reserved copies and find out what is in store for Commander Sheppard next. All this hype and build up from Bioware is about to be revealed at last in what could very well be their best RPG to date.
In fact this could very well stake a claim for Game of the Year perhaps. The buzz from those who have gained early access to the game is helping fuel the hype machine and keep the fans pumped and excited. So if your new to the Mass Effect world, what should you expect and is all this hype what its cracked up to be then?
To start with you can expect a really great story. I think from both books and the first game, you have a must buy game for any RPG fan. If you love to read at all, then I think you should start out with the book Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn and learn all about the Universe that makes up Mass Effect and sets the ground work of things to come down the road. This prequel for the game is a very good read and will have you wanting to finish the book and dive right on into the game.
The Mass Effect game continues the story of Humanities quest for for a place in the Universe and furthering on the story. You’ll play as a new character known as Commander Sheppard and learn what has been going on our hero Anderson that was introduced in the first book. I loved the first games story and really enjoyed playing through it. I’m not going to give a full review on the first game and will simply say that its by far one of the best game stories I’ve ever experienced.
Once I finished the game I dove straight on into Mass Effect: Ascension and began to learn more about what has happened with Kahlee Sanders since the first book and about a new force known as Cerberus, and their very own plans for Humanity. Not much is mentioned here about Commander Sheppard in this prequel to Mass Effect 2.
So from these great stories and setup so far, its only natural to expect something amazing from Bioware in their latest effort here. Commercials have been airing some pretty amazing clips and scenes and fans are dying to import their original character from the first game on into ME2 and get started with the new story lines.
Do you have to play the first one to play ME2? Not at all, but I think you’ll be missing out quite a bit. Thankfully Bioware has provided a way for those jumping into this new to still experience a great story. I’m just not big on skipping the beginning of a story or a line of movies and the same goes with games for me. If you need an extra push towards the first game, the price is very reasonable for both new and used copies of the game.
What should you expect in the game play and visuals? If the trailers are any indication, your going to be amazed and fall in love with this RPG. The developers have done a lot more than pour a sequel into a skinned version of Mass Effect. I’ve heard where some people have spent about 25 hours in initial play through and still have tons of things to explore in this game. Clearly not a short quick game and those who beat the first game will have any number of possibilities, depending on the choices they made in the first game and in importing a saved character into ME2.
The 360 version of the game will have two discs and you will need to swap the discs out from time to time. Its been said that this experience will not be a bad one for those on the 360. I just hope we don’t run into any situations of dialog load screens on one disc, followed by a switch to the 2nd disc and then loosing a battle and having to swap back to disc one and repeat the process.
If I had any hang up at all in the first game it was situations of load like I stated above, but the Devs have said that a lot of that has been improved in ME2 now. My only suggestion is to not go far with auto saves alone and from time to time check your menu options and do saves on your own. You’ll thank yourself later for sure and take my word if you’ve never played the first game.
Loyal fans and first time owners will gain access to some free DLC at the launch of the game in the form of the Cerberus Network. Sounds like they might have setup a really cool interface to entertain and provide us with DLC for sure. Now if you happen to loan your game out to a friend, they’ll experience the main game fine, but will not have access to the Cerberus Network unless they purchase this extra access content.
The FPS portions of the game have been improved by leaps and bounds and you can now do more with your team that goes out with you. No longer do you simply say advance or fall back to your members, you can actually split them up and move them into to various locations to help draw out enemy targets or take out enemy targets.
How about Alien Sex? Sounds like that is all back if you really fancy that. One of the biggest scandals from ME came from this and I was shocked at how silly people got over all of this. I’ve clearly seen a lot worse in other titles, that didn’t draw anywhere near the amount of “Oh my and how dare you put that in a game,” comments. If ME2 has anything close to this, I’m sure it will be ultra tame and artistic to further the story on only. I think Mass Effect: Ascension painted much more in words for sure in the area of steamy scenes.
Still not sure if this is for you, well if your not much on story lines and games that take time and just want some quick shooter action and play with friends. Then this is not for you at all, but if you want to see something really amazing and experience a great story like none other, then join the Masses in full Effect and buy this game. Like I’ve said, this could very well be the Game of the Year for 2010.
Slow down! There still 11 months to go.
I would have to agree. As of now, there is no other game coming out this year that can compete with the completeness of ME2. I mean ME2 has it all; great dialoge, stunning visuals, and the combat system is pretty good.