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User Score
9.3

Presentation - 9.0
Gameplay - 8.5
Value - 10

Mass Effect 2 is the newest installment into the Mass Effect series. I am happy to say that this game is definitely the best in the series thus far.

Graphics: They are amazing. In this game the atmosphere feels alot darker than it did in the first game. The graphics are very pretty, the lighting is very good, and all the characters are very well detailed. The cutscenes are beautifully detailed and could even put them close to the level that Square-Enix is on. Very well done quality Cutscenes. Though the grass textures still suck, but like the first game IT IS GRASS WHY DO WE CARE!!!

Gameplay: I am not sure how this game got classified as a WRPG. Because to simply but it bluntly, it is NOT a WRPG. This game is a pure Third Person Shooter. It does hold some WRPG such as the way you talk and how you level up. But the combat is TPS. That is not a bad thing though. Honestly I think the game works out better this way. It just feels right and the combat isn't as clunky and as irritiating as the first game. This time auto-aim is not necessary to actually hit something. Sadly the way you level up in this game just really sucks. You get experience upon mission completion.It takes 1000 expereience points to level up for every level. You earn this amount of experience from the following.

1000 - Story Mission. 750 - Loyalty Mission. 500 - Final Mission. 125 - N7 Quests. 40 - Short side quests.

The only way to reach the max level on your first playthrough is to import a max level 60 Shepard fro mthe first game. However upon completion of M.E.2 you can transfer your save to another playthrough and keep your level. This is my only achievement that I am missing. I am level 28 and I really want to play WKC.

This game also keeps the points alotted to a chart system for your abilities. You have far less abilities to work with than Mass Effect 1. For most of the game you will use the same abilities over and over. I played as a Vanguard and while I did find it enjoyable I really wish I had more to play with.

You can upgrade your ship, upgrade your weapons, and collect resources. The weapons are alot better than the ones from the first game. I actually felt my characters strength improve when I got them. Credits can be used to purchase upgrades. and yet again Bioware has yet to nail there system on Credits. In the first game you simply had to many and in this game you have to little. Everything in these games cost so much money. You can collect credits by completeting missions and acquiring them by hacking or just finding them.

The hacking system is definitely a cool nifty feature over the original. Instead of just pressing buttons you would have to search for an encrypted file or connect pieces together on a circuit board.

Technical Issues: Bioware did a fantastic job this time around. Gone are the sadistic elevator rides. Gone are the screen tear issues. Gone are the pop in issues. There are however some niggles that I found throughout the course of the game. For some reason this game freezes quite a bit. But un-installing and re-installing seems to help with this alot. There is the occassional piece of armor going through a part of your character or something else. There are some game breaking glitches that I did find though. On one specific story related planet I encountered many enemies that could shoot through walls. My characters were un-responsive and would not accept any of my commands. They would magically float in the air and try to kill all the enemies. Pieces of the level broke and just kept shooting off of the screen. and for some reason my characters just loved to fall through the floor and then fall fro mthe sky and die. Now this may sound like alot, but it really isn't. It was just this planet and it didn't seem to happen elsewhere. And on some sidequests when you trigger a cutscenes it will freeze. Only happened to me once.

Other Notes: The first game has re-used character and are layouts which was a huge with me and the main reason I scored it an 8/10. I am pleased to say that Bioware has eliminated that one that really angered me and that was the area layouts. You will no longer explore the same areas 200 times! Except for main cities of course. Every sidequest is unique no matter how easy it is. I am a little dissappointed that some sidequests could litterally be done in like 2 minutes. But even then, I will take that over re-used area layouts. The story is very well done and offers plenty of good experiences. Something I want to note is that this is the first WRPG (but it really is TPS) game to have some emotion in it. Things don't have that cheesy as hell WRPG feel when something big happens. Game offers some good plot twists and a pretty good cliffhanger ending. It is just a shame that the final boss was so easy. I played on Insanity and it was very easy. I don't remember getting hit once. Also the cast in this game exceed the first by 200 miles. They are all very well done and are interesting.

Conclusion:

Pros:

Excellent Story

Good Characters

Good Gameplay

Great Voiceacting + Martin Sheen + Seth Green!

Cons:

Technical niggles can be annoying.

Crappy final boss.

Non-Memorable sountrack. Has its good parts but that is about it.

Resource gathering is LAME.

Leveling system.