As of January 26 in this fine year of 2010, both the Xbox 360 and the Windows based PC will be blessed with the fluid, fast-paced action RPG that is Mass Effect 2. Seeing as how this game is in the hands of the same fine folks that brought us Jade Empire, Knights of The Old Republic 1 & 2, it’s safe to assume that this game will be full of satisfying character development and fun dialogue and interaction options. Bioware has been known to delve deeper into this unique dynamic in gaming, making it more complex than simple good or evil. If this game is anything like the previous title, it’ll have much reason to replay it. Mass Effect won my heart when it gave the option to punch out a female news reporter because she was in my face. I loved it.
Of course, the story revolves around Commander Shepherd, your customized action hero from the future. The plot takes place shortly after the ending of the previous game and is said to introduce a variety of new alien races and, of course, a new bad guy. The character roster seems to have changed from the previous game, and Bioware boasts an upgraded combat system as well. Another interesting tweak on the game play is the health regeneration mechanic, as opposed to utilizing the medi-gels. They never sounded terribly appealing anyway.
Bioware has also claimed that the world of Mass Efect 2 will not only be much larger, but also much more interactive as well. Apparently, there are nineteen classes of weapons available in Mass Effect 2. For those of you that did not devote hours of your lives to Mass Effect, there were only four weapon classes in the previous installment. The previous vehicle used to explore planets, the Mako, will be replaced with something that handles a little smoother. There are a wide variety of other little touches that they improved upon in the game, such as a more cinematic camera, making battles look even more epic!
After writing this about Mass Effect 2, I’m all the more stoked to lose some sleep with my custom- made action-space hero from the future. With an open-ended, highly interactive world crafted by the bizarre minds of Bioware, I’m sure to find all sorts of reasons to play this one over and over. I really hope I run into that reporter again. Maybe we could settle things….once and for all.
Joseph Bryant – SwiftGlassEater
