By the grace of god, or some forward thinking genius at Bioware/Microsoft Game Studios, apparently the save file which I had deleted from my hard drive apparently copies itself into some hidden away spot that can't be touched without a full reformatting. Thus, I could go into Mass Effect 2 with my ruthless, red headed Commander Shepard.
It's tough to figure out where to begin with this game. It would be hard to get into details of the story without potentially spoiling some of the surprises. But essentially you're back in the Normandy after a 2 year absence. Rather than operating out of the Citadel, you're working with a private organization to continue on your way to eliminating evil from the galaxy. It's up to you as to recruit a ragtag group of allies and tack the fight to those pesky Reapers in what is very accurately described as a suicide mission.
To be honest, its hard to recommend this game in a way that doesn't already assume you know what's going on. After all, one of the big features is that you can import your character from he previous game and all major decisions will have an effect in this game and the follow-up, whenever that may be. What is easy to do is talk about the vast improvements in actual game play. The shooting has been improved to a point where it could almost legitimately be called a shooter and hold up well against other games in the genre. But the great thing is that withing the shooting constructs there is still great freedom to let loose on the Tech and Biotic powers that characters have access to. The game still allows for pausing to select commands, but you are also able to hot key the special abilities so that you are free to stay in real-time combat, which can add a nice level of intensity.
Also greatly improved is the planetary exploration and inventory system. The planets are no longer an endless sea of the same topographical layouts with a different hue on it. And you no longer have to drive around to score small amounts of platinum before entering the same repeated colony base. Instead, you can go to each planet and scan them. If there is a mission available on the surface, a voice cue will let you know right away and you can choose to seek it out. This is really helpful in alleviating the problem the first game had, where you would drive around and maybe you'll find something to do. And the best part is that there is actual variety to the planet side missions. Also involved in the planetary exploration is a mini game which can become tedious, and although very optional, does provide the necessary materials for performing weapon and armour upgrades.
The inventory improvement is simply that they did away with it. While some might be disappointed with the lack of constant loot grabs, it really is much better with the system they have. Guns come in five varieties which can be altered with the aformentioned upgrades, allowing you to quickly swap between weapon types without having to worry about nitpicking stats. The same holds true with the armour. There are several pieces you can collect which make slight stat alterations, and also slight cosmetic changes.
Probably the brightest spot is in the story and characters. ME is very successful at doing what I felt Dragon Age:Origins lacked and that was the actual freedom to play how you wanted. Although in DA:O you were free to make choices, it became quite clear what was bad and what was good, and there was absolutely no incentive to try playing bad because it always resulted doors being closed to you without any new ones opening up. Not so in ME2. If you want to be a hero of pure virtue, or a psychotic killer, you can be, and it's not going to make people just up and leave the group. You have a mission to complete, and they are with you til the end. And since you're all on a suicide mission, that could be the literal end. Each recruitable character comes with a side quest which, if completed in the correct way, leads to that person being loyal to you, which has the added bonus of opening up a new ability for that character. And when it comes down to it, Bioware made sure that having a loyal crew is of utmost importance.
Mass Effect 2 is a spectacle of a game. It improves greatly on the solid foundations laid out by its predecessor. The incredible atmosphere is still there, and without the annoying game play elements that seemed to drag down the experience. Its sure to get a grip on you, and hold it tightly right up until the intense and potentially shocking conclusion. It's an amazing experience that people should really make sure they have
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