Mass Effect 2 was released on the Xbox 360 and PC more than a year ago and the game ended up being on many game of the year lists. This had PS3 owners wondering to themselves what all the fuss was about. A Sci-fi RPG-Shooter hybrid didn’t seem that special, but now that the game has been released for the Playstation 3, gamers can see that Mass Effect 2 is one of those special games that you just have to experience for yourself to see the beauty of it. An important, distinguishing factor between this version and the Xbox 360/PC versions is that we get a glimpse of the Mass Effect 3 engine when it is released later this year. This ultimately means an upgrade visually and in terms of gameplay also.
Developed by Bioware and published by EA, Mass Effect 2 picks up in the year 2183 which is just shortly after the first game ended. The fact that the Mass Effect 1 may have never been played through by PS3 owners, Bioware came up with the idea of an interactive comic book to tell the backstory– Mass Effect Genesis. It was designed to fill those new to the series in with what exactly they had missed in the events leading up to the sequel. The comic book is accompanied by a voice over by Commander Sheppard who talks the player through his experiences and the complicated choices he had to make in the first game. Picking critical decisions from the first game will ultimately determine your experience that you have with Mass Effect 2.
At the beginning of Mass Effect 2, which was shortly after the end of Mass Effect, Commander Shepard is “killed” while making a courageous effort to save his crew and his ship, the Normandy. However, Shepard is much too important and a group called Cerberus enacts “Project Lazarus”, whose lone purpose is to bring him back to life. Cerberus finds Shepard’s body amongst the wreckage and begins work to bring back the only person that can save humanity. It takes Cerberus two years and loads of money, but they finally manage to bring Shepard back from the dead.
Before you get started jumping into the vast galaxy of the Mass Effect universe, you’ll need to start with the basics of creating your character. While many may want to stick with the default Commander Sheppard, some people may want to customize their character with a personal touch. When creating your Shepard, you need to select a class: The role of Soldier, Engineer, Adept, Infiltrator, Sentinel and Vanguard are all ones which you can choose, all which have varying skills.
As you progress through the game you will recruit various members to your squad, all of which have different powers and skills. You can utilize their abilities in combat by triggering them yourself or you can rely on the AI to do the damage for you. The biggest issue with this is that you have very little control over what your squad actually do. When it comes to actual gameplay, Mass Effect 2 is excellent. The combat controls are tight and responsive. The wheel style selection used to switch between weapons allows you to adjust quickly. As you gain more experience you can spend points to upgrade your squad and yourself in different skills and powers.
Mass Effect 2 is non-linear game. This means the story develops as you play it, and you don’t have to do missions in any particular order. This is great for giving the player a real sense of control as far as how the story develops. Mass Effect 2 has everything, the complete gaming package if you will. This amazing game comes loaded onto a single disc, complete with six plus hours of DLC. All the packages which came at a premium to 360 owners, Kasumi: Stolen Memories, Overlord and Lair Of The Shadowbroker come free in this version. The way it combines RPG elements with those of action is simply awesome.
Mass Effect 2 is that it has instantly become one of the best games on PS3 right now and has us gratefully waiting for Mass Effect 3. Mass Effect 2 is the perfect action RPG. It combines clever gameplay, action-packed combat, and overall great production value. Mass Effect 2 is a must play game for any system, including the new PS3 version making us eager to play through Mass Effect 3 later this year to find out how the trilogy ends.
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