Mass Effect 2

Worthy of the Buzz
I had read some good things about this game, and now I know what everyone was buzzing about. I came in fresh to this series, I haven't played the first Mass Effect, but I am now heavily thinking about doing it sometime this semester to blog about that compare the two. It would be interesting to play them in the reverse order and notice what was better about the sequel or what I liked better about the original that was changed.

Most Fun RPG?
This game was one of the most fun RPG games I have played since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. If one could call that an RPG, it seemed to be much more, that game wins my favorite hands down. However, this game had my attention right away. I know that game developers have really got the pressure of making a game fun within the first two minutes or they lose a lot of people. The game didn't necessarily kick off the gameplay right away, there were some cinematics to start. So, although this game was very very great and liked among many, I actually think gamers that are a little impatient would be bored quite easily with this game. Particularly because the whole game relies on gathering information and using it around the galaxy as a commander of the starship Normandy, and things tend to move slowly, even the character.

Sharp Story
But, if you can appreciate the game through and through, it is stellar. The story really takes fun turns because as the player, you can choose what to say from a HUD selection wheel. The game had a lot of replay value for me because you can go through it being a jerk, a middle grounded guy, or a really nice guy (or girl even.) That was the other cool thing is you could customize your own character or play as the default guy. I thought my guy looked a little silly when I played as him in the game though, and wished that they had an option to change him. Choices definitely was the draw in this game, and it was executed well from great story, dialogue, and acting. I had fun just chasing the galaxy for the ship's cook that needed supplies so the crew stopped complaining about the garbage he would serve. Even the ship had an AI that seemed to have character.

Quality Graphics
A lot of people drooled over the graphics in this game. While I thought they were excellent, I still think that there is need for improvement, but I suppose that is more a limitation with the XBox 360 platform. Some textures came off weird, a few times certain 3D parts in their bodies or in the environment would go through each other, and the shading still wasn't quite right. But being a person that has developed a game, I know these things are practically unavoidable in a game. There would be too much to render if there was a high polygonal count on the models and really detailed shading to master the look of, say, a Pixar film. Someday though, I think gaming will reach that level, and the cinematics definitely held the professional 3D film quality, however most of them were just machinima cut scenes made with the game engine.

Fun Extras

Lastly, I want to make mention of a few more things about what made the game so fun. They absolutely hit the nail on the head in making it themed to sci-fi and like you were really a commander in space. They even had detailed descriptions in the pause menu of every planet, weapon and species. I was often too lazy to go into reading them all, but it was a really nice touch to give it more depth. The game was even so vast from it's galaxies to explore that it was two discs. It was fun to hack vaults and door codes and earn credits. I also liked mining for minerals in various planets. This game made it so you really wanted the upgrades and credits too, so you were sure to take your time through the levels looking for them. Whereas some games don't really have cool un-lockables so that is usually when I have a tendency to blaze through the levels.  It was fun to use a team of two and upgrade their powers and earn their trust. Battling was very fun, and it was exciting to play among the different planet environments. The story held my intrigue and interest a lot too. You work under a company called Cerberus for the "Illusive Man" and the whole time you can't gather whether you, or even some of the crew mates trust who they work for, but they are in the mission to stop the "collectors" an evil alien race.


Rating
On a scale of 1-10 I would give this...
Visuals: 9.5
Story: 10
Gameplay: 9.5
Overall Fun: 10
Pros: Excellent replay value, great theme, neat player-interactive story, overall fun to play.

Cons: Can't change character throughout the game, might not be so fun for the impatient gamers.

What I am Blogging About

This is a blog setup for the class FA3600-2 Writing for New Media. I hope to learn to review games in a fun and creative way that I play in my spare time throughout the semester. I am an EAE (Electronic Arts & Engineering) major and I thought this would be fun. It is targeted to an audience of gamers, blog readers, and students of this class.