Mass Effect 2 is a true Empire Strikes Back – second in a trilogy, darker than the first, and perhaps, most impressively, better than the first.
I won't lie – the first Mass Effect was one of my favourite games ever despite its technical shortcomings, clumsy combat, and clumsy inventory management. Gone are the texture pop-ins, gone is the clumsy combat replaced with a new system that rivals the best of the third person shooters out there, and gone is the clumsy inventory management replaced with a streamlined upgrade system.
Some say the streamlining has gone too far and that Mass Effect 2 is RPG-Lite or Action RPG at best. That depends on your definition of RPG – if you're after a loot-grabbing, level grinding, XP mining number-crunch-a-thon from your RPG, you're out of luck. If however you seek a game that really lets you play a role in a believable universe, you're going to love this game.
It's the characters – the story is generally generic (although there are a few twists and turns that might surprise you along the way), but the characters are some of the finest ever created in a video game. Their backstories are full and fascinating and you may just find yourself questioning your initial judgements of characters. The returning faces are brilliant to see, and Bioware has cleverly managed their appearances.
I've never felt so much emotional connection playing a video game, but the lore of the Mass Effect universe and the quality of the characters (buoyed by some stellar voice acting – take a bow Martin Sheen, who is by far the stand out performer) draw you in to such a level that the final levels of the game are some of video gaming's finest moments.
Hyperbole? You might think so. But I firmly feel Mass Effect is a step toward the future: games are the biggest entertainment industry, but they aren't considered an art form by most. Mass Effect 2 is art. More games like this and the deniers of the merits of gaming can't keep their denials up for long.
A true masterpiece.