Girl Gamer

You might be asking yourself, “So, how does it compare to Mass Effect 1?” Mass Effect 2 is similar in layout and controls, but when it comes to extra goodies it’s like comparing candy bar to candy shop. To start, you’re entertained by a cinematic beginning covering what happened in Mass Effect 1; and might I add – this game is filled with cinematic clips, all of which are AMAZING.

After you catch up on your past, you’re immediately thrust into a combat situation. Don’t get me wrong, I love jumping right into a battle; if I know what buttons to push, that is. The game leaves you feeling “on your own” at the start, but helpful hints along the way offer assistance. Once you’ve made it through most of the introduction, it’s time to create your looks. The character customization is extensive, but not impressive. Playing as a female, the hair styles were quite blah and similar to the first Mass Effect. You also get the option of changing eye color, facial features, hair style – you know, the usual things. I suppose Bioware thinks commanders don’t have a sense of fashion?

Despite the lack of “wardrobe” per say, the intro was scrumptious.

After almost 10 hours of play time, I was still hooked, and although the game was fantastic I did in fact catch some cons. When it comes to technical issues, I couldn’t find an option anywhere to change my mouse sensitivity! That was a huge deal for me since I enjoy gaming on a low sensitivity; and many mice can adjust it externally…but mine can’t. So, I was stuck flinging my head around trying to control it. Another con was that the difficulty didn’t feel properly set. It was difficult even on “Normal”, I had to turn it down to “Casual” (in other words “Easy”), Even then, I was still dying! I’ve been playing games for a while too; playing on Easy is hard for me to admit! Either their difficulty system is messed up, I suck, or they made the game for really experienced gamers.

Although I listed a few downsides, the pros completely outweighed them. The best feature of the game was by far its graphics. Even while playing on a 800×600 resolution on a laptop the visuals were beyond realistic.

The texture of skin, facial features, armor, weapons, all had amazing detail and clarity.

(Going back to what I said about playing on a laptop: Bioware did a great job allowing the game to run on low-end systems, especially since a lot of gamers don’t have updated hardware.)

A difference I saw in ME2 compared to ME1 was quest help. Before, I would always get lost trying to figure out what planet to visit for my quest; but not anymore! On each planet, it shows you which quest you have to complete there before you dock your ship. If it weren’t for that, I would have experienced some serious nerd rage.

In closing, I think it’s safe to say that you’ll be hooked from the beginning. Launching Mass Effect 2 is like selling your soul to the devil – you can’t ever get out of it!