I said I do this even though I've pretty much stated my opinion through out the thread.
But here's my take on ME 2.
What I liked.
* First and foremost the combat is good stuff. The core system of it is equal to many shooters by itself. It's not at the top of the food chain just in shooter aspects like some of the other fps or third person shooter games but the biotic and tech powers along with the traditional gun stuff gives it a bump and makes it worthy for that experience alone. The AI of both your team-mates and the enemy still isn't great. The up close combat is sort of meh. But overall good, fun stuff. Massive improvement over the first. They took shooters like Gears and COD as an inspiration and learned how to craft and structure levels and flow and how to build a level to create a satisfying conclusion.
* The story for the most part is excellent. Great voice acting. Great moments of emotion and character building that really hook you into the story and surprise you. Early in the game I didn't necessarily like some of the character in your party and I didn't like one character in particular but by the end I pretty much liked everyone and especially liked the character I disliked at first (Samara btw) which just shows how good a job they did in that category. Just some cool Xmen meets Star Trek meets X File style characterization and storytelling that is excellent.
* Presentation. I loved the music. People will always have differing opinions on this stuff but to me it is superior to the original. It still has elements of the original music vibe but it mixes that with more orchestral type music and techno music and dramatic music. Its more expansive stuff. Nice graphics. The animation is a bit weak and it still has that Unreal engine feel about it but there is a nice variety and quality to most of the graphics. Loved going on missions and how it seemed like every environment was unique or crafted. The game is a solid 30 in fps department (at least in combat. The cutscenes do dip) which is acceptable for a console game and another mammoth improvement over the first.
* All the tie in shit to Mass Effect 1. Just a terrific game mechanic that gets you invested into the world. Can't wait for Mass Effect 3 mainly just to see how the decisions carry over and impact the game. It's amazing that more games aren't copying this brilliant mechanic.
* Nice inclusion of difficulty levels. Seems to be something for every level of gamer here and this time they don't do stupid stuff like make you unlock the difficulty levels.
What I was mixed on.
* Wasn't a big fan of the plot twist where
spoiler (click to show/hide)
they board your ship and take the crew. Seems like something they just stuffed in their to try to make the final more epic. It wasn't needed imo or if it was needed, it could have been introduced and handled better.
* The final boss fight.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I don't know. Something felt not quite right about it. Like it was epic looking but I'm not sure that was the final battle conclusion I had in my mind. The first game while it had a shitty fight, at least you were actually going against Saren, your antagonist for most of the game. This one to me sort of needed someone as the face of the enemy. That giant evil bug was sort of the face of the enemy this game but that's not the final battle here which is somehow kind of anti-climatic.
* The gameplay structure was a bit repetitive. Get a new crew remember. Do his loyalty mission. And Repeat until the end of the game. There was a lot of variety in the loyalty missions and the recruiting missions but it still felt like a formula. I would have liked a few more mission in between those that sort of broke up that routine. And not optional missions. Main missions.
* The loot aspect. Like I said it's a bit unfair to mention "loot" as if this was a diablo game but there was a part of me that missed getting new guns. The upgrading mechanic was nice but there is still a part of me that wanted new guns as a reward mechanic. Kind of like how they keep introducing heavy weapons. I don't know maybe learn something from the way Borderlands handled that aspect.
Still none of that can put a dent in what I felt was the best singe player game I've played in a few years. Truly amazing game and one I couldn't stop playing from start to finish. They took what was a good idea in the first game and actually made a great game out of it this time. And also made a near perfect console RPG imo which is different from a perfect PC RPG. Also it was a nice surprise that for a Bioware game this one was relatively stable. Don't get wrong there are glitches like my character floating, glitchy animation, pathfinding issues, etc but the game only crashed on me once. That has to be a record for a Bioware game. They generally make the buggiest shit around like Kotor and Dragon Age so at least for them, this was an improvement.
