Y’know, I honestly wasn’t the biggest fan of the original Mass Effect. I enjoyed it, yes; enough to finish the game, at least. But I just didn’t fall in love with it like most of the world did.
I think my problem was misguided expectations. Reviews for the original Mass Effect made it sound like the game was some of kind of masterpiece in videogame literature. So, fool that I was, I went into the game with that expectation.
Suffice to say, the game didn’t quite live up. This is largely due to the fact that the plot flatlines about a third of the way through the game, and doesn’t pick back up until the very end. The way you interacted with the story – via the dialog wheel – was pretty novel and intuitive. But the storyline itself? Nah. Enjoyable overall, but bland for most of the game.
So, seeing that I wasn’t amazed with Mass Effect, it’s funny that I’m so excited for the impending sequel.
Here’s why: the original Mass Effect wasn’t about telling an epic, involved Space Opera. (See Xenosaga to fit that bill). The original Mass Effect exists to establish the rich universe and mythology that BioWare has created for the series. There’s a lot – and I do mean a lot – to the Mass Effect universe.
And now that we’ve become familiar with it, Mass Effect 2 is here to kick things off for real. The stage is already set, we already have a general feel for the world and how things work – I could go on. The point is that the introductions are over and done with, and it’s time for shit to start happening.
Oh, and the changes they’ve made to the combat system should be nice as well.
This is all pure speculation, of course. However, the truth or falsity of it should soon be revealed; I’ll be picking the game up in eight hours or so.
‘Till then, readers!
Running on PC, no prior savefile, and damn if I don’t wish I also had a 360 version handy, since I got to level 60 in ME1, didn’t kill off the council at the end, and kept Wrex around. And maybe I just suck at PC controls, but damn, this camera is fiddly and I don’t know how to switch shoulders when aiming.
On the plus side, it’s gorgeous. The story seems to promise more coherence this time around. But somehow it already seems like it’s going to be very Chrono Cross: yes, you can do 60 sidequests to get all the characters, but you’ll only ever use 3.
Bah-ha, but it’ll still be fun.
And I’m playing on the 360 with those choices, but I also have issues switching shoulders while shooting…
Am I on crack or wasn’t R3 switch shoulders in ME1?
I remember that too. Not so much this time.