You're Simply The Best! - Review of Mass Effect 2

The first Mass Effect was released a couple years ago at the exact same time as the first Assassin's Creed.  I was lucky enough to receive both of them for the holidays and so I had the very difficult decision of choosing which one to play first.  So I decided to play Assassin's Creed while the 30YO Roommate played Mass Effect.  In the original Mass Effect, you had several choices throughout the game to do a heroic action or to be a bad guy.  The story for the most part played out the same way.  My roommate played the hero in his playthrough of the game so when it was my turn to play I decided to be the biggest asshole in the universe.  It was hysterical.  At least until Mass Effect 2 was released earlier this year.

For the first time ever the sequel to a video game remembered all of the individual actions you chose in the first game and carried those actions into the sequel.  So if you killed a character off in the first game, they would still be dead in the second.  So guess who was remembered for being the universe's biggest asshole?  That's right, The 30 Year-old Gamer.

Well, I'm happy to report that by the end of Mass Effect 2, I had successfully changed my image back to the true hero that I really am, saved the universe once again, and had one of the most memorable video game experiences in a long time.  Simply put, Mass Effect 2 was the best video game of the year.

You play as Commander Shepard, and the impending doom of the entire universe is once again your responsibility to avoid.  To do this you must recruit a team of the baddest, smartest, strongest mercenaries in the galaxy for a suicide mission to the other end of the galaxy.  The game plays like a great episodic show on TV.  Each mission takes about an hour to an hour and a half to complete.  There's a mission to recruit each member and another loyalty mission for each member to become loyal to you.  This is important later.

Once you feel it's time for the suicide mission, off you go.  But be warned, if your team is not fully prepared, or if you made some bad decisions along the way, not all of your team will survive the mission.  I've talked to many people who have played this game and everyone of us has a different experience.  Some people of my crew who died, lived in their story and vice-versa making the story of Mass Effect truly unique to everyone who plays it.

Each mission is action packed and the voice over work is the best I've ever seen.  The graphics are stunningly beautiful as you fly across the galaxy from industrial planets to rural planets.  The universe that the developers have created feels real and massive.  And finally, the story is just captivating.  I simply did not want this game to end. 

You don't need to play the first Mass Effect to play the sequel, but I don't know why you wouldn't want to.  If the promised third Mass Effect is anywhere near as good as the first two games have been then we will be talking about this trilogy for decades to come.  Mass Effect 2, you are simply the best.

Until next time,

 - The 30 Year-old Gamer