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Why Mass Effect 2 is one of the greatest games ever made

The journey of the Shepard continues

Words: on August 8, 2012
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74 comments

  • Markoose16 - August 8, 2012 4:31 p.m.

    I preferred the story of the first particularly the final boss, convincing Saren to change his mind and then taking his own life was much better than bizzare giant human robot thing that reminded me of the final boss from Star Fox 64. I went back a tried to play ME1 after finishing ME3 but it's just too much of a chore now. The inventory is a mess and the gameplay just feels too slow having now played the sequels. Maybe some of the features needed to be refined rather than removed though, like the inventory, mako, elevators. The experience and leveling-up part was stripped down too much in ME2 though but was probably done right in ME3. I do agree that ME2 is the best though something is just missing from ME3 that made the other 2 so much fun. For example I played through ME1 3 or 4 times, ME2 5 or 6 times, ME3 one time and i just got bored half way through a second playthrough.

  • nikolaj-buchert - August 8, 2012 4:33 p.m.

    Mass Effect 2 was the worst of the series in all areas except for graphics. The plot was twisted almost entirely away from what Me1 and 3 dealed with and combat was too simple and boring.

  • Persason - August 8, 2012 4:34 p.m.

    I find ME2 to be the greatest of all three games due to a few reasons. The exploration element of the game was great and the characters where awesome too. While they could have added some more RPG elements in ME2 and 3 I still would prefer the superior characters and universe in ME2. ME3 was not as great as the other two games but still good. Mainly because it did not really create that atmosphere that ME2 and 1 did. I did not really care for the characters. I never really knew who James Vega was. There was not much to really explore in ME3 all the hubs like Illium, Noveria Tuchanka and Omega were gone. We only got the Citidel.

  • Sid 6.7 - August 8, 2012 4:50 p.m.

    I've done my fair share of adventure gaming, from the early 90's to now it's been up & down finding decent subversive storyline with great game play mechanics. ME1 was awesome in it's own right, customizations & yes the Mako were my favorites. I just loved exploring the ME universe driving in a space jeep finding relics & seeing other eastern eggs they employed. ME2 is still my favorite, the mining I think people didn't get. If u took the time to read the history of the planets there is a whole other back story & tells some interesting bits about the protheans & other alien races. There was a clear mission & you really got to know your crew with helping them out to create loyalty. And finally, the final battle is what all games should look at as a template: the battle towards the final stand should make u tense with anticipation with finally getting there learning something new about the story & having to fight a huge awesome monster for closure. ME2 did all of that with flying colors. ME3 for me still has its place in the ranks as well as providing MP which gives it it's own personality & with the extended ending really brought true closer to the trilogy. It's sad to see it go but Bioware did what the set out to do. It's bittersweet.

  • AOprinciple - August 8, 2012 4:57 p.m.

    I heartily agree, minus that multiplayer in the third iteration was "enthralling" (it was NOT). Mass Effect 3, on the other hand...

  • cory-smith - August 8, 2012 4:58 p.m.

    Combat too simple and boring? Twisted plot? Worst in the series? These statements do not register in my mind. What the hell are you smoking, son?

  • azimech49 - August 8, 2012 6 p.m.

    i do believe that too! but just got boring of ranting about me2 in the comments xD

  • ronald-m-davie - August 8, 2012 6:36 p.m.

    ME2, in my opionion was the best out of the three ME games. Mass Effect 1 had good storyline and a good plot (stopping a rogue agent before he destroys your species), it had a interesting moral decesion (do I save Ashley who is mistrustful of aliens or do I save kaiden who witnessed some friends being abused by an alien?). I wished to save them both, but it was just not possible. And to those who didnt like the combat system or found ME to be a slow game, Mass effect has never been a third person shooter type of game. ME has always been a game / series where you interacted with squad - mates and / or other persons and your decisions / choices about how you responded during those interactions. If you want a combat first game go and pick up a gears of war/ halo/ Call of Duty game and play it. ME3 took what made the Mass Effect game what it was, the interaction between your shepard and the rest of the people, be it squad - mates or other npc's and how you reacted to it that determined your moral standing. If you were a paragon person you had a more enlightened, i guess, way of looking at things. If a renegade you looked at things more of how can i make this work for me way.

  • ryan-wilkinson - August 8, 2012 6:49 p.m.

    I say that Mass Effect 2 had made my day when I first played it. I couldn't stop replaying the game and same with Mass Effect 3. I love the work and effort for the Mass Effect franchise. :)

  • cody-williams - August 8, 2012 6:55 p.m.

    I agree completely with everything in this article except for part that said Ashley was one of the things that made me1 not as good as it could have been, yes I know she was racist towards aliens but she kind of got over that later. The Mass Effect series is my favorite series ever nothing will ever be better than Mass Effect!

  • aberkromby - August 8, 2012 7:28 p.m.

    Maybe I will, I dunno. It doesn't help that I'm a ps3 gamer, so I never did and probably never will get to play the first game, so I missed out on the hype-filled introduction of the series. ME2 is around $20 (for 'Mericans like me) at gamestop last I checked. Given that space-marine corridor shooter/RPGs aren't usually my thing anyways, I might wait for it to drop a bit more.

  • ronoc009 - August 8, 2012 7:50 p.m.

    In my opinion listing in descending order. Best main story: 3(minus the ending), 1 , 3(with ending), 2 side quests: 2, 1, 3 Gameplay: 3,2,1 Characters Development/interaction: 2,1,3 Overall ME1 was my favorite due to the overall feel of the universe, ME2 comes in second due to its fantastic characters. ME3 comes in dead last due to the dismay that was the games sidequests and for the fact that i cant stand the ending even after the extended cut. I can see why they picked 2 because it is the best middle ground for the series

  • profile0000 - August 8, 2012 7:57 p.m.

    I'm with ya, Coop. ME2 was absolutely great. It's the only game of the trilogy I have played through entirely more than once. I got half-way through a second playthrough of 1, and am not really interested in going through 3 again (even though I loved it). I beat ME2 three times. Love that game.

  • rohithkumar_sp - August 8, 2012 10:12 p.m.

    Assassin's Creed 2 was also a near perfect game

  • vincent-wolf - August 8, 2012 11:56 p.m.

    You kidding? I near fell asleep playing it. I don't see any point in this article, ME2 really IS a near perfect game and I don't think many ppl would argue with that. What they've done to series with 3d game is unforgivable.

  • ImmaChicken - August 9, 2012 1:45 a.m.

    This is one of my favourite games of all time, and even though i suck at combat, I loved every single minute of it.

  • pimlicosound - August 9, 2012 2:05 a.m.

    I assumed Hollander had his tongue in his cheek as he wrote this, because the racism amongst the different races is such an important part of the game it would be ridiculous to have hated it while having still having any love for the series. It would be like saying, "You know, I loved Mass Effect, except for those bits where the humans and turians don't get along, and the krogan hate the salarians, and the quarians had a bit of a quarrel with the Geth. It was the other things that made it great - the guns, and the blue alien strippers."

  • pimlicosound - August 9, 2012 2:11 a.m.

    It's fairly easy to argue, though, that Empire Strikes Back does not follow the "main" plot in the Star Wars trilogy. There are no Death Stars, no big plan to completely wipe out the Rebel Alliance, no big space battles - instead our original party of heroes gets split up and put through great personal trials so that we can focus on relationships and character development. And that's exactly what ME2 was, and that's why it's great.

  • pimlicosound - August 9, 2012 2:17 a.m.

    Why does everyone bash Ashley for her racism but everyone's all cool when Wrex hates the salarians and Tali hates the Geth? I guess human racism is a bit easier to identify with and to find uncomfortable. But it's still weird that everyone singles out one racist but loves all the other obvious racists.

Showing 41-60 of 74 comments

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